Jeff Gordon patiently worked through an early crashfest and mid-race handling issues to take the race lead with 23 laps to go at Richmond International Raceway. However, a late caution flag resulted in Gordon losing the lead on pit road. He dropped another spot on the restart and finished 3rd. It was Gordon’s 9th top-10 finish in the last 11 races as he heads into the Chase for the Championship. Gordon will enter the Chase trailing Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick by 3 pts.
Gordon started 17th and moved up a spot before the first caution for Andy Lally’s spin on lap 3. After another caution, Gordon worked his way to 12th place on lap 25. Gordon got into the left rear of Kasey Kahne’s car on lap 27. His future Hendrick Motorsports teammate spun into the wall to bring out a caution flag. A caution for Marcos Ambrose’s spin on lap 38 slowed the field once again with Gordon up to 10th. On the restart, Gordon faded to 14th before Kahne slammed the wall on lap 52 after contact from Brian Vickers — due to Ambrose tapping Vickers. Gordon came to pit road and restarted in 21st place. He moved up to the 12th spot by lap 100, and took 8th place 25 laps later. Incidents involving Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch slowed the field near the halfway point.
Gordon’s car came to life following a stop on lap 231. He advanced from 12th to 6th by lap 280 before a caution for Jeff Burton’s wall contact. Gordon came to pit road on lap 298 after Joey Logano’s blown engine slowed the field. He restarted in 14th place and quickly moved to 7th before another caution with 90 laps to go. Gordon came to pit road and took four tires. He restarted in 5th place with 86 laps to go. Gordon moved into 4th with 80 laps to go, and took 3rd from Carl Edwards two laps later. He worked his way around Greg Biffle for the runner-up spot with 65 to go and closed in on race leader Kevin Harvick. Gordon took the lead from Harvick with 23 laps to go and began pulling away. However, Paul Menard’s spin with 17 to go brought out the caution.
The leaders came to pit road with Gordon exiting in 2nd place behind Harvick. He dropped to 3rd behind Carl Edwards after the restart and slipped to 4th when Kyle Busch went by. He passed Busch with 8 laps to go to re-take 3rd place. However, he was unable to close in on Harvick or Edwards and finished 3rd.
Road ahead: The Chase for the Championship begins at Chicagoland Speedway. This is the first time Chicagoland will host a Chase race. The 10-race Chase resets the points and determines the series champion.
source: gordonline.com
Race Results
Driver Standings
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Audio
MP3 In-Car Audio
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Jeff-Gordon-2011-09-10-Wonderful-Pistachios-400-Richmond.mp3|titles=Jeff Gordon – 2011-09-10 – Wonderful Pistachios 400 – Richmond]
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MP3 In-Car Audio with spotter chatter
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Jeff-Gordon-2011-09-10-Wonderful-Pistachios-400-Richmond-with-spotter-chatter.mp3|titles=Jeff Gordon – 2011-09-10 – Wonderful Pistachios 400 – Richmond – with spotter chatter]
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MP3 Post Race Comments
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Jeff-Gordon-2011-09-10-Wonderful-Pistachios-400-Richmond.mp3|titles=Jeff Gordon – 2011-09-10 – Wonderful Pistachios 400 – Richmond]
