Jeff Gordon Finds Trouble at Lowes
The championship hopes of Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, and Denny Hamlin suffered major blows
Oct 16, 2006
Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson, the winners of the previous six races at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway, finished first and second, yet they gained little ground on NASCAR Nextel Cup points leader Jeff Burton, who finished the Bank of America in third position.
Kahne started on the outside of the front row alongside his Evernham Motorsports teammate Scott Riggs, and led 134 laps en route to his series leading sixth victory of the 2006 Nextel Cup season. Unfortunately, he is still 160 points behind the seemingly shatterproof Jeff Burton.
"It's just tough when you're racing the guys we're racing with. The reason all 10 of us are in the top 10 in points is because we've all run well all year long," Kahne said after his win.
Even though Kahne has notched six victories in 2006, they all have come on 1.5 or 2-mile speedways. I am still not convinced that he is the real deal, and will not be until he starts to win on other varieties of venues. Let’s see how he does at Martinsville.
Johnson’s second place finish was a breath of fresh air after his disappointing finishes at Kansas and Talladega, but he only gained ten points on championship leader Jeff Burton.
"I had a good night, but I only made up 10 points," said Jimmie Johnson. "It is frustrating to just gain 10 points."
Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon had a solid run going at Lowe’s Motor Speedway until another mechanical malfunction with only 33 laps remaining abated any likelihood of a fifth Nextel Cup championship.
"We pride ourselves on our engine department," Gordon said. "It's just not meant to be for us this year."
Gordon’s 24th place finish was his third consecutive finish outside of the top 20. He is now 10th in the Nextel Cup standings, 216 points off the lead.
Mark Martin’s championship hopes took a major hit when he collided with rookie J.J. Yeley. Yeley was attempting to make a pit stop when Martin, who apparently didn’t see the hand signals, ran into Yeley’s Chevrolet, defacing both vehicles. The typically cynical Martin was rather frivolous in his post-accident interview.
"The championship is not really something that's meant to be for me ever," he said. "It's not gonna beat me down. I'm having a good time. I'm having a blast."
Dale Earnhardt Jr finished fourth, Kyle Busch finished sixth, Matt Kenseth finished fourteenth, Kevin Harvick finished eighteenth, and Denny Hamlin finished 28th after his involvement in a lap 1 accident.
Other big news from this past weekend included Robby Gordon’s announcement that he will drive Ford Fusions in 2007, ending his two-year relationship with Chevrolet. And Ward Burton will enter his first NASCAR Nextel Cup race since November of 2004 this up coming weekend at Martinsville. He will pilot the Chevrolet’s owned by Morgan-McClure Motorsports.
Quote of the week
Matt Kenseth on the wild Busch Series race on Friday night won by Dave Blaney
"That was a mess of a race, that's for sure. It was Friday the 13th, wasn't it?"
