Jeff Gordon Cannot Catch Kenseth
Jeff Gordon Was Unable to catch Matt Kenseth at Michigan
Was Gordon going to catch Kenseth? If Gordon did pass Kenseth, would he render retribution?
When Jeff Gordon passed Clint Bowyer, and pulled within a second of race leader Matt Kenseth, anyone who watched the NASCAR race at Chicagoland last month began having flashbacks. Was Gordon going to catch Kenseth? If Gordon did pass Kenseth, would he render retribution?
Jeff Gordon was unable to catch Matt Kenseth for the GFS Marketplace 400 victory at Michigan, so the drama was minimal. But Kenseth and Gordon did solidify themselves as legitimate Nextel Cup title contenders, as did Tony Stewart who finished third.
Kenseth passed rookie Clint Bowyer on lap 169 and never looked back, although Gordon rallied from 12th position on the final restart to pull within a second of the eventual race winner. Had the race been a 410-miler, Gordon may have added some excitement to the finish.
"What I thought of was Las Vegas, Bristol and Chicago because we were in a position to win all three of them and I got run into twice and passed once," said Kenseth.
Kenseth has pulled to within 58 points of Nextel Cup points leader Jimmie Johnson. Johnson finished in 13th position after blowing a tire on the first lap of the race.
Bowyer seemed to have third place in the bag before his engine perished with less than three laps remaining in the GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan. The tainted engine cost Bowyer 30 positions as he was relegated to a 33rd place finish.
Dale Earnhardt Jr had a stout run at Michigan, and arguably had the fastest car throughout the first-half of the race, but a late pit miscue shuffled him to mid-pack. He rallied back to finish 6th.
Earnhardt Jr maintained his grasp in the top ten in the Nextel Cup standings, just 49 points ahead of 11th place Kasey Kahne.
Earnhardt Jr and Carl Edwards tangled during the Busch Series event on Saturday. After the green-white-checker restart, Robby Gordon pulled underneath Edwards with Earnhardt Jr tailing him. Edwards car appeared to have wiggled just a little before Earnhardt Jr sent the 60 Henkel Ford spinning. Edwards retaliated in Days Of Thunder style- flying out of the pits and ramming into the side of Earnhardt Jr's Chevrolet.
"I didn't mean to spin him out. I don't go around wrecking people," said Earnhardt Jr. "I wouldn't have waited two years to get back at him for wrecking me in Atlanta in 2004 pretty much the same way."
Edwards unambiguously felt differently on the matter, as he would accost Earnhardt Jr in victory lane.
"He just wrecked me off [Turn] 2," Edwards said. "I just wanted to make sure he knew I was mad that he wrecked me. It's racing."
Well, Edwards, I think Earnhardt got the message.
Earnhardt Jr was discordantly booed by a majority of the fans in attendance.
NASCAR met with both parties involved on Sunday hoping to clear the air.
Elliott Sadler finished tenth in the debut with Evernham Motorsports while David Gilliland's debut with Robert Yates Racing didn't end quite as favorably. He wrecked in practice on Friday, and on Sunday, a flat tire forced the 38 Ford into the wall. Gilliland finished an unsatisfactory 38th.
Evernham Motorsports outcast Jeremy Mayfield will begin testing Toyota Camry's at Kentucky this week laying groundwork for 2007. Mayfield will sign with Bill Davis Racing; an announcement could come this weekend at Bristol.
Quote of the week
Jeff Gordon hoped to have passed Matt Kenseth differently than he did at Chicagoland.
"I would have liked to show him and everybody else I know how to pass him clean."
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