Racin' With Russ
By Russell Schmidt

Gordon can do no wrong to win Lowe’s
Monday, October 15, 2007

A stumbling car starving for the final sips of gas, or snookered on a start didn’t deter Jeff Gordon from winning for the second consecutive week, this time at the night show at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte.

Unlike last week’s stay-at-the-back zoom-to-the-front late-in-the-race plan, Gordon ran near the front all night on the mile-and-a-half track.

On a less than 10-to-go restart, Gordon’s car stumbled a bit out front (with fuel pressure concerns) and Ryan Newman zoomed by, appearing to be well on his way to his first win in more than two years. But, the Penske driver threw it away, losing control and smacking the fence, citing a tire going down…the jury is still out on that one.

The final laps were green-white-checker with Gordon coming out ahead of Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton and Carl Edwards. It was interesting to hear team owner Rick Hendrick come on the radio to Busch, saying he didn’t want any wrecks between he and Gordon when they were poised to re-start one-two. Many figured Busch to take out Gordon just on general principles, but the 22-year-old driver said and did the right things, surprising many, myself included.

Teammate Jimmie Johnson led most of the laps on the night, but for the second night in a row, spun by himself off turn 4 mid-race. Car damage was minimal, after quick repairs wound up 14th and now sits second in points, 68 markers back of Gordon.

Clint Bowyer once again showed he is a force to be reckoned with by notching yet another runner-up finish, sitting 10 markers back of Johnson. Several of the Chasers fell on hard times, but none harder than Matt Kenseth. The Roush- Fenway driver was involved in no less than three on track incidents, each one shortening up his ride. The DeWalt Ford driver now sits way back in 12th more than 442 points back of Gordon.

Kevin Harvick had another round of mysterious flat tires, finishing seven laps down in 33rd.

Tony Stewart bounced off several cars on pit lane, but recovered to finish 7th; Denny Hamlin was OK until late in the go when his transmission locked up (finished 20th) and Kurt Busch wound up down the charts (26th) with one less cylinder working than everyone else.

So, the overall picture is Gordon on top with Johnson and Bowyer down about 70, then Stewart sits fourth, yet 198 back with Edwards fifth, 240 points back and so on. You can pretty much stick a fork in anyone’s chances to challenge for the top spot beyond Hamlin, especially those drivers more than 240 points in arrears.

One final note about Saturday night’s race and that is kudos to Ricky Rudd for earning an 11th place finish after being sidelined for five weeks with a separated shoulder.

Many race fans and media alike are already saying it’s Gordon’s (title) to lose…that he’s on a roll…he’s got the momentum, etc. Me? With five races remaining, anything can happen. If Gordon rolls on to a bunch of top tens, the rest will fight for the scraps. But anything can happen, so stay tuned.

What about you? Drop me a line how you feel about Gordon wrapping up his fifth title or not.

The Busch race (soon to be Nationwide Series) on Friday night saw numerous wrecks, especially those cars getting loose off the final turn.

Once again, Jeff Burton took the class to school with yet another dominating win, his fourth on the season. Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer wrapped up the top five. For much of the weekend, Dale Jr ran his Chevy high and wide, often meeting with the fence. He came away with a good run on the Busch side, but only a 19th on the Cup side.

Points leader Carl Edwards ran strong, but I feel the team got a little greedy in trying to get an already great car better with a lengthy stop, which put him deep in the field and caught up in a wreck he probably would not have been a part of. He still leads David Reutimann by 638 points with four shows remaining.

From Rumorville - The big questions floating around the NASCAR Cup pits is who will fill the second seat at HAAS CNC Racing (No. 66 and No. 70). Obviously Scott Riggs has the first seat, but rumors persist as to David Stremme or others to fill the bill.

Look for Dale Jarrett to trade in his helmet after the first six races next year in favor of a microphone on ESPN. The well-seasoned veteran will turn the reigns of the UPS Toyota over to Reutimann at that time.

Did you know? It’s been eight years since Jeff Gordon won a Cup race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Pretty amazing when you consider his overall record and the fact he has four previous wins at the mile-and-a-half track.

That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will review the carnage from the Cup and Craftsman truck races at Martinsville, see who becomes this year’s Formula One champion after the final race in Australia and more racing news from around the globe.