Gordon Leads at NASCAR Halfway Point
Jonathan Monfiletto
Issue date: 10/18/07 Section: Sports
The Chase for the Nextel Cup entered its halfway point Saturday night, with Jeff Gordon winning the Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway and taking a commanding points lead.
The win was Gordon's sixth of the season and 81st of his career and allowed him to take a 68-point lead over teammate Jimmie Johnson, as Gordon seeks his fifth Cup Series championship. Only two drivers have more championships than Gordon, with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt tied with seven.
Johnson started second beside pole-sitter Ryan Newman and dominated the night, leading a race-high 95 laps. However, a spin with about a hundred laps to go sent Johnson down in the order, although he would recover to finish 14th.
Gordon led 71 laps, the third most of the night, and took the lead for the final time with three laps to go when Newman spun and crashed while leading after he had just taken the lead on a restart.
Clint Bowyer came in second behind Gordon, but gave Gordon a run for his money during a green-white-checkered session to end the race. He sits third in points, 78 points behind Gordon and still in the title hunt.
Chase drivers made up the top-five on Saturday, with Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton, and Carl Edwards rounding out the top-five. Tony Stewart overcame a couple of pit road collisions to finish seventh, the last Chase driver in the top-ten. He sits fourth in points, 198 points behind, while Edwards and Busch make up the top half, 240 and 280 behind.
Dave Blaney led a contention of non-Chase drivers with top-ten finishes, grabbing a sixth after finishing third last week. Behind Blaney in eighth, ninth, and tenth were Kasey Kahne, David Stremme, and Michael Waltrip.
Kurt Busch finished a couple of laps down in 26th after struggling in the second half of the race, slipping to seventh in points and 315 points behind. Kevin Harvick dropped to eighth in points, 328 behind, after having to make two green flag pit stops for a flat tire and finishing 33rd.
The win was Gordon's sixth of the season and 81st of his career and allowed him to take a 68-point lead over teammate Jimmie Johnson, as Gordon seeks his fifth Cup Series championship. Only two drivers have more championships than Gordon, with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt tied with seven.
Johnson started second beside pole-sitter Ryan Newman and dominated the night, leading a race-high 95 laps. However, a spin with about a hundred laps to go sent Johnson down in the order, although he would recover to finish 14th.
Gordon led 71 laps, the third most of the night, and took the lead for the final time with three laps to go when Newman spun and crashed while leading after he had just taken the lead on a restart.
Clint Bowyer came in second behind Gordon, but gave Gordon a run for his money during a green-white-checkered session to end the race. He sits third in points, 78 points behind Gordon and still in the title hunt.
Chase drivers made up the top-five on Saturday, with Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton, and Carl Edwards rounding out the top-five. Tony Stewart overcame a couple of pit road collisions to finish seventh, the last Chase driver in the top-ten. He sits fourth in points, 198 points behind, while Edwards and Busch make up the top half, 240 and 280 behind.
Dave Blaney led a contention of non-Chase drivers with top-ten finishes, grabbing a sixth after finishing third last week. Behind Blaney in eighth, ninth, and tenth were Kasey Kahne, David Stremme, and Michael Waltrip.
Kurt Busch finished a couple of laps down in 26th after struggling in the second half of the race, slipping to seventh in points and 315 points behind. Kevin Harvick dropped to eighth in points, 328 behind, after having to make two green flag pit stops for a flat tire and finishing 33rd.
Be the first to comment on this story