Dover NASCAR: Jeff Gordon wins as first Chase contenders eliminated
Jeff Gordon claimed an ultimately dominant NASCAR Sprint Cup win at Dover as the original 16-strong Chase field was whittled down to 12
With the race up front an uneventful affair commanded in turn by Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and finally Gordon, most of the interest was in which four drivers would be eliminated from the 2014 championship hunt as the three-race 'Challenger round' of the Chase ended.
Greg Biffle, AJ Allmendinger and Aric Almirola were off the pace all day, and their title hopes duly fizzled out with 21st, 23rd and 28th place finishes.
Kasey Kahne had the most nerve-wracking afternoon, dropping two laps down with a loose wheel early on.
He mounted a steady fightback and his eventual 20th position was sufficient to get him through to the next phase at the expense of Kurt Busch, whose 18th place was not enough.
At the front, poleman Harvick led the first 147 of the 400 laps, lost the lead to Keselowski when he feared a problem at the front of his Stewart-Haas Chevrolet, and then retook it at the next pitstops.
But just after half-distance a tyre deflation caused damage and forced an extra stop. That dropped him to 21st, and 13th would be the limit of his recovery.
Keselowski then led until Gordon's Hendrick Chevrolet overtook his Penske Ford with 94 laps to go.
They stayed close initially, before Gordon pulled clear to take victory by five seconds over Keselowski, who was chased home by Gordon's team-mate Jimmie Johnson.
Joey Logano beat Matt Kenseth to fourth as they too kept themselves in the Chase, with Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr the best of those not in the title race in sixth and seventh.
Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr also sealed their places in the next leg of the title battle.
Results - 400 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 3h03m51.000s 2. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford +5.238s 3. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet +6.787s 4. Joey Logano Penske Ford +10.755s 5. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota +11.787s 6. Kyle Larson Ganassi Chevrolet +15.158s 7. Martin Truex Jr Furniture Row Chevrolet +16.807s 8. Ryan Newman Childress Chevrolet +18.855s 9. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota +18.981s 10. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota +18.990s 11. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford +23.445s 12. Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Toyota +24.748s 13. Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet -1 lap 14. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet -1 lap 15. Brian Vickers Waltrip Toyota -1 lap 16. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet -1 lap 17. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet -1 lap 18. Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Chevrolet -1 lap 19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford -1 lap 20. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet -1 lap 21. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford -1 lap 22. Jamie McMurray Ganassi Chevrolet -2 laps 23. AJ Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Chevrolet -2 laps 24. Austin Dillon Childress Chevrolet -2 laps 25. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet -2 laps 26. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford -2 laps 27. Casey Mears Germain Chevrolet -3 laps 28. Aric Almirola Petty Ford -3 laps 29. Justin Allgaier HScott Chevrolet -4 laps 30. Cole Whitt BK Toyota -5 laps 31. David Ragan Front Row Ford -5 laps 32. Reed Sorenson Baldwin Chevrolet -6 laps 33. David Gilliland Front Row Ford -7 laps 34. Alex Bowman BK Toyota -9 laps 35. Landon Cassill Hillman Chevrolet -9 laps 36. Mike Bliss Baldwin Chevrolet -9 laps 37. David Stremme Circle Sport Chevrolet -11 laps 38. Travis Kvapil BK Toyota -11 laps 39. JJ Yeley Go FAS Ford -13 laps 40. Mike Wallace Identity Ventures Toyota -16 laps Retirements: Michael Annett Baldwin Chevrolet 361 laps Josh Wise Parsons Chevrolet 197 laps Timmy Hill Xtreme Chevrolet 11 laps
DRIVERS THROUGH TO NEXT ROUND OF CHASE:
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Brad Keselowski | 3000 |
2 | Jeff Gordon | 3000 |
3 | Joey Logano | 3000 |
4 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 3000 |
5 | Jimmie Johnson | 3000 |
6 | Kevin Harvick | 3000 |
7 | Carl Edwards | 3000 |
8 | Kyle Busch | 3000 |
9 | Denny Hamlin | 3000 |
10 | Kasey Kahne | 3000 |
11 | Matt Kenseth | 3000 |
12 | Ryan Newman | 3000 |
Points will be reset for 'Contender' round
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