Jeff Gordon wins at Phoenix

[Screaming Trees]

Jeff Gordon won the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix last night. The win was Gordon's 76th career victory, tied him with the late Dale Earnhardt for 6th on the all time list. Gordon also won the pole for the race giving him 59, that ties him with Darrell Waltrip for 4th on the all time list.

All but one race this season has been won by a Chevy driver. Only the race at California speedway was won by another manufacturer, when Matt Kenseth driving a Ford won the race.

Here is the finishing order from Phoenix.

1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont

2 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot

3 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Kinko's

4 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's

5 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT

6 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet Best Buy

7 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg's

8 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker

9 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Haas Automation

10 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil

11 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot

12 01 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army

13 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Cingular Wireless

14 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV

15 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target

16 13 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Pinnacle Las Vegas

17 16 Greg Biffle Ford Ameriquest

18 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite

19 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser

20 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker

21 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries

22 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet DIRECTV

23 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal

24 7 Robby Gordon Ford Jim Beam

25 15 Paul Menard * Chevrolet Johns Manville / Menards

26 88 Ricky Rudd Ford Snickers

27 14 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Waste Management

28 21 Ken Schrader Ford Motorcraft

29 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS

30 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Wells Fargo

31 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW

32 00 David Reutimann * Toyota Domino's Pizza

33 42 Juan Montoya * Dodge Texaco / Havoline

34 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW

35 38 David Gilliland Ford M&M's

36 4 Ward Burton Chevrolet Va. Tech / State Water Heaters

37 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC

38 12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL

39 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar

40 78 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing

41 6 David Ragan * Ford AAA "Show Your Card and Save"

42 10 Scott Riggs Dodge Valvoline / Stanley Tools

43 40 David Stremme Dodge Coors Light .

[ocnblu]

Congratulations to Jeff Gordon. It's also entertaining to see Toyota continue to finish pretty far back in the pack.

[Cory Wolfe]

I was a happy guy the other night. W00t for Jeff.

[scharmer05]

I used to hate Gordon with a passion. Anymore, I love seeing him win a race. In no disrespect to Earnhardt, but Gordon reached 6th in career wins in more than 100 less starts than Dale and is 14 years younger than Dale was when he reached 76. Dale was a great racer, but the numbers go to show you how good of a driver Gordon really is.

As far as Toyota, I wonder how the heck Waltrip is going to keep putting cars on the track when he consistantly can't qualify for a race.

[Oracle of Delphi]

As far as Toyota, I wonder how the heck Waltrip is going to keep putting cars on the track when he consistantly can't qualify for a race.

Not to mention all the fines, sanctions, and all the other crap that has been going on.

[ocnblu]

Is it at all possible this is a ploy by Toyota to gain more American sympathy? Are they sandbagging? Or are they just incompetent? We've all read about how "humble" (bull$h!) they are.

[Screaming Trees]

I don't think it's a ploy by Toyota. In NASCAR sandbagging too long will cost you. With teams like RCR, JGR, and HMS, along with Roush Racing bringing in a multi-millionaire partner Toyota can not afford to play games.

Trust me Toyota is not winning sympathy with the fans. The public backlash over them entering the sport was more than they and NASCAR anticipated. People are cheering when Michael Waltrip misses a race.

Toyota runs thier ad campaign "Thanks for having us" trying to appeal to the NASCAR fanbase, it hasn't worked. Former series director Bill France Jr. once said as long as he was in charge no forigen manufacturer would ever race in NASCAR, well he is no longer in charge his son Brian France is.

You can look no further than in race attedance and TV ratings to see that NASCAR is on the decline. They have alienated most of thier core fan base in the pursuit of the almighty dollar.

NASCAR wanted a track in New York City but the public shot them down. They wanted a track outside of Seattle in Snohomish County but that too got shot down.

How much longer will NASCAR last? Who knows. They are doing it to themselves. I personally do not believe that Toyota is good for the sport no matter how you slice it. NASCAR was warned by people inside in F1, CART, and IRL about Toyota's cut-throat tactics, time will tell how they will affect the Nextel Cup Series. Right now Toyota owns the Craftsman Truck Series, but Chevrolet owns the Nextel Cup.

As far as people hating Jeff Gordon, its simple. He is good. He won a lot of races. Jeff constantly beat the sports number one good/bad guy Dale Earnhardt Sr. and people didn't like that. In succisive seasons he won 10, 10, and 13 races . He is clean cut, speaks clearly, and is a good corporate spokes person, not unlike Peyton Manning and Tiger Woods.

Back to the topic at hand. f@#k Toyota, I hope they fail miserably.

That's my rant for today.

Edited April 25, 2007 by Screaming Trees