Jeff Gordon wins at Kansas again_9/29
 No. 8 Budweiser Team Sixth After Starting From Bud Pole
Position
Jeff Gordon dominated the late stages of Sunday's Protection One 400 at Kansas Speedway,
grabbing his second victory at the 1.5-mile oval, making him the only driver to win a
Winston Cup race at the track that opened in 2001. Gordon survived a three-lap sprint to
the finish when a late red flag period stopped the action on lap 262. Gordon had to hold
off Ryan Newman and Rusty Wallace, who were second and third. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the
No. 8 Budweiser team were in fourth place on the final restart on lap 264, but contact
with the car of Matt Kenseth broke the momentum of both cars and Dale Jr. lost two
positions on the final lap, finishing sixth. The team earned their second Bud Pole
position of the 2002 season (and sixth career Bud Pole) with a track record lap in
Friday's qualifying session. With the bonus points for leading 10 laps, Dale Jr. and the
team move to 13th in Winston Cup points, their highest position since the race at
Charlotte in May. Since winning the first Bud Pole at Michigan in August, the team has
scored four top-10 finishes in seven races. Gordon's teammate, rookie Jimmie Johnson, took
the lead in Winston Cup points for the first time in his career, as the points race
continues to stay remarkably close with unexpected twists and turns. The top nine drivers
in points are separated by only 201 points with seven races remaining.
 The Key Moments:
Dale Jr. and the Bud team led the first lap of the race, fell to second on lap two, and
then began a rollercoaster afternoon where they yo-yo'ed up and down the standings. The
first 30 laps were marked with a series of yellow flags, and the Bud team stayed in the
top three until pitting on lap 30. The stop for four tires dropped them to 26th place, but
Dale Jr. was able to streak back into the top 10 in less than 20 laps, and into the top
five in less than 40 laps. The capacity Kansas crowd erupted in cheers when Dale Jr. swept
to the outside of Kevin Harvick in turn one on lap 95 to again take the lead. The red Bud
car remained in the top five for the next 50 laps until a slow pit stop on lap 143 dropped
them back to the 20th position. For the remainder of the race, Dale Jr. made a steady
charge, one spot at a time. With the race nearing an end, it was developing into a fuel
mileage battle between the No. 8 car and the car of Matt Kenseth. Had the race remained
under the green flag, those two would have been the only cars able to run to the finish
without stopping to refuel. However, a yellow flag on lap 248 bunched and jumbled the
field. After a pit stop for four tires, Dale Jr. restarted ninth and made a breathtaking
charge into fourth place in two laps, where he remained until the red flag.
Dale Jr's Quotes: "Somehow we took a first or second place car and
finished sixth... NASCAR needs some sort of award or stat for passing the most cars,
because I think we would have won that award at the last five or six races. We had a nice
little race car - a great car -- today. We were never too far off of the set-up all
afternoon. At times, it was really easy to pull up and pass cars in traffic. We had a
disaster of a stop when I didn't mash the brake pedal hard enough and the left front hub
was spinning, making it tough for the guys to put the new wheel on. We fought back and
seemed to have them beat on fuel mileage. Then, we had the red flag, and I didn't know if
I was going to win the race, but I knew I was gonna drive my butt off to pass those three
guys in front of me. Matt (Kenseth) laid back on the start and tried to get a run on me,
but ended up ruining the start for both of us."
Best Radio Conversations Premonition of the weekend:
Dale Jr. (after Saturday's Happy Hour session) "Man. How
are we gonna beat that 24 (car)? That worries me."
After Dale Jr. took the lead on lap 95:
Ty Norris (spotter): "Man, the crowd's goin' wild. There's so much
red out there, it looks like a Kansas City Chiefs game!"
After falling to 26th after a poor stop, but slicing through the field like a warm
knife through cheese:
Dale Jr. (joking) "It's a lotta fun comin' from the back. Maybe we
could have a stop like that every week."
Tony Eury Jr (car chief): (not joking) "No!"
Dale Jr: "I know ya don't like it but I kinda do. It's fun passing
all these cars like that. We just might get us a good finish today."
Under the nearly 15-minute red flag period, right after Dale Jr. had gained four
positions in two laps…
Norris (spotter): "Every one of you guys on pit lane need to come up
here where I stand and watch Dale Jr. sometimes. Those last few laps were awesome. He was
getting' it, man!"
Eury Jr: "He about gave me a heart attack in turn one
though…"
Norris: "Aw, you gotta stronger heart than that!"
Dale Jr: "I gotta admit I was a little nervous there
myself…"
Looooking Gooooooooooooooood…
Dale Jr. is featured in the current October edition of GQ Magazine in the magazine's
annual look at sports and fashion. The photos were taken this summer at the Chicagoland
Speedway in Joliet. In other celebrity news, Dale Jr. met a series of notables at the
event, such as hall of fame quarterback Joe Montana (who played several seasons for the
Kansas City Chiefs), and Denny Brauer, a professional angler also sponsored by
Anheuser-Busch.
Today's Stats
Started: 1st (second Bud Pole of 2002)
Finished: 6th
Points Position: 13th (gained one position)
Money Won: $96,700
Laps Led: 2 times for 10 laps
Best Pit Stop: Lap 103 / Stop #3 of 5 / 4 tires, Fuel / 13.32 seconds
Hey now, all of you internet surfers, don't forget the King of Beers on the internet at:
www.Budweiser.com
-Budweiser
Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Kansas
Preview_9/25
Dale Jr. Quotes for Kansas
"It's like any new track, you hope and expect that the second year around will be a
much better surface to race. We had some wild moments last year getting out of the groove
and just hanging on for dear life. The low groove had so much grip that you could just
stay down there and haul butt. No one wanted to go to an outside groove. This track looks
the same as all of the others (1.5-mile D-shaped ovals), but the transitions between the
turns and the straights are much better here than at the Chicago track. I think this track
will become a great place to race - a lot like Atlanta is now - where there will be a lot
of different grooves to choose from. It may not be there yet (this year), but I think it's
a smooth, wide place that will continue to get better. "We had a great car here last year. It would almost drive itself. I was so
mad when we hit the wall (after a blown right front tire) because the car was haulin' and
we were really going to challenge for the win. We've tested at the Kentucky track several
times, so we'll see how it translates to the Kansas track. We'll avoid the cut tires this
time and give 'em a run for the cash. This is about as close to St. Louis (home of sponsor
Budweiser) as we get, so maybe we can win it and then enjoy a cold Bud in the winner's
circle there... It's a nice victory lane area - so we should have lots of space to
celebrate..."
Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Kansas
Previous Winston Cup Starts: 1
Best Start: 22nd
Best Finish: 33rd
Dale Jr. and the Bud team led three laps in last year's inaugural race at the Kansas
track, and were in the third position when a blown tire sent the Budweiser car hard into
the outside wall.
What:
Protection One 400
1.5-mile oval / 267 laps / 400.5 miles / Race #29 of 36
Where:
Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas
When:
Sunday, September 29 / 1 p.m.
Watch: NBC / Pre-race 12:30 pm You can
also tune in on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) on a radio or computer near you you know
the drill by now
Bud Pole Qualifying:
Bud Pole qualifying can be seen live at 4:00 pm Friday on the Speed Channel and heard on
MRN affiliates across the nation. (All Times: Eastern)
-Budweiser |
