If you say it was fixed you are a fool. The man dominated the race on Sunday more than any other driver on the road to his record breaking win giving him a total of 77 and one more than the late Dale Earnhardt. Gordon in the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet won by every definition of the word the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway to move into sole possession of sixth place on NASCAR’s all-time wins list. Leading 67 of 191 laps is leading roughly one third of the race folks. That's dominating a restrictor plate race. Gordon extended his lead in the championship standings to 203 points over second-place Jeff Burton.
"I never caused a riot before for winning -- well, maybe once or twice,'' Gordon said refering to beer cans that were thrown at him for a third time in his career by angry Dale Earnhardt fans. "I thought Junior had more power. I thought they'd throw toilet paper, which is what he asked them to throw. I saw maybe one roll.'' There are a lot of fans out there who are Earnhardt fans who don't want to see [the record] broken,'' he said. "I appreciate the enthusiasm ... the opinions of all the fans out there. What are you going to do?''
In his first start at Talladega Superspeedway, Rookie of the Year contender, Kyle Krisiloff scored his career best Busch Series finish. He started the Haas-Carter Motorsports #14 Clabber Girl Ford 23rd in the lineup and finished the Aaron's 312 in 5th place. This was his best finish in 13 Busch Series starts since his 16th in the March 2007 Mexico City race. Former NASCAR Cup team owner Travis Carter is back in racing as the team manager for rookie Krisiloff's Busch Series team after a three-year layoff. Krisiloff is 20th in the series standings.
Carter still has his sense of humor intact, describing his role as "general manager, chief flunky and all that." Still, Carter seems to be enjoying his return to NASCAR. Carter last appeared in the sport in 2003, running the National Guard program with driver Todd Bodine. He went Hooters Pro Cup racing with his son for a while and says that he wouldn't mind doing that for a living. "If I had the money and didn't need to work, that's what I'd do is just race and have fun."
Almost…. The list is actually the top eight in the NASCAR Busch Series Point’s Championship. Seven of the eight are Nextel Cup drivers, fifth place Bobby Hamilton, Jr. is the only true Busch Series driver among the top eight in the series standings following the Talladega Superspeedway race. The driver of the McDonald’s Ford has his sights set on climbing further up the point’s ladder next week in Richmond. With a solid and consistent 12th place finish on Saturday, Hamilton climbed four positions in the standings to fifth.
Jeff Gordon has led 729 laps at Talladega to be exact. 729 laps have resulted in the Du Pont Chevy coming across the starting line in first. That is 729 very fast very hectic circles of prime Alabama Real Estate.
A week after matching Dale Earnhardt’s total of 76 NASCAR Cup Series wins, Gordon now hopes to tie one of The Intimidator’s records – most restrictor-plate victories – in this Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. Earnhardt collected three wins at Daytona, including the 1998 Daytona 500 – a race that had eluded him for so many years. The seven-time Cup champion won 10 times at Talladega – eight times during the restrictor-plate era including win No. 76 in 2000.
"Obviously, last Saturday night’s win was special," said Gordon. "Anytime you accomplish something that ‘Senior’ did, you’ve done something special."
As if it was made for TV, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is second in Talladega laps led with 537. Jr. has five wins at Talladega and is looking for number six. Why is Jr. so good at Talladega?
"A lot of reasons, my dad put a lot of emphasis on the restrictor plate program. He brought Richie Gilmore in who was one of the best at building restrictor plate motors. We have one of the best body men in Tony Eury Jr. We have a lot of guys in the shop who have brought their own knowledge."
Behind the wheel of his Ginn Racing/Waste Management Chevrolet, Sterling Marlin looks to add to the 437 laps he's led at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. Marlin is third in laps led at Dega. He's in pretty good company. It's just another indication of how good the old wiley veteran is.
"I love superspeedway racing," said Marlin. "It can be some of the most fun you'll have. It can also be the most frustrating. No matter how good your car is and how good you're running, you can't look very far ahead. Until you take that checkered flag, anything can happen."
Marcos Ambrose has made a strong start to proceedings for this weekend’s Aaron’s 312 at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Mike Wallace was fastest in opening practice at the 2.66-mile track and Mike Bliss the quickest driver in final practice.
“We had a productive day and we were happy with the speed of the Kingsford car,” said Ambrose. “It’s really important to have a car that works well in the draft around Talladega and that’s what we’ve been working on.
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