It takes awhile to get the feel of Jeff Gordon's XS Racing, a newly released video game.

Not being a computer games player, I found I hit every wall I saw and every car that tried to pass. At times, I felt as if I was in that Pepsi commercial with Gordon, making my move in reverse.

Imagine my surprise, when as the game ended, Jeff's voice said, "Nice job!"

Gordon laughed when I told him.

"It wasn't meant to be sarcastic," he said. "I think I meant it to be encouraging."

Gordon grew up playing computer games. At about age 6, he went wild, like the rest of the country, when Space Invaders came out. So it's no surprise that when ASC Games approached him about his own computer racing game, he was eager to do it.

It's also no surprise that he has had numerous offers for such a deal. Or that once he decided to do it, it would be as heavily sponsored as his race car. Special promotional programs are under way with four diverse companies -- from soft drink to toy.

"I've been disappointed by racing games in the past," Gordon said. "There have been some games, I could tell, famous drivers just stuck their names on it. If I was going to do it, I wanted to have input."

He asked for demos. He sat with designers for hours, telling them what what he wanted. And he sat for more hours, staring at blue and green screens, with technicians putting him "inside" the game so he could create something he felt would appeal to a race fan or someone who likes to play a lot of video games.

Kirk Johnson, a Baltimorean who is a computer technician and someone who enjoys a good video game, gave XS Racing a test drive.

"It's like actually being in the game," he said.

"I've never raced a race car before, but this has to be close. And the fun thing is this lets you stay in the game instead of being out if you crash."

Gordon planned it that way.

"Today, people want to race," he said. "They're in a video game. If they hit a wall, they want to keep going. In real life, we go down pit road for repairs. In this game you don't have to. The car will eventually repair itself. It's a futuristic game."

Good day sunshine

Hagerstown Speedway general manager Lisa Plessinger is hoping for sunshine.

"I'm going to be doing a sunshine dance," said Plessinger, 28. "I'm sure the farmers are tickled with the rain, but I think even the people who sit in church on Sunday would like some weekend sunshine."

Last Sunday's rain kept Hagerstown's doors from opening for a record-setting fifth straight week. The track has been trying to kick off it's 50th season with its traditional early start, but now finds itself in the position of opening at the same time as other tracks in nearby Pennsylvania.

Because of that, Plessinger said, if last night's modified show didn't get in it won't be rescheduled. The event was to be an automatic qualifier for Syracuse Nationals, Oct. 30-31. But after this weekend, the teams and drivers who were expected to compete will no longer be available because weekly racing commitments at the northern tracks.

"We're losing the racing dates and we're losing advertising, but as far as purse money, we haven't presented a purse yet, so we've no losses there," said Plessinger.

"But this weather has impacted morale. Morale is down in our dirt track industry. Everyone is feeling it. Promoters, team owners, drivers, fans. I think we've all got a case of cabin fever."

Hagerstown was to try to run last night and again this afternoon, with racing at 2 p.m. To check whether the racing is actually a go, call 301-582-0640.

Sly movie

Sylvester Stallone is supposed to be making a $100 million movie titled "Into Thin Air" and Indianapolis Speedway president Tony George is hoping the film can be partially filmed at his track when the Formula One series arrives next year.

You see, Stallone's movie is about an aging Grand Prix driver. Stallone is to play the driver, with Sharon Stone as his wife and Dustin Hoffman as his team owner.

"It would be great to be involved in the filming of an F1 movie and it would raise the interest in the inaugural event, if it were to be filmed in 2000, with a sequences shot at the Speedway," George said. "That would help to add interest to our event and the more we have going for us in the first year, the more it will help us ensure our chances of being successful over the long term."

Right now, however, there is still no date for an F1 race at Indy. George is hoping for a fall date, but F1 officials would prefer June, so it would correlate with the Canadian Grand Prix and entail only one trip to North America.

Nuts and bolts

Since Jack Roush got into racing in 1988, his teams in the Trans Am, Busch Grand National, Craftsman Truck and Winston Cup series have combined for 199 wins. He is going for career win 200 today at Texas Motor Speedway, where his teams have won the past two races.

"We'd like to get it, but I'm not expecting it at Texas. We've been awfully lucky there and I don't expect that string to continue. But, we'll try."

Wondering how those locally sponsored Lexus sports car drivers did last weekend at Sebring? There's good news and bad news.

The No. 9 GS400 co-driven by Rick Fairbanks and Baltimorean Chuck Goldsborough finished 14th out of 36 cars in the three-hour support race, while the second car, No. 90, co-driven by Adam Burrows and David Brown, wrecked in the first turn of the first lap. The two-car team will try again in three weeks at Road Atlanta.