Gordon spins Kenseth to win at Chicagoland

Gordon spins Kenseth to win at Chicagoland   

 

Associated Press
Sun, Jul 9, 2006  

 

JOLIET, Illinois -- Jeff Gordon spun out Matt Kenseth with four laps to go, then held on to win Sunday`s USG Sheetrock 400 race at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday.

 

Fans showered the track with debris after the NASCAR race, an apparent protest of Gordon`s racing tactics. Gordon and Kenseth tangled earlier this year during a race at Bristol Motor Speedway, causing Gordon to shove Kenseth after the race.

 

"We don`t like to race like that," Gordon`s crew chief, Steve Letarte, said in a television interview during the race. "I`m sure he didn`t do it on purpose."

 

Said Kenseth`s crew chief, Robbie Reiser: "We just got spun out, I guess."

 

Kenseth and David Stremme then crashed on the way to the start/finish line, sending Kenseth spinning again at the finish.

 

Kenseth dominated the second half of Sunday`s race and appeared to be headed to his third victory of the season, but a sudden surge from Gordon in the closing laps allowed him to catch Kenseth in Turn 2. Gordon then appeared to tap Kenseth`s rear bumper with his front bumper.

 

Earlier in the race, Gordon closed in on Kenseth`s rear bumper on a restart with 30 laps to go. But Gordon couldn`t pull off the pass and Kenseth got away.

 

Polesitter Jeff Burton, trying for his first victory since 2001, finished second, followed by Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

 

The race was slowed eight times for caution flags, with no major crashes until the Gordon-Kenseth accident. Michael Waltrip`s car was damaged when he brushed the wall with 40 laps to go, and Casey Mears - who won his first NASCAR race on Saturday with a victory in the Busch Series - spun and hit the wall with 34 laps to go.