Gordon wins shortened Pocono race

Gordon was leading the field on lap 103 of the scheduled 200 when NASCAR officials decided to throw a caution flag for rain.

As the race was already past the halfway mark, the order became the official result of the race as the showers intensified and NASCAR officials decided to call it a day at Pocono.

The rain had already delayed the start of the race for nearly three hours, which made NASCAR's decision easier to take as daylight also came into consideration due to the late starting time and the absence of lights at the 2.5-mile oval to allow for the race to be completed at night.

Gordon's winning hopes came alive when he changed his strategy during the second caution period of the race, choosing to stay on the track and running out of pit-sequence with the leaders.

With rain on the radar, he then pitted on lap 82, taking two tyres and fuel, retaking the lead on lap 100 when everyone completed their third stops of the day.

The field completed three laps under caution once the rain arrived but then the race was red-flagged and cars queued in the pits waiting for a decision from NASCAR, which arrived about an hour later for the joy of Gordon and his team.

"It's the first time I can ever walk to victory lane," Gordon said after receiving the good news of the race becoming official while he waited beside his car at the end of the pit-road.

"It was just an unbelievable pit-strategy that (crew-chief) Steve Letarte played out. Sometimes you win, some like this you lose.

"We had a good race car but we just couldn't get from about eighth or ninth to the front. We had some break issues and track position was just so hard to get. But I think we showed once we got up-front how strong we were."

Pole-sitter Ryan Newman finished second and was attacking Gordon just before the rain arrived, leaving him disappointed as his first win of the season was probably a few laps short of green-flag racing.

"It's mixed emotions; it's a good finish but we came here to win," said Newman, who was running beside Gordon when the final caution came out.

"The lap before the caution I got some rain on the back- straightaway so I knew it was going to be raining again harder yet and it was. But Jeff didn't get it so he checked-up and I got a good run at him."

Martin Truex Jr had another solid run finishing third ahead of Casey Mears, who mirrored the strategy of his Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon but did not have as much pace to make it a 1-2 for his team.

Joe Gibbs drivers Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart dominated the first 50 laps of racing but were caught out with their pit-strategy.

Hamlin led 49 laps and looked poised to dominate at the 2.5-mile once again, but his second pitstop dropped him to 21st as most drivers changed two tyres while he went for a full set of new Goodyears.

"We had the best car again," Hamlin said. "You never know how many cars are going to get two [tyres] or none, so you don't know that. We took the smart conservative approach; sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't."

Carl Edwards, who won the Busch Series event yesterday at Nashville, gambled on staying as long as he could on the track on a fuel-economy run as both lap 100 and the rain approached. Eventually he had to pit from the lead on lap 100, just three laps short of the final caution flag.

Juan Pablo Montoya was also among the late stoppers before the last caution of the race. The Colombian who had started 38th, ran as high as third before pitting on lap 94, eventually finishing 20th as the best-placed rookie.

"Well, from starting 38th and it only being half a race we made a lot of progress," Montoya said. "I think we could have finished a lot higher than this.

"Our race car was getting very good, actually. All three Ganassi cars were pretty good. And strategy and everything, a lot of guys played it off and it played for them. I was just a little bit unlucky."

The biggest loser of the day was Jimmie Johnson, who had a flat tyre just as he was starting lap 90. He had to complete a full lap running on his left front rim, causing damage to the front suspension of his car, and being forced to go to his garage. He rejoined the race later but could only finish 42nd.

As a consequence, he has lost second place in the standings to Matt Kenseth who was ninth, while Denny Hamlin is now third ahead of Johnson.

Pos Driver                Car           Laps
 1. Jeff Gordon           Chevrolet      106
 2. Ryan Newman           Dodge          106
 3. Martin Truex Jr.      Chevrolet      106
 4. Casey Mears           Chevrolet      106
 5. Tony Stewart          Chevrolet      106
 6. Denny Hamlin          Chevrolet      106
 7. Mark Martin           Chevrolet      106
 8. Kyle Busch            Chevrolet      106
 9. Matt Kenseth          Ford           106
10. Clint Bowyer          Chevrolet      106
11. Kevin Harvick         Chevrolet      106
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr.    Chevrolet      106
13. Jeff Burton           Chevrolet      106
14. Carl Edwards          Ford           106
15. Joe Nemechek          Chevrolet      106
16. Kurt Busch            Dodge          106
17. J.J. Yeley            Chevrolet      106
18. Scott Riggs           Dodge          106
19. Bobby Labonte         Dodge          106
20. Juan Montoya          Dodge          106
21. Elliott Sadler        Dodge          106
22. Kasey Kahne           Dodge          106
23. David Stremme         Dodge          106
24. Reed Sorenson         Dodge          106
25. Chad McCumbee         Dodge          106
26. David Ragan           Ford           106
27. Ricky Rudd            Ford           106
28. Paul Menard           Chevrolet      106
29. Jamie McMurray        Ford           106
30. Greg Biffle           Ford           106
31. Sterling Marlin       Chevrolet      106
32. Jeff Green            Chevrolet      106
33. Ward Burton           Chevrolet      106
34. David Gilliland       Ford           106
35. Brian Vickers         Toyota         106
36. Tony Raines           Chevrolet      106
37. Bill Elliott          Ford           105
38. David Reutimann       Toyota         105
39. A.J. Allmendinger     Toyota         104
40. Johnny Sauter         Chevrolet      103
41. Robby Gordon          Ford           103
42. Jimmie Johnson        Chevrolet       97
43. Dave Blaney           Toyota          56