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Aaron’s 499 - Talladega Superspeedway
Gordon Wins in Talladega, Ties Another Earnhardt Record
Jeff Gordon was in the right place at the right time Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway.
The four-time NASCAR NEXTEL cup champion was in front of the field on the restart of a green-white-checkered finish and won the 500-mile race before a screaming - and opinionated - crowd of 200,000 spectators. With the win, Gordon now moves into a tie with Dale Earnhardt for most restrictor-plate wins at 11.
Gordon, in a Rick Hendrick Chevy sponsored by DuPont, finished ahead of teammate Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch in a wild and wooly race that produced enough action for a season, much less a 188-lap sprint that saw the story board change as much as the lead.
David Gilliland was fourth, even though he was involved in the next-to-last-lap crash that produced the final caution of the sunny afternoon.
Gilliland was pinched up the track and trapped Tony Stewart against the wall. Stewart slowed and recovered but was hit again by Gilliland during the aftermath of the accident.
Jamie McMurray was fifth and Kevin Harvick sixth. Talladega favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished seventh.
The race was shaping up to be a spine-tingling showdown before the final caution.
Rounding out the top finishers was David Stremme, who raced with the leaders all day. Ryan Newman was ninth and Martin Truex Jr. 10th.
Stewart wound up 28th, after being one of the cars to beat.
The victory was the 77th of Gordon’s career, moving him one ahead of legendary Dale Earnhardt. It was also another win for the Hendrick organization, which has dominated the series this season.
Familiar paint schemes dotted the high-banked landscape in the early stages of the race, Gordon’s rainbow-colored Chevrolet, Johnson’s blue and gold Chevy, Burton’s orange Chevy, Kurt Busch’s blue Dodge, his brother's blue/yellow Chevy and Denny Hamlin’s black and white Chevy.
Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears, Sterling Marlin, Ricky Rudd and Johnny Sauter were also mixing it up with the leaders as well as Kevin Harvick, Jeff Green and Elliott Sadler.
Earnhardt laid back in the first half but started moving towards the front at the 100-lap mark.
Gordon, Gilliland Tie for Top Speed, Gordon to Start from Pole
Last week, Jeff Gordon claimed his first career win at Phoenix International Raceway, this week he captured his first carrer pole position in 29 races at Talladega Superspeedway. Gordon won the Bud Pole for the Aaron’s 499, his 60th Bud Pole in 482 career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
races and moved into fourth on the all-time Bud Pole winners list, breaking a tie with Darrell Waltrip.
This is his third Bud Pole this season. He also started first at Texas when qualifying was canceled. This is
Gordon’s seventh top-10 start in 2007 – all top-fives.
David Gilliland (second) posted an identical qualifying time to Gordon’s. Gilliland will start second based on
the tie-breaker which is current year car owner points. This is his third consecutive front-row start in a
restrictor-plate race. He won the bud Pole for the Daytona 500 this season and the UAW-Ford 500 at
Talladega last October.
Denny Hamlin (third) posted his best NASCAR NEXTEL Cup start at Talladega. Hamlin also started third in
both of his NASCAR Busch Series races here (2005 and 2006).
Sterling Marlin (fourth) posted his second top-10 start of 2007 and his best start since he started third at
Martinsville in August 2004.
Kenny Wallace (sixth) posted his best start since he started fourth at Martinsville in October 2003. That was
also Wallace’s most recent top-10 start.
This is the first time that the Wood Brothers have not qualified for a race since this race in 2000.
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