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Gordon Regains Points Lead With Victory At Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson laid back for two-third’s of the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway Sunday, then stormed to the front with just seven laps remaining to finish one-two in a wild scramble to the checkered flag.

Gordon, a four-time champion, and Johnson, NASCAR’s defending champion, saved their best for last as both drivers hooked together and literally charged to the front of the free-wheeling pack at the end.

It was a typical every-man-for-himself Talladega finish as 200 mile an hour cars fanned out four abreast for the final run.

Tony Stewart, who did everything he could to win, was cut off in the scramble to the line after leading most of the final laps. He wound up eighth.

Trailing Gordon and Johnson were Dave Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Casey Mears, Kurt Busch, Stewart, Tony Raines and Reed Sorensen.

The day’s biggest accident, which happened on lap 145, knocked several frontrunners out of contention. Something broke on Bobby Labonte’s car and he slid suddenly up the track and into the wall in front of the field. The ensuing wreck involved Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Paul Menard, Jamie McMurray, David Reutimann, Brian Vickers and David Ragan.

Several other accidents or mechanical problems took out drivers who might have been a factor in the “last man standing” finish, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., his teammate Martin Truex Jr., Michael Waltrip and Elliott Sadler.

Engine problems accounted for the DEI team woes. Waltrip and Sadler wrecked.
It was not a good day for many of the contenders in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup title. Besides Busch, Kenseth and Truex, Jeff Burton fell out with engine problems and Kevin Harvick had to nurse a sick engine to the 20th finishing position.

This white-knuckle race, traditionally one of the most exciting and nerve-wracking in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, had a little added spice in its ingredients this time around.

The first seven qualifiers had to get in the race on speed and were set up for qualifying runs, not race runs. As a result, there was added nervous anticipation to what would happen at the start under those conditions.

Polesitter Waltrip, Labonte, Robby Gordon, Blaney and Vickers set the tone for the 188-lap event by swapping the lead every lap for the first six trips around the massive, 2.66-mile tri-oval.

By the 15th lap, two of the sport’s most fearless drivers, Hamlin and Kyle Busch, were running one-two. Hard-luck hit Kenseth who had to pit with a tire problem.

The afternoon’s first caution waved at 17 laps when John Andretti blew a tire and smacked the wall.
On the restart at 22 laps, Hamlin led with Kasey Kahne in tow. Sadler and Kevin Harvick lined up in the low groove and two lines of cars stretched 10 deep. At times, there were three lanes of fast cars, zipping around this incredible speedway like daredevils of the midway.

Crowd favorite Earnhardt roared to the front for the first time on the 32nd lap. The crowd of more than 150,000 fans remained on its feet 50 laps into the race as NASCAR’s best drivers jockeyed for position.

Green flag pit stops started on lap 56 when Kenseth, Harvick and Blaney pitted. Both Blaney and Kenseth were penalized for speeding while exiting pit road. Earnhardt and the leaders came in on lap 60. The second caution of the afternoon fell at lap 63 when David Gilliland and Greg Biffle collided off turn four.

A quickie yellow allowed cleanup crews to clear the track and most of the frontrunners stayed on the track. On the restart at 66 laps, it was Hamlin up front with Stewart, Kyle Busch, Earnhardt, and Raines right behind him.

Joe Nemechek’s day ended on the 85th lap when engine troubles sent him to the garage.

At 88 laps, Waltrip went to the front. A lap later, his teammate David Reutimann, a rookie, took the lead with drivers in pursuit going three and four wide, typical, flat-out, no-holds-barred Talladega racing.

Burton’s day ended with engine failure on lap 92 and the caution flag slowed things down, giving the field a breather.
Some of the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup contenders were content to hang back in the first half of the race, including Johnson, Gordon, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer and Kenseth

At the halfway point after the restart, the top 10 included leader Waltrip, Kahne, Earnhardt, Vickers, Sadler, Sorensen, Truex Jr., Jeff Green, Hamlin and Kyle Busch.

A few laps later, Stewart took the lead. The position-swapping was happening so fast, you couldn’t keep up with it.

With his 80th NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series career win, Jeff Gordon takes over the championship points lead, nine points ahead of Johnson. Johnson slips to second with Bowyer 63 points behind Gordon in third. In fourth, Stewart is 154 points out of the lead while fifth-place Harvick trails Gordon by 202 points.

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