Jeff Gordon victorious at Infineon
Jeff Gordon showed why he is the Nextel Cup road course king as he took victory in the Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway
Gordon took the lead just before half-distance after starting twelfth and looked set for victory from that point onwards. But a series of late cautions and an ambitious pit stop strategy by Terry Labonte kept hopes alive that someone else could take the win.
However, after each restart, Gordon opened the gap and proved too strong to take his first win since Martinsville last year, as he won his ninth road course race, extending his dominance on tracks with both left and right hand turns.
Second was Ryan Newman who led for a while just before half distance, while third was Terry Labonte whose risky pit strategy paid off as he made it to the end without running out of fuel.
Though he lost a place to Newman just over a lap before the chequer, a top three finish for the number 96 car was just what the team hoped for and achieved.
Completing the top five were Greg Biffle and pole sitter Kurt Busch, who led the first third of the race before a quick stall in the pits.
Tony Stewart looked set for a top five finish and possibly even a win, before his car began smoking in the final 20 laps. Third at the time, he fell down the order as the laps wound down to finish the race in 29th position. He had recovered from a speeding in pit lane penalty and contact with other cars earlier in the race.
As well as a string of late cautions, there were also two red flags, one early in the race and one late, both for multi-car incidents down the field.
A tenth place finish for Jimmie Johnson kept him on top of the points, 101 points ahead of Matt Kenseth, with the big mover being Jeff Gordon, who moved from eleventh to eighth and into contention for making the Chase later in the season.
Pos Driver Make Laps 1. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 109 2. Ryan Newman Dodge 109 3. Terry Labonte Chevrolet 109 4. Greg Biffle Ford 109 5. Kurt Busch Dodge 109 6. Carl Edwards Ford 109 7. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 109 8. Elliott Sadler Ford 109 9. Boris Said Ford 109 10. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 109 11. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 109 12. Mark Martin Ford 109 13. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 109 14. Brian Vickers Chevrolet 109 15. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 109 16. Jamie McMurray Ford 109 17. Matt Kenseth Ford 109 18. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 109 19. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 109 20. Jeff Green Chevrolet 109 21. Casey Mears Dodge 109 22. Kyle Petty Dodge 109 23. Jeremy Mayfield Dodge 109 24. Michael Waltrip Dodge 109 25. Scott Pruett Dodge 109 26. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 109 27. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 109 28. Scott Riggs Dodge 109 29. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 109 30. Reed Sorenson Dodge 109 31. Kasey Kahne Dodge 109 32. David Gilliland Dodge 107 33. J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 104 34. Dale Jarrett Ford 104 35. Bobby Labonte Dodge 104 36. P.J. Jones Chevrolet 101 37. Ron Fellows Chevrolet 99 38. Brandon Ash Dodge 84 39. Dave Blaney Dodge 79 40. Robby Gordon Chevrolet 74 41. Ken Schrader Ford 0 42. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 0 43. Tom Hubert Ford 0
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