R. Gordon wins New Hampshire 300 in heated finish
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Robby Gordon celebrates winning in his 62nd Winston Cup start.
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By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
November 26, 2001
2:04 PM EST (1904 GMT)
LOUDON, N.H. -- Jeff Gordon dominated, but Robby Gordon used a chrome horn to win Friday's NASCAR Winston Cup finale New Hampshire 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway for his career first Cup victory.
Robby Gordon brought out the race's final caution when he ran into Turn 1 of the 1.058-mile oval and pushed his nose into Jeff Gordon's rear bumper.
He knocked Gordon into Mike Wallace, spinning Wallace's Ford up the track.
An incensed Jeff Gordon ran into Robby Gordon on the backstretch under caution, bringing a one-lap penalty from NASCAR.
Robby Gordon held the lead after the final restart at lap 290 and ended up 2.008 seconds ahead of Sterling Marlin's No. 40 Dodge. He became the 19th different winner this season, extending the "modern era" record for winners in a season.
"You know, I won Indy car races on ovals -- I knew I could do it," said Robby Gordon, whose previous best Winston Cup oval finish was a seventh at Phoenix. "The key is to not stop believing in yourself -- that you can get to Victory Lane."
Defending Winston Cup champion Bobby Labonte was third in the No. 18 Pontiac, Matt Kenseth was fourth in the No. 17 Ford and Tony Stewart was fifth in the No. 20 Pontiac, holding onto second in the standings in the process.
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Jeff Gordon led 257 of the 300 laps.
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Two cautions in the last 28 laps enabled three drivers to get back on the lead lap at the finish. Jerry Nadeau in a Chevrolet and Ford drivers Robert Pressley, Brett Bodine -- who scored his season-best finish -- Mark Martin and Dale Jarrett finished sixth-10th.
Dave Blaney, in his last race for owner Bill Davis, was the final car on the lead lap in 11th. J. Gordon ended up one lap down in 15th.
Marlin held the lead on the final restart, with 22 laps remaining after taking two tires on his final pit stop. Robby Gordon quickly jumped him one lap later, and then Jeff Gordon passed Robby on the backstretch when the leader got tied up with Kyle Petty's lapped car.
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Marlin: 20th top-10 finish
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Three laps later, the leaders caught Wallace's lapped car going into Turn 1. Jeff Gordon lifted and Robby Gordon, who was under a double head of steam, irate as he was after Petty's miscue, failed to pull up in time to miss Gordon.
Jeff Gordon, who clinched his fourth Winston Cup championship at the previous event, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, looked set to win his seventh race of the season before an estimated crowd of 98,000. The race was a sellout -- a crowd of about 101,000 -- when it was originally scheduled Sept. 16.
Jeff Gordon shook off the tire blistering problems that troubled many of the competitors and used a near-perfect set-up and overpowering pit work to lead 195 laps in the middle of the race, from the pole position. Along with the Gordons and Marlin, only Labonte and Kevin Harvick led -- the latter two for a total of five laps.
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Bobby Labonte: Ends season with four straight top 10s
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The race was slowed seven times by caution flags and tire issues caused five of them. With race day temperatures an uncertainty, Goodyear brought its softest tires to New Hampshire and, with only 45 minutes of practice preceding the race, teams could not adjust their set-ups to avoid various degrees of blistering.
NASCAR called two cautions, at lap 51 and lap 97, to check tire wear. Two other cautions, the race's first at lap 32 and the fifth at lap 201, flew after cars hit the wall after right front tires deflated.
Michael Waltrip brought out the first when he hit the wall in Turn 3 while John Andretti brought out the fifth yellow when he slapped the wall off Turn 2.
The race ran under virtually clear skies. Two jet blowers were run for a period before the initial pace laps began to pre-heat the flat oval. The 42-car field ran four pace laps before the green flag fell and the temperature at the green flag was about 45 degrees.
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Matt Kenseth: Third top-five of 2001
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The No. 27 Eel River Racing team, which closed down its operation since it qualified for the original race, did not travel to New Hampshire. The last time less than 43 cars started a Winston Cup race was Oct. 12, 1997 at Talladega Superspeedway.
The stage was set in the 45-minute morning practice, which was held without incident in temperatures in the low 30s.
Stewart was fastest in the No. 20 Gibbs Racing Pontiac, with a lap in 29.223 seconds, 130.336 mph -- only slightly slower than Jeff Gordon's July Bud Pole time.
Robby Gordon marked himself as a contender despite his 31st starting position by posting the sixth best practice speed.
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