A sweeter victory for Hendrick
Back in October, Jimmie Johnson won at Martinsville unaware that a plane carrying members of the Hendrick Motorsports organization had crashed during the race, claiming the lives of 10 people. There were no Victory Lane celebrations that day. On Sunday, Hendrick finally got the celebration it couldn't have six months ago when another of its drivers, Jeff Gordon, found his way to the checkers in stirring fashion.
This was a typical caution-filled Martinsville race, and with the exception of Carl Edwards, most of my drivers performed well throughout the day. But alas, at the end of it I was only batting .500.
GLENN'S TEN (5-for-10):
* Jeff Gordon (winner) -- Winner! It looked like it might be a long day for Super G when he developed a tire vibration about 50 laps in and had to pit under green, leaving him three laps down. But the car was awesome (as the racers like to say) and he made up all three laps with the help of cautions by around lap 280. From there it was just a matter of picking off the sitting ducks, which he did with relative ease. He only led about the last 35 laps, including the final three after a restart in which he managed to hold off Kasey Kahne for career victory number 71. Back up to 6th in points. He needed this one.
* Jimmie Johnson -- 8th, Champions find a way to get good finishes under adversity. Jimmie isn't a champion yet, but this run from 37th keeps him atop the points standings. The car started awful (he was lapped twice) and got better throughout the race.
* Bobby Labonte -- 33rd, Labonte led some of the early laps until he developed engine problems. Another in a string of disappointments for the #18 team.
* Dale Jarrett -- 14th, About where he ran all day, except for when he used pit strategy to run in the top 5 briefly.
* Kurt Busch -- 19th, If you want the winning moment, it wasn't when Gordon passed Sterling Marlin to take the lead; it was when Gordon drove in deep into the turn and put Busch into the wall to bring out the caution as he was making his charge through the field. Busch may have had the car to beat if not for that. He was leading in the closing stages and outrunning everyone while Gordon was stuck in traffic. But then on the preceding caution the leaders got stuck in traffic behind cars that stayed out, and he couldn't get free of Gordon. Then they made contact and that was that. Gordon apologized later, but I can't think he was too disappointed about the outcome. Have to wonder if there will be some payback somewhere in the future.
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 13th, The car was looking like a top 10 contender until he got into Mike Bliss (or vice-versa) and damaged his fender. Never was as good after that. Still, this will help his precarious points situation.
* Ryan Newman -- 4th, Ryan got roughed up on the opening lap when Scott Riggs got loose underneath him. He got penalized a lap for intentionally bringing out a caution, but eventually made it up and used pit strategy to take the lead with about 50 laps to go. Old tires couldn't hold off all the other frontrunners, however.
* Carl Edwards -- 38th, I think my original assessment that short tracks aren't his forté may be accurate. He spun out and got plowed by Hermie Sadler, puncturing the radiator. He was almost 180 laps down when he finally returned to the action.
* Rusty Wallace -- 5th, Rusty's downfall was the dreaded speeding penalty on pit road, which sent him to the end of the lead lap cars. He took the rest of the race to get caught up after having led early.
* Mark Martin -- 3rd, He says he hates Martinsville, but he ran darn well today. Was clearly a top 5 car.
REST OF THE TOP 10:
* Kasey Kahne -- 2nd, Another 2nd place finish for the kid. He was moving up on Gordon near the end, but three laps wasn't enough to do anything with him.
* Sterling Marlin -- 6th, Counting the weeks until the end of the season, when he will likely be out of the Coors Light Dodge. He stayed out on old tires to gain track position and led the race until Jeff Gordon tracked him down.
* Ricky Rudd -- 7th, Liked his car all day and it showed with the good run. Is he on track to end the winless drought soon?
* Elliott Sadler -- 9th, A popular finish in front of a hometown crowd.
* Joe Nemechek -- 10th, Front Row Joe finishes where he started.
OTHER NOTABLES:
* Jeremy Mayfield -- 15th, Shot him self in the foot with a penalty, but led a bunch of laps early. First time in 20 races he's led here.
* Scott Riggs -- 21st, Pole-sitter had a rough day.
* Tony Stewart -- 26th, I was going to kick myself for not picking him when he led the way early. He looked like the car to beat, leading the most laps, until the wheel came off (literally) inside 100 to go. He finished 7 laps down.
* Kyle Busch -- 39th, He tangled with Mike Bliss and didn't fare too well. He had been in the top 15.
Next week... Back to the cookie-cutter ovals at texas Motor Speedway.
