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Gordon Back in Victory Lane at Infineon

Jeff Gordon won the Dodge/Save-Mart 350 over Terry Labonte as Labonte conserved fuel for the final laps of the race, eventually dropping to third behind Ryan Newman’s Dodge. The win was Gordon’s first for the 2006 season. Labonte drove the No. 96 Chevy to give the new team a more experienced road racer than the usual driver, Tony Raines.

The green flag has finally flown at Infineon Raceway and in just the first couple of turns, two cars have spun off the track with Jamie McMurray and Bobby Labonte both off the track then in the eighth turn, the road course equivalent of “the big one” at Daytona or Talladega takes out a handful of cars with Ken Schrader spinning, then getting collected by Sterling Marlin with Tom Hubert smashing hard into Marlin’s car. This resulted in a gaggle of other cars going off the track and setting up such a big cleanup that the track went under the red flag before the second lap had been completed.

“If you screwed up, you screwed up,” commented Schrader in a TV interview after being released from the track’s medical center.

The restart began lap four of the 110-lap scheduled distance with Kurt Busch ahead of Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman. Kevin Harvick held fourth ahead of road race specialist Boris Said in fifth. It didn’t take road racing expert Robby Gordon long to start moving through the field, getting around Said, along with Tony Stewart and moving into third before the 20-lap mark. Stewart held fifth, well ahead of Said who was being pursued by Jeff Gordon. Gordon took advantage of a loose-handling car under Said to move into sixth.

Routine pit stops began just before the 30-lap mark with Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman among the first to the pits, allowing Stewart to move to second and Said to third until their stops. Pit stops allowed Said to lead a lap, as Tony Stewart earned a drive-through penalty for entering the pits too fast. Said’s stop allowed Jimmie Johnson into the lead, then on Johnson’s stop, Kevin Harvick inherited the lead with Newman second, Kurt Busch third, Greg Biffle fourth and Jeff Gordon fifth.

The second caution of the race came out with Ryan Newman just around Harvick for the lead when JJ Yeley and Denny Hamlin spun, scattering the field and strewing gravel on the track. Approaching the green, the top ten runners were Newman, Harvick, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Robby Gordon, Boris Said and Matt Kenseth.

Jamie McMurray got into Reed Sorenson’s rear bumper at Turn Seven, spinning the Dodge but causing only a local caution flag as Sorenson got back on the track quickly. Jeff Gordon’s car responded well to adjustments during the No. 24 pit stop and he moved quickly into second, in pursuit of Newman.

Ron Fellows caused the third caution of the race just after Jamie McMurray got slammed by PJ Jones entering Turn Seven as the Canadian ace coasted to a halt at the entrance to the pits. Gordon and Newman battled hard for the lead on the restart, Gordon moving inside in Turn Ten for the lead at the end of the first green flag lap. Pole-sitter Kurt Busch ran third behind his Penske South teammate as Tony Stewart got into Boris Said entering Turn Ten on his way into eighth place.

The fourth caution flew when Joe Nemechek’s No. 01 Chevy dislodged a stack of tires marking the inside of Turn Eleven, the final turn on the track, allowing the pack to close on Jeff Gordon, but Scott Pruett spun in the first turn, then Jimmie Johnson looped in the fourth turn, Jeff Burton seeming to have no route to avoid contact but squeezed by between Johnson’s car and the wall.

Routine pit stops started with about 40 laps left in the race, crew chiefs gambling with the differences between what they think fuel mileage will carry them and the possibility for an extended race with a green-white-checker finish if a late caution lengthens the race. Tony Stewart’s crew pulled a bent left front fender off the tire on that corner as they changed tires on the champion’s car.

Terry Labonte held the lead over Jeremy Mayfield and Jeff Gordon after the leaders made their stops for service, the semi-retired champion out of sequence on his pit cycle and not due to stop for about 25 more laps. Jeff Gordon ran down Mayfield for second and started in pursuit of Labonte, about one mph faster than the leader.

Robby Gordon pitted with a flat left front tire but slammed the pit wall entering pit road, making an already bad day even worse and dropping him out of the race. Kevin Harvick pitted with “tire problems” that turned out to be a loose right rear wheel.

During all this, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman had been closing on Labonte at the tune of about a second a lap. Gordon passed Labonte on lap 88 as the No. 96 team looked for fuel mileage to keep from making one final pit stop and ensure a top-ten finish. Tony Stewart’s No. 20 Chevy has started leaving an increasingly heavy trail of smoke, apparently down a cylinder with the engine starting to suffer.

Boris Said moved into sixth around Stewart as Labonte held position about a half second behind Gordon, sometimes setting the fastest time on that lap, then on lap 97, the caution came out again, just 13 laps from the checker, for Joe Nemechek’s spin in front of Scott Riggs. Interestingly, worse spins earlier in the race did not create a caution. Greg Biffle’s crew was heard telling him to conserve fuel as much as possible.

Gordon jumped to the lead on the green flag, Newman chasing Labonte and “Smoke” (Tony Stewart) suffering a slow car on the restart, losing about six places by the first turn.

Scott Pruett got tapped by Kevin Harvick in the middle of the eleventh turn, the slowest turn on the track, restarting without a caution but a spin by Bobby Labonte brought out another quick caution. The restart flew with eight laps left, Gordon jumping ahead of Labonte, whose last top five was his Darlington victory in 2003. Ryan Newman held third, followed by Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Boris Said, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Elliott Sadler and Jeff Burton.

Labonte, in spite of trying to save fuel, set second-quick lap, bettered only by Scott Riggs, who was fractionally quicker than the “Ice Man” from Texas. Gordon set quick time on the second lap of the restart, as Boris Said moved into ninth, as a huge crash involving Bobby Labonte, JJ Yeley, Reed Sorenson, Dale Jarrett and Joe Nemechek resulted from Dale Earnhardt Jr tapping Yeley and setting off a chain reaction that also involved Kyle Petty.

The cleanup required at the crash site included a lot of oil on the track so NASCAR stopped the race again under the red flag, allowing Labonte to conserve even more fuel. After the signal was given to restart engines, Kevin Harvick got black flagged because his hood pins were out, making his lousy day worse.

The green flag flew again with three laps to go until the checker, with Labonte talking to his crew about being able to challenge Jeff Gordon for the victory. The top runners at the restart were Gordon, Labonte, Newman, Biffle, Kurt Busch, Edwards, Burton, Sadler, Said and Johnson. Gordon opened a three-length lead over Labonte with Newman bobbing and weaving, looking for an opening to get around the two-time Cup champion. Newman moved outside of Labonte around the eleventh turn coming down to two laps to run but couldn’t complete the pass. Approaching the final turn on the track and the white flag, Newman again moved outside but Labonte couldn’t hold him off as Gordon pulled away to a lead of nearly two seconds.

At the checker, the order was Gordon, Newman, Labonte, Biffle, Busch, Edwards, Burton, Sadler, Said and Johnson. Scott Pruett slid into the tires on the back side of the course on the last lap, then pulled out and drove around to finish in 30th place. Gordon had led 44 of the 110 laps, Kurt Busch led 29, then Terry Labonte led 17, Newman led 11, Harvick led five, Johnson led a pair and Tony Stewart and Boris Said both led a single lap.

Denny Hamlin’s 12th place finish probably dropped him to eleventh in point standings .

Unofficial Finishing Order, Dodge/Save-Mart 350:
Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, Pts/Bonus, Status
1, 11, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, 109 laps, 190 pts/10 pts, Running
2, 4, Ryan Newman, No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge, 109, 175/5, Running
3, 37, Terry Labonte, No. 96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet, 109, 170/5, Running
4, 7, Greg Biffle, No. 16 National Guard Ford, 109, 160/0, Running
5, 1, Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, 109, 160/5, Running
6, 20, Carl Edwards, No. 99 Office Depot Ford, 109, 150/0, Running
7, 13, Jeff Burton, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet, 109, 146/0, Running
8, 24, Elliott Sadler, No. 38 Pedigree Ford, 109, 142/0, Running
9, 5, Boris Said, No. 160 SOBE - No Fear Ford, 109, 143/5, Running
10, 16, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, 109, 139/5, Running
11, 19, Kyle Busch, No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet, 109, 130/0, Running
12, 8, Mark Martin, No. 6 AAA Ford, 109, 127/0, Running
13, 40, Denny Hamlin *, No. 11 FedEx Freight Chevrolet, 109, 124/0, Running
14, 42, Brian Vickers, No. 25 GMAC Chevrolet, 109, 121/0, Running
15, 39, Martin Truex Jr. *, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Chevrolet, 109, 118/0, Running
16, 2, Jamie McMurray, No. 26 Crown Royal Ford, 109, 115/0, Running
17, 9, Matt Kenseth, No. 17 DEWALT Ford, 109, 112/0, Running
18, 28, Clint Bowyer *, No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, 109, 109/0, Running
19, 26, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, 109, 106/0, Running
20, 23, Jeff Green, No. 66 Best Buy/SanDisk Chevrolet, 109, 103/0, Running
21, 34, Casey Mears, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge, 109, 100/0, Running
22, 33, Kyle Petty, No. 45 Wells Fargo Dodge, 109, 97/0, Running
23, 32, Jeremy Mayfield, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW/SRT Dodge, 109, 94/0, Running
24, 35, Michael Waltrip, No. 55 NAPA Auto Parts Dodge, 109, 91/0, Running
25, 27, Scott Pruett, No. 40 Coors Light Dodge, 109, 88/0, Running
26, 3, Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, 109, 90/5, Running
27, 10, Joe Nemechek, No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, 109, 82/0, Running
28, 25, Scott Riggs, No. 10 Valvoline/Stanley Tools Dodge, 109, 79/0, Running
29, 12, Tony Stewart, No. 20 The Home Depot Chevrolet, 109, 81/5, Running
30, 41, Reed Sorenson *, No. 41 Target Dodge, 109, 73/0, Running
31, 6, Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW/SRT Dodge, 109, 70/0, Running
32, 31, David Gilliland, No. 72 Dutch Quality Stone Dodge, 107, 67/0, Running
33, 38, J.J. Yeley *, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet, 104, 64/0, Out of Race
34, 22, Dale Jarrett, No. 88 UPS Ford, 104, 61/0, Out of Race
35, 21, Bobby Labonte, No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge, 104, 58/0, Out of Race
36, 15, P.J. Jones, No. 4 AERO Exhaust Chevrolet, 101, 55/0, Out of Race
37, 17, Ron Fellows, No. 32 Tide-Downy Chevrolet, 99, 52/0, Running
38, 43, Brandon Ash, No. 102 Sprinter Trucking, Inc. Dodge, 84, 49/0, Running
39, 36, Dave Blaney, No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge, 79, 46/0, Out of Race
40, 14, Robby Gordon, No. 7 Menards/Energizer Chevrolet, 74, 43/0, Out of Race
41, 18, Ken Schrader, No. 21 Little Debbie Ford, 0, 40/0, Out of Race
42, 29, Sterling Marlin, No. 14 Waste Management Chevrolet, 0, 37/0, Out of Race
43, 30, Tom Hubert, No. 27 Kirk Shelmerdine Racing Ford, 0, 34/0, Out of Race

*: Rookie

Unofficial Point Standings:
Rank +/- Driver Points Behind Starts Poles Wins Top 5 Top 10
1 – Jimmie Johnson 2434 Leader 16 1 3 7 13
2 – Matt Kenseth 2333 -101 16 0 2 9 10
3 – Kasey Kahne 2121 -313 16 4 4 6 10
4 +1 Mark Martin 2113 -321 16 0 0 2 8
5 -1 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2105 -329 16 0 1 5 7
6 +1 Jeff Burton 2034 -400 16 1 0 3 10
7 -1 Tony Stewart 2012 -422 16 0 1 7 8
8 +3 Jeff Gordon 1986 -448 16 0 1 5 7
9 +1 Greg Biffle 1967 -467 16 2 1 4 9
10 -2 Kevin Harvick 1945 -489 16 0 1 5 7
^Race for the Chase Contenders^^
11 -2 Denny Hamlin* 1936 -498 16 1 1 3 6
12 – Kyle Busch 1925 -509 16 1 0 4 7
13 – Carl Edwards 1872 -562 16 0 0 5 8
14 +2 Kurt Busch 1780 -654 16 2 1 3 5
15 -1 Casey Mears 1757 -677 16 0 0 1 4
16 -1 Jamie McMurray 1733 -701 16 0 0 2 5
17 – Ryan Newman 1730 -704 16 1 0 2 5
18 – Clint Bowyer* 1665 -769 16 0 0 1 3
19 +2 Elliott Sadler 1644 -790 16 1 0 1 3
20 +2 Brian Vickers 1619 -815 16 0 0 2 4
21 -1 Reed Sorenson* 1584 -850 16 0 0 1 3
22 +2 Martin Truex Jr.* 1578 -856 16 0 0 0 1
23 -4 Dale Jarrett 1575 -859 16 0 0 0 2
24 -1 Scott Riggs 1550 -884 15 1 0 0 4
25 – Bobby Labonte 1512 -922 16 0 0 1 3
26 – Jeff Green 1486 -948 16 0 0 0 0
27 – J.J. Yeley* 1418 -1016 16 0 0 0 1
28 +1 Joe Nemechek 1404 -1030 16 0 0 0 0
29 -1 Robby Gordon 1371 -1063 16 0 0 0 1
30 +3 Kyle Petty 1334 -1100 16 0 0 0 1
31 +1 Jeremy Mayfield 1333 -1101 16 0 0 0 0
32 -2 Dave Blaney 1303 -1131 16 0 0 0 0
33 -2 Ken Schrader 1241 -1193 16 0 0 0 1
34 – Sterling Marlin 1228 -1206 16 0 0 0 1
35 – Michael Waltrip 1189 -1245 16 0 0 0 0
36 – David Stremme* 1070 -1364 15 0 0 0 0
37 – Travis Kvapil 1069 -1365 13 0 0 0 0
38 – Scott Wimmer 965 -1469 13 0 0 0 0
39 – Tony Raines 883 -1551 10 0 0 0 0
40 +1 Terry Labonte 857 -1577 10 0 0 1 1
41 -1 Kevin Lepage 766 -1668 12 0 0 0 0
VVMathematically EliminatedVV
42 – Brent Sherman* 372 -2062 6 0 0 0 0
43 – Kenny Wallace 341 -2093 6 0 0 0 0
44 – Paul Menard 267 -2167 2 0 0 0 1
45 – Stanton Barrett 242 -2192 5 0 0 0 0
46 – Chad Chaffin 229 -2205 4 0 0 0 0
47 – Derrike Cope 154 -2280 5 0 0 0 0
48 – Mike Wallace 149 -2285 2 0 0 0 0
49 – Hermie Sadler 148 -2286 5 0 0 0 0
50 – Boris Said 143 -2291 1 0 0 0 1
51 -1 Kirk Shelmerdine 143 -2291 2 0 0 0 0
52 -1 Mike Garvey 138 -2296 4 0 0 0 0
53 -1 Bill Elliott 111 -2323 1 0 0 0 0
54 +2 Brandon Ash 88 -2346 2 0 0 0 0
55 – Scott Pruett 73 -2361 1 0 0 0 0
56 – David Gilliland 67 -2367 1 0 0 0 0
57 -3 Jimmy Spencer 67 -2367 1 0 0 0 0
58 -5 Bill Lester 67 -2367 2 0 0 0 0
59 – P.J. Jones 55 -2379 1 0 0 0 0
60 – Ron Fellows 52 -2382 1 0 0 0 0
61 -6 Mike Skinner 52 -2382 1 0 0 0 0
62 -5 Chad Blount 37 -2397 1 0 0 0 0
63 -5 Johnny Sauter 0 -2434 1 0 0 0 0
64 – Tom Hubert 0 -2434 1 0 0 0 0

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