Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

WIX FILTERS LAP LEADER NOTES FOR THE 3M PERFORMANCE 400 NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES RACE AT MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, AUGUST 21, 2007.

Jeff Gordon led twice for 25 laps to earn WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honors in the 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Gordon captured the award for the sixth time this season and for the second consecutive race. He has led 840 laps in 16 races this season.

Gordon leads Tony Stewart by one race (6-5) in the overall WIX Filters Lap Leader standings.

Gordon UNOFFICIALLY finished 27th in today’s race after spinning with just 11 laps to go. He was racing with Matt Kenseth for fifth-place at the time of the incident.

GORDON QUOTES: “Honestly at this point I don’t even care if we fall back to fifth in the points. I want the bonus points and nobody was going to beat that 2 car today. Good thing we don’t run anymore two-mile racetracks or two-and-a-half mile unrestricted tracks the rest of the season because they’ve got something figured out big-time there. I thought we were racing for second and we just took off there and we stayed out and the car was coming to me prior to that. And then it took off and was just real loose and I was just trying to get out of the way.” COMMENT ON WHAT HAPPENED WITH MATT KENSETH. “It was my fault. I was racing him hoping that the car would tighten up and come back to me. I went in low, got a little loose, I was drifting up the track and he got to my outside. And I saw him coming and I knew I couldn’t get out of the gas so I just had to try to turn left and he got into me. It wasn’t his fault.”

Gordon has finished no worse than ninth in 10 of the last 11 races.

UNOFFICIALLY Gordon holds a 276-point point lead over Denny Hamlin in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings.

WIX FILTERS LAP LEADER AWARD STANDINGS
Jeff Gordon 6
Tony Stewart 5 
Jimmie Johnson 3
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3
Denny Hamlin 2 
Matt Kenseth 1 
Martin Truex Jr. 1
Robby Gordon 1
Clint Bowyer 1

WIX FILTERS LAP LEADER AWARD WINNERS BY RACE
EVENT DRIVER
Daytona 500 Tony Stewart (35 laps) 
Auto Club 500 Matt Kenseth (133 laps)
UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 Jeff Gordon (111 laps)
Kobalt Tools 500 Jimmie Johnson (135 laps)
Food City 500 Tony Stewart (257 laps)
Goody’s Cool Orange 500 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (137 laps)
Samsung 500 Jeff Gordon (173 laps)
Subway Fresh Fit 500 Tony Stewart (132 laps)
Aaron’s 499 Jeff Gordon (71 laps) 
Crown Royal 400 Jeff Gordon (114 laps)
Dodge Avenger 500 Denny Hamlin (179 laps)
Coca-Cola 600 Jimmie Johnson (83 laps)
Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa Martin Truex Jr. (216 laps)
Pocono 500 Denny Hamlin (49 laps) 
Citizens Bank 400 Jimmie Johnson (56 laps)
Toyota/Save Mart 350 Robby Gordon (48 laps)
LENOX Industrial Tools 300 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (64 laps)
Pepsi 400 Clint Bowyer (55 laps)
USG SHEETROCK 400 Tony Stewart (108 laps)
Allstate 400 at The Brickyard Tony Stewart (65 laps)
Pennsylvania 500 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (eight laps)
Centurion Boats at The Glen Jeff Gordon (51 laps)
3M Performance 400 Jeff Gordon (25 laps)