Gordon’s Cool as Cash While Winning Race

Jeff Gordon has earned more than $35 million driving Winston Cup stock cars since 1993, so no one would expect him to get too excited at winning a few more bucks.

Wave a million-dollar carrot in front of him, however, and somehow he manages to pull off a winning effort.

For the fifth time since the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. started putting up a $1-million bonus for winning specified races, the DuPont Chevrolet driver collected the Winston No Bull bonus Sunday when he won the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

A capacity crowd of 125,000 was treated to a cleanly run, mostly follow-the-leader type of race under cloudy skies on the 1.5-mile track. It was just what NASCAR needed, after a Daytona race in which seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt was killed and a Rockingham, N.C., race that was postponed a day by rain.

In a strange scenario that saw first Todd Bodine, then Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin and Sterling Marlin dominate for long stretches, Gordon started 24th--the same number as his car--and worked his way steadily toward the front. It wasn’t until lap 225 of the 267-lap race that he made a bold move past Marlin to take the lead.

No other winner of the bonus program had started that far back. Gordon’s previous bonus wins came at Daytona in 1999, Indianapolis and Darlington in 1998 in No Bull races, and at Darlington in 1997 when he had to win the third of four designated races to take the Winston Million.

Gordon credited a two-tire change by crew chief Robbie Loomis on lap 97 for helping him move through the pack.

“I don’t know exactly what happened, but the two-tire change seemed to loosen up the car and give us better balance,” Gordon said. “We kept running by guys who took on four tires. Then, at the end, the car ran like it was on a rail.

“I’m sure a lot of guys are scratching their heads right now, going, ‘Where in the world did Jeff Gordon come from? He was stuck back there in 18th for the first half of the race.’ I love races like this, where you get better as the day goes on and you just pick away at it.

“All of a sudden, you look around and go, ‘I’m leading this thing--I can’t believe it.’ ”

The win was particularly pleasing for Loomis, who was fined $25,000 after last Monday’s Rockingham race because the car measured too low in post-race inspection.

Officially, there were 20 lead changes among 13 drivers, but most were made when leaders pitted during green flag racing conditions.

Gordon’s win was the third in three races for Chevrolet after Michael Waltrip won at Daytona and Steve Park at Rockingham.

All four manufacturers finished in the top four, however. Pole-sitter Jarrett was second in a Ford, Marlin third in a Dodge and Johnny Benson fourth in a Pontiac.

Jarrett complained that the Fords are at a disadvantage because they do not have the downforce of the Chevys and hinted that NASCAR should make some modifications to level the playing field.

“Just a little help on the front end, where we can get our car a little balanced,” Jarrett explained. “I don’t think we need the two inches the Chevrolet got last year, but a little bit of help would be nice.”

Marlin, the only driver with top-10 finishes in all three races this season, took over the points lead by 35 over Gordon.

“I thought we had the car today,” said Marlin, who led 34 laps before Gordon passed him coming out of the fourth turn. “But once Gordon ran me down we got so loose that I couldn’t touch the gas in [turns] three and four.”

It was the 29-year-old Gordon’s 53rd Winston Cup win, moving him into a seventh place with Rusty Wallace for career wins.

Jeff Burton, who had won the last two Cup races here, was eliminated early when he hit the wall on the second lap.

“I got into the middle of the corner and I wasn’t on the gas or anything and it started coming around,” Burton said. “I never could pull it back. I do not have a clue what happened.”

The most embarrassing moment occurred when Roger Penske’s two Fords, driven by Rusty Wallace and Jeremy Mayfield, crashed together on the eighth lap, knocking both out of the race.

“I think I was running about sixth or seventh when I went into turn one and Jeremy was underneath me and he just lost it,” said Wallace. “He slid up into me and I got into the fence.”

Mayfield’s problem, however, was an oil slick laid down by Ricky Craven that not only caused him to slide, but also Brett Bodine.

“I hate it for Rusty and the guys in the shop,” Mayfield said. “We ran down the straightaway and then I heard, ‘Oil on the race track,’ but by that time it was too late.”

Kevin Harvick, the rookie from Bakersfield who is driving the car that Dale Earnhardt would have driven, was the highest finishing rookie for the second consecutive race after finishing eighth.

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FINISH LINE

1. Jeff Gordon

Chevrolet

$1,369,602

2. Dale Jarrett

Ford

$257,977

3. Sterling Marlin

Dodge

$183,760

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COVERAGE

There are still some lingering questions surrounding the death of Dale Earnhardt. D9