Gordon wins at Talladega, jumps back into points lead

08.10.2007 03:00 Sport and Travel - Source: USA Today

The victory drew an equally miniscule and remarkable response from the droves who have packed the 2.66-mile oval to pelt Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet with debris after his past three victories here, most recently trashing the track in April.

As Gordon turned burnouts in the frontstretch grass after nipping Jimmie Johnson with a half-lap remaining Sunday, a single beer can was hurled over the catchfence.

Perhaps the estimated 155,000 in attendance had no energy to sully a stunning finish that stood out from an uneventful race marked by the debut of the Car of Tomorrow.

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"Today wasn't a typical Talladega race until 10 to go," said Gordon, who pulled from behind Johnson and capitalized on a winning push from Tony Stewart to complete a season sweep at Talladega and pass Dale Earnhardt as the all-time leader in restrictor-plate wins (12). "Guys were more careful. We didn't see the tight packs."

Gordon jokingly added later he was a "little disappointed" by the lack of outrage from the track's pro- Dale Earnhardt Jr. contingent ("they'll be throwing Mountain Dew cans next year"), but the overwhelmingly red-clad crowd didn't have much to get worked up about for 31/2 hours at a track famous (and sometimes infamous) for its non-stop action.

Many predicted an unprecedented level of wildness with the bigger, boxier model, but aside from an 11-car wreck tame by Talladega standards, the chaos never materialized — though many in the Chase for the Nextel Cup had prepared for the worst with the top seven starting spots filled by drivers outside the top 35 in points.

Johnson and Gordon, who had to rally from a pit-road penalty to celebrate newborn daughter Ella Sofia's first trip to victory lane, were among several championship contenders who hung in the back hoping to avoid trouble. Gordon started 34th and hovered from 33rd to 39th while going half-throttle for most of the first 140 laps.

"It was the hardest thing I ever had to do in a race car," he said.

It certainly wasn't the most exciting. Gordon admitted to yawning inside the cockpit, and he wasn't the only driver fighting off monotony. Instead of the three-wide, 10-deep packs of cars clogging the 33-degree banking, the field strung out single file after Earnhardt took the lead on lap 31 of 188.

Earnhardt asked for a Redskins score while cruising in first for 31 laps. Kyle Busch, who said "this is worse than driving down the freeway — my eyes are going shut," asked for a swig of an energy drink during a pit stop.

"It was quite boring," Ryan Newman (fifth) said. "Single file at a 2.66-mile track is not what I call racing."

There was some drama for those in the title hunt. Busch and Matt Kenseth were caught in the day's biggest accident, and Martin Truex Jr. and Jeff Burton joined Earnhardt on the sidelines with engine failures from the Richard Childress Racing-Dale Earnhardt Inc. engine consortium.

The developments allowed Gordon and Johnson to open a gap in the standings, where Gordon is nine points ahead of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate. Clint Bowyer (63 points behind) and Stewart (154), who led 38 laps and placed eighth, are the only other Chase drivers within 200 points with six races remaining.

Earnhardt also missed a chance to win his final DEI race with crew chief Tony Eury Jr. (whom he'll rejoin at Hendrick next year). But the five-time Talladega winner seemed more disappointed with Sunday's racing than his sixth engine failure of '07.

"If it's not exciting for me, I know it can't be exciting for fans," Earnhardt said. "Hopefully they'll tweak the package so we can run more three-wide and side-by-side."

Pit notes: 

Dave Blaney finished third for Toyota's highest Cup finish this year. ... Jacques Villeneuve qualified sixth, dropped to the rear at the start and finished 21st in his Cup debut.

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