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Record-setter Gordon takes Global Crossing for seventh road victory
Updated: Monday August 13, 2001 8:35 AM
By Mark Spoor, CNNSI.com WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- At least on road courses, Jeff Gordon is simply the best. After qualifying 13th on Friday -- the worst starting position for Gordon at Watkins Glen International -- the Winston Cup points leader snuck up on the field Sunday. Bobbing and weaving past Jeff Burton, Gordon took the lead for good on lap 79 to take his fifth Winston Cup victory of the year in the Global Crossing @ The Glen. With his second victory in a row, Gordon takes sole possession of the all-time road course victory lead with his seventh victory on serpentine circuits. Jeff Burton finished second, Jeremy Mayfield was third while Ricky Rudd and Todd Bodine rounded out the top five. With the victory, Gordon pads his Winston Cup points lead to 194 over second-place Ricky Rudd. Dale Jarrett is third, 265 points back.
Jarrett finished 31st from the pole after spinning off the track twice. Burton and Gordon battled back and forth for the lead before Gordon took the final advantage when he got around Burton by going very deep into the track's inner loop. Gordon's crew chief, Robbie Loomis said his driver's winning move even took him by surprise. "That was a hard-fought lead," said Loomis. "That was all driver right there." Even Burton tipped his hat to the winner. "That was an incredible move," Burton said. "He was really too deep to get out. I was behind him and I had nowhere to go. I could either back out or wreck." Gordon agreed that the battle was tough. "I had to fight pretty hard to get back underneath him," Gordon said. "I knew he didn't have as fresh tires as we did. He was running pretty good and I knew I had to get by him early." Burton had two chances to grab the lead back late in the race. An oil spill brought out the caution with seven laps to go and an accident three laps later bunched the field again. Gordon nonetheless separated himself from the field quickly on both restarts. Still, Gordon had another obstacle to overcome when Elliott Sadler's No. 21 car crashed on the race's last lap.
"He [Sadler] was just rolling around there and right in the line and throwing oil all over the place. I was trying to be cautious and Jeff [Burton] wasn't being cautious. He wanted that win and he could have had that win." Even without the win, Burton said he's happy with second place. "We knew that we had a decent car," Burton said. "We were fast. We were probably the second-fastest car out there. "We just got beat by the fastest."
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