Dover NASCAR: Jeff Gordon wins as first Chase contenders eliminated

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:

Points will be reset for 'Contender' round