Gordon Holds On to Win at Daytona

In something of an Independence Weekend parade, by Daytona International Speedway standards, Jeff Gordon held off Sterling Marlin and Dale Earnhardt in a final-lap sprint to victory Saturday in the Pepsi 400.

Gordon and Marlin dominated the race, leading 72 of the 160 laps.

Earnhardt started on the pole, fell back to as far behind as 14th place because his pit crew made a bad adjustment on his Chevrolet Monte Carlo, then recovered to pass cars and move into second place with 13 laps to go.

He stayed in Gordon’s rearview mirror the rest of the way, being passed by Marlin in a fender-banging finish.

“We had a great practice [Friday], and I told the guys not to mess with the car, we’ve got what it takes,” said Gordon, whose four victories are two more than anyone else on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit this season. “We proved that today.”

Still, Gordon, who became the youngest winner of Daytona’s summer race, wasn’t pleased when the yellow flag came out on Lap 157 because of a crash.

“I didn’t want to see that caution,” he said. “Earnhardt is the last guy you want to see in your mirror with one lap to go.”

Gordon won with an average speed of 166.976 m.p.h. and earned $96,580.

“I think it means a lot to race Sterling and Earnhardt--the guys I feel like are the fastest and the best right now,” said Gordon, 23, who earned his season-high fourth victory. “I feel like this is their strongest track. This is not our strongest track, but it was good for us today.”

Even though he already has established himself as one of the sport’s premier racers, Gordon still exhibits a “gee whiz” mentality after each victory.

“It’s not the Daytona 500, but it’s still Daytona and that means a lot,” said Gordon, the youngest to win the track’s summer race. “This is an awesome win for me. We wanted to win this one real bad.”

Marlin maintained his lead in the Winston Cup standings. Though several other racers are within striking distance, it has become apparent one of these three will be holding the trophy come December.

“We were lucky to get second and hang onto the points lead,” said Marlin, who started second and wound up with his 12th top-10 finish of the year. “It looks like it’s going to be the same three cars. I hope it is anyway. We’ll try to hang on and see what happens down the stretch.”

After 15 of 31 races, Marlin is seven points ahead of Gordon (2,200-2,193) and 16 in front of seven-time series champion Earnhardt.