Motorsports

Gordon jumps in, gets spun out

By BRANT JAMES
Published October 9, 2006

TALLADEGA, Ala. - The inevitable big wreck that has come to symbolize racing at Talladega Superspeedway put another crinkle in Jeff Gordon's hopes for a fifth Nextel Cup championship.

Gordon started fourth and was able to maneuver a nimble No. 24 Chevrolet in and out of packs all afternoon, in the top five for much of the race or in the back when the prevailing strategy was to be in position to see and avoid the first smoking melee.

When Sunday's race went caution-free for the first 73 laps, Gordon got bored, roared back into the top three and led seven times for 27 laps. But after being hung out in the draft, he was squarely in the middle of a bad situation on Lap 137.

Thirteen cars careened through Turns 1 and 2 and Gordon was sent spinning by Casey Mears, causing damage that sent his car to the garage and to an eventual 36th-place finish that dropped him 147 points behind leader Jeff Burton with six races left in the Chase for the Championship.

Though Gordon did not blame the incident on bump-drafting, he was again critical of NASCAR's constant warnings about the tactic without penalizing anyone - namely Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"I don't know if it's motor or what he has there, but that guy seems to be able to run into the back of people harder than anybody," Gordon said. "He's a great drafter. I love racing with him but, man, does he run into the back of people."

Earnhardt is the undisputed master of the technique of ramming another car's bumper to gain an aerodynamic advantage - "There ain't nobody who does it any better," he said - and he seems weary of Gordon's complaints.

"I pushed Jeff Gordon into the lead five times and every time I do that, he complains that I'm bump-drafting him in the corners and blah, blah, blah," said Earnhardt, who was warned late in the race. "So I'm just not going to push him anymore. Besides, every time I help him out, he never gives it back in return. That's why he don't have too many friends out there.

"I was trying to be his only friend, besides his teammates, who are kind of paid to draft with him."

FAIR DEAL: Spokesman Jim Hunter said NASCAR deemed Brian Vickers' wreck-inducing bump of teammate Jimmie Johnson and race-leader Earnhardt unintentional after viewing "a lot of different angles on tape."

"Obviously, we would have preferred it not end like that," Hunter said. "Under the circumstances some decisions were made in the cockpits . . . and I honestly think the accident involving those three cars, it just happened."

SPARK PLUGS: According to Hunter, NASCAR loop data, which is accumulated by a series of sensors positioned around the track, recorded 205 lead changes during the 188-lap race. Officially, a lead change is registered only at the start/finish line, but 63 changes among 23 drives - the most since 1984 - underscored the raciness of the new pavement. Earnhardt led a race-high 37 laps. . . . The top eight drivers in the standings, including Johnson, are within the 156-point margin a driver can make up in one race.

[Last modified October 9, 2006, 02:32:23]