Kansas: Jeff Gordon takes third win

Reigning champion Jeff Gordon moved back into NASCAR Winston Cup title contention with victory in the Protection One 400 at Kansas Speedway. He now lies fourth in the standings, 109 points off the top of the table

Sep 29, 2002, 11:17 PM

The Chevrolet Monte Carlo driver held off rookie Ryan Newman in a five lap dash to the flag after a late red flag triggered by a multi-car pile-up.

Gordon dominated the second half of the race, and duly took the 61st Winston cup victory of his relatively short top level career.

Rusty Wallace finished third, ahead of Joe Nemechek and Bill Elliott.

Rookie Jimmie Johnson, who won last weekend at Dover Downs, recovered from a flat tyre on his Chevrolet to take a solid 11th place. He now leads the standings by just one point from veteran Mark Martin, whose engine failure left him classified only 25th.

Sterling Marlin, who led the points standings for 25 races and was only knocked of the top by Martin recently, ended up 33rd after being eliminated in an accident after 147 laps.

Pole position winner Dale Earnhardt Jr, searching desperately for a good results after a recent downturn in form, finished a strong sixth, with championship contender Tony Stewart's Pontiac eighth.