Gordon Takes NEXTEL Cup Series Points For First Time Since 2001
By Dick Mittman
allstate400atthebrickyard.com
Monday, August 23, 2004
Four-time Brickyard 400 champion Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson played "trading spaces" at the top of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series point standings top 10 after the GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 22. Evernham Motorsports teammates Kasey Kahne and Jeremy Mayfield did the same thing at the bottom of the top 10, increasing the drama as only three races remain before the 10 contenders for the 10-race "Chase for the NEXTEL Cup" are locked into place. Greg Biffle opened space in front of the field the last 18 laps and never traded it with anybody, winning his second career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race driving the No. 16 National Guard/The Flash Ford for Roush Racing. Gordon finished seventh in the race, while Johnson dropped out in 40th for the second straight race. This allowed Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, to swap positions with his garage mate and take over the points lead for the first time this season. Down at 10th and 11th in points, the rookie Kahne drove to fifth at Michigan in his No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge. Mayfield could do no better than 11th, so Kahne moved into the final spot in the top 10 as Mayfield fell down to 11th by six points. Under the new NEXTEL Cup rules, only the drivers in the top 10 after the 26th race on Sept. 11 at Richmond International Raceway will be considered as championship contenders. The points leader after that race will receive 5,050 points and the next nine trailing him in the top 10 receive five points less per position. The driver in 10th place in the standings following Richmond will trail the leader by only 45 points. While all drivers outside the top 10 can compete for victory in the remaining races, but not for the title, the 10th-place driver in points qualifies for the 10-driver, 10-race "Chase for the NEXTEL Cup," a trip to the NEXTEL Cup awards banquet in New York in December and a minimum post-season payout of $1 million. The NEXTEL Cup champion will earn a minimum of $5 million. The remaining pre-Chase for the NEXTEL Cup races, at Bristol, California and Richmond should be an intense showdown for eight drivers. Kevin Harvick, Bobby Labonte and Kahne, who stand eighth, ninth and 10th in points, respectively, all are vulnerable to being ousted in the last three qualifying races. Harvick is only 46 points and Labonte only 13 points ahead of Mayfield. Chasing them are Mayfield, in 11th, Mark Martin, who is 33 behind Kahne in 12th, Ryan Newman, who is 44 points behind in 13th, and Dale Jarrett, 58 points back in 14th. Martin followed Biffle across the finish line in second and might have won if he hadn't been handed a pit drive-through penalty for departing the pits with a loose lug nut. Newman managed to salvage a day that started horribly. He was due to take the green in 12th, but had to pit during the parade lap to replace a flat left rear tire and was forced to start at the back of the field. He also spun, but still made a good comeback and finished 14th. Newman won the first race of 2004 at Michigan on June 20 but has scored only one top-10 finish in the past eight races, contributing significantly to his slide in points. For Gordon, who is seeking his fifth NEXTEL Cup championship, the climb to the top of the standings has been a rollercoaster ride, taking 23 races. He was seventh after the opening Daytona 500, dipped to 13th when he crashed at Darlington, then worked his way back up to third after the first Richmond race in May. He dipped to sixth, 287 points out of first, in June at Michigan with an engine problem. Then he started his comeback with back-to-back victories at Sonoma and the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, followed with a fourth, second and fifth before his exhilarating fourth win in the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Aug. 8. Although Gordon placed only 21st and seventh, respectively, in the two races since Indy, Johnson's pair of 40th-place finishes in the last two races and a 36th-place result at the Brickyard allowed Gordon to move to the top by 68 points. It marks the first time since his most recent championship in 2001 that Gordon has led the points. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth retained their third, fourth and fifth spots, respectively, while Kurt Busch, who finished sixth at Michigan, moved around Elliott Sadler for sixth. Two of NASCAR's veterans, Martin and Jarrett (a two-time Brickyard 400 champion), finished second and third, respectively, at Michigan. However, they still face high odds of jumping up to that coveted 10th spot in points. INs (denotes leader's point total and points behind leader for all other drivers) 1. Jeff Gordon 3,254 points 2. Jimmie Johnson - 68 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - 139 4. Tony Stewart - 165 5. Matt Kenseth - 236 6. Kurt Busch - 345 7. Elliott Sadler - 390 8. Kevin Harvick - 422 9. Bobby Labonte - 455 10. Kasey Kahne - 462 OUTs 11. Jeremy Mayfield - 468 12. Mark Martin - 495 13. Ryan Newman - 506 14. Dale Jarrett - 520 15. Jamie McMurray - 532 16. Casey Mears - 699 17. Michael Waltrip - 766 18. Greg Biffle - 832 19. Rusty Wallace - 837 20. Sterling Marlin - 858 21. Robby Gordon - 877 22. Jeff Burton - 890 23. Terry Labonte - 913 24. Brian Vickers - 913 25. Joe Nemechek - 935 26. Scott Wimmer - 1,028 27. Ricky Rudd - 1,097 28. Ward Burton - 1,200 29. Scott Riggs - 1,304 30. Brendan Gaughan - 1,304 31. Kyle Petty - 1,343 32. Jeffrey Green - 1,345 33. Ken Schrader - 1,357 34. Ricky Craven - 1,414 35. Jimmy Spencer - 1,895 36. Dave Blaney - 1,959 37. Johnny Sauter - 2037 38. Derrike Cope - 2,325 39. Morgan Shepherd - 2,552 40. Kevin Lepage - 2,672 41. Todd Bodine - 2,701 42. Kirk Shelmerdine - 2,765 43. John Andretti - 2,794 44. Hermie Sadler - 2,804 45. Bill Elliott - 2,844 46. Bobby Hamilton Jr. - 2,873 47. PJ Jones - 2,938 48. Johnny Benson - 2,983 49. Carl Long - 2,987 50. Scott Pruett - 3,047 51. Joe Ruttman - 3,047 52. Andy Hillenburg - 3,048 53. Larry Foyt - 3,060 54. Geoffrey Bodine - 3,062 55. Stanton Barrett - 3,070 56. Ron Fellows - 3,084 57. Mike Wallace - 3,084 58. Boris Said - 3,104 59. Larry Gunselman - 3,107 60. Kerry Earnhardt - 3,117 61. Carl Edwards - 3,120 62. Tony Raines - 3,138 63. Kenny Wallace - 3,141 64. Klaus Graf - 3,142 65. Tom Hubert - 3,144 66. Kyle Busch - 3,147 67. Jim Inglebright - 3,148 68. Andy Belmont - 3,156 69. Mike Skinner - 3,157 70. Eric McClure - 3,164 71. Mike Bliss - 3,184 72. Tony Ave - 3,184 73. Ted Christopher - 3,199 74. Austin Cameron - 3,205 75. Jason Jarrett - 3,211 76. Brandon Ash - 3,214 77. Greg Sacks - 3,217 78. Randy LaJoie - 3,220 79. Chad Blount - 3,220 80. Jason Leffler - 3,220
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