Gordon Wins Virginia 500

Jeff Gordon nudged Bobby Labonte aside on the 487th lap Sunday to win the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Gordon had been dueling Labonte since they broke away on a restart with 48 laps to go, but Labonte blocked his efforts to pass on both the inside and outside before Gordon finally moved him out of the way.

The bump occurred as they entered the first turn, drawing a mixture of cheers and boos from the crowd of 86,000. The race finished under caution, and Gordon earned the 62nd Winston Cup victory of his career and first this year.

“Bobby and I were having a lot of fun there at the end, bumping and rubbing,” Gordon said. “He was doing everything he could. I didn’t want to knock him out of the way too hard, but I did push him around a little.”

After a caution ended with eight laps to go, Gordon easily pulled away from the field, proving he had the strongest car. The final caution came on the 499th lap.

Labonte, who won the race last year, held on to finish second.

“We held Jeff off as long as we could,” Labonte said. “That was hard racing. That was good clean fun. All that racing was good.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. led 195 laps and finished third, giving Chevrolet the top three spots in the field. Jeff Burton and Elliott Sadler were fourth and fifth, both in Fords.

Earnhardt was second to Labonte after pit stops, but he banged into the rear of the lapped car of Ricky Craven in Turns 1 and 2. Earnhardt’s car got held up by Craven’s Ford, and three contenders passed him.

Earnhardt’s finish enabled him to trim 78 points off Matt Kenseth’s lead in the standings. Kenseth has 1,330 points. Earnhardt is second with 1,279 followed by Gordon, who has 1,191.

Kenseth, who was lapped by Gordon on the 61st lap, finished 22nd.

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Scott Sharp won the crash-filled Indy Japan 300 at Motegi and moved into a tie for the lead in career victories in the Indy Racing League series.

Sharp finished under the yellow flag at Twin Ring Motegi for his eighth IRL victory, matching Sam Hornish Jr. and Buddy Lazier.

The Japan 300 was the first Indy Racing League event held outside the United States.

Sharp moved into the lead after pole-sitter Scott Dixon and leader Tony Kanaan crashed on the 178th lap. Dixon attempted to pass Kanaan on the inside on the third turn, but their tires made contact and the two cars crashed into the wall.

Kanaan, who led for much of the race, was taken to a hospital for a broken left arm. Dixon, who led for 45 of the 200 laps, injured his right wrist in the crash.

Kenny Brack finished second Felipe Giaffone was third.

Sharp leads the IndyCar series standings with 106 points. Kanaan is second with 102 and Giaffone is third with 92.

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Doug Kalitta earned his first top fuel win of the year when he powered his dragster to a time of 4.580 seconds at 323.43 mph to beat Cory McClenathan at the NHRA O’Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway in Baytown, Texas.

Tony Pedregon narrowly defeated Del Worsham in the funny car final with a run of 4.969 (313.07 mph) in a Ford Mustang to hold off Worsham’s Pontiac.

Kurt Johnson, who set the NHRA national speed record at 205.57 mph in qualifying, drove a Chevy Cavalier to his second pro stock victory when he edged Scott Geoffrion.