Jeff Gordon started 5th and moved to 4th within one lap due to the inside line. He moved to 3rd on lap 11 by taking the high line around Denny Hamlin. He held the position through a caution flag and pit stop sequence on lap 35. Tony Stewart took 3rd from Gordon on lap 56 as the #24 car slipped back. A caution flag brought the leaders to pit road with Gordon departing in 6th place after opting for four tires. After slipping back on the restart, Gordon narrowly missed the spinning car of Jimmie Johnson in turn 1 on lap 84. He restarted in 6th on lap 89, but battled handling issues after lap 100. He fell to 10th on lap 125 when Martin Truex went by. Gordon moved back to 7th and ran there until the halfway point of the event. Following a cycle of green flag pit stops on lap 180. Gordon ran in 8th place. He took 7th from Jamie McMurray on lap 185. A caution for Johnson’s second spin of the night brought the caution on lap 225. Gordon re-entered the top-5 by exiting pit road in 5th place. With 120 laps to go, Gordon moved up to the 3rd spot. He lost a spot on pit road under caution and restarted 4th with 83 laps to go. He brushed the wall with 50 laps to go and dropped to 5th before a round of green flag pit stops. Following the stops he dropped back and ran 8th with 20 laps to go. A caution with 10 to go brought the field to pit road. Gordon opted for 2 tires and restarted 10th. Wrecks involving Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick moved Gordon up to 9th for the green/white/checkered restart. He slipped back to 14th before rallying on the final lap to finish 12th.
Road ahead: The series heads to the 1-mile Dover International Speedway. Gordon hasn’t won at Dover since 2001, but tested at the track in late April as part of the Goodyear tire test.
source:gordonline.com
In Car Audio
MP3 Download
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Jeff-Gordon-2011-04-30-Showtime-Southern-500-Darlington.mp3|titles=Jeff Gordon – 2011-04-30 – Showtime Southern 500 – Darlington]
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MP3 Download – with spotter chatter
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Jeff-Gordon-2011-04-30-Showtime-Southern-500-Darlington-with-spotter-chatter.mp3]
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Photos
Four tires and a round of wedge!
