All of the hopes and the expectations that Jeff Gordon carried into each season were ended more than a month ago when he did not make the 10-car field for NASCAR's chase for the Nextel Cup. Anything less than a berth in the playoff is considered a failure for a driver like Gordon, who has four Nextel Cup titles.
So at this point in the season, winning is the only consolation. On Sunday, when the chase was all but reduced to a two-car battle between the points leaders Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson, Gordon took the spotlight away for at least a moment with a victory in the Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Gordon earned his second consecutive victory here, having captured the spring race, and soothed once again the anguish that Hendrick Motorsports continued to feel after an airplane crash here took 10 family members, team members and pilots a year ago. Hendrick drivers have won three races in a row at this track, including Johnson's victory last year on the day of the crash. The team owner, Rick Hendrick, did not attend the race.
Gordon said: "Well, you know, it brings back a lot of tough memories with what happened here a year ago. We just want to keep honoring those folks that were lost. I know they're looking down on us and really smiling."
New crew chief
It was Gordon's first victory since Steve Letarte became his crew chief, replacing Robbie Loomis before the Sept. 18 race at New Hampshire. Gordon credited Letarte for making the call of the race, a decision to keep the car on the track rather than going to pit road during a caution with 157 laps to go. When Stewart and the rest of the lead pack pitted, Gordon moved into first place. He held that spot through most of the final stretch.
"If you don't win here, I think it would've been tough for Steve," said Gordon, who has seven victories at this track. "I'm just glad he was able to withstand that kind of pressure and also make the call."
Still, the real pressure was not on Gordon or Letarte, but the drivers remaining in the hunt for the Nextel Cup. Entering the race, the contenders were a tightly packed field with Stewart and Johnson tied for the lead in points and Kurt Busch in 10th place but within striking range, 142 points behind.
Martinsville stretched the field considerably. Beyond the top two (Stewart finished second, Johnson third), only Busch (sixth) and Ryan Newman (10th) were able to finish in the top 10. Stewart now has a 15-point lead over Johnson, and Newman is third, 63 points back. Greg Biffle is fourth, 83 points behind, after finishing 20th, and no other driver is within 100 points with four races to go in the Chase.
Stewart had the dominant car through most of the race, leading for 283 laps. But he was in third place in the latter stages and had to tap Johnson from behind to pull ahead into second place with seven laps to go.
Qualification controversy
There was controversy between Stewart and Johnson before the race.
Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, apparently had declared Saturday that the No. 48 Chevrolet was the better car even though Stewart's No. 20 Chevrolet had won the pole while Johnson had qualified sixth.
"When you got a guy with the things like Chad was saying on the radio, it's like being inside a kindergarten room listening to it," Stewart said after the race Sunday.
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