Gordon moves a step closer to title

All he has to do to wrap up the title is finish 32nd or better in next Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway or simply start the last two races of the season.

"Clinching it early is not my goal," said Gordon, who finished 28th after his Chevrolet suffered a crumpled fender from a pit road collision with Jeff Green. "My goal is to win the championship and win races. I'm just disappointed that we had such a good car and such a good run going and we lost that valuable track position.

He added: "It's really my fault. We had trouble with Jeff Green all day long with the way they were pitting. I just couldn't get out and get around him and it was stalling me up when I took off and that one stalled me a little bit more and I got in the outside of him. He came up and we just got together."

Gordon said he is glad to leave the flat, one-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway because the track does not lend itself to competitive racing.

"No disrespect to this speedway, but it's not what we want to be at racing," said Gordon. "It's no fun for the drivers. I doubt whether the fans think it's a lot of fun. It's a great win for Ray Evernham and Bill Elliott, and they were due. But that type of race track doesn't make for much fun out there."