Gordon finishes 36th, gives Rudd 120 points

By Marty Smith and Tim Packman, Turner Sports Interactive
September 10, 2001
11:21 AM EDT (1521 GMT)

RICHMOND, Va. - NASCAR Winston Cup Series points leader Jeff Gordon was caught up in an early-race accident during the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 with the Looney Tunes at Richmond International Raceway, sending the No. 24 Chevrolet for repairs and putting a dent in his points lead.

Jeff Gordon goes spinning on lap 35.

Gordon was battling Sterling Marlin through Turns 3 and 4 on lap 35 when Marlin tapped the rear end of Gordon's Chevrolet, sending the three-time title winner into the Turn 4 wall.

Even though he returned to action on lap 143 and finished 117 laps down in 36th, he still retains the points lead by 222 over race winner Ricky Rudd. Coming into the Richmond race, Gordon was 342 markers ahead of Rudd.

Monte Carlo 400 Results  Winston Cup Standings  The Championship 2001  Rusty leads 276 laps  Race Notebook  Video: Gordon hits wall  Video: Victory Lane  Video: Final laps  Looney Tunes!  Richmond Int. Raceway  Rudd die-cast: $44.99  Rudd wins at RIR

"That wasn't how I wanted to start, that's for sure," Gordon said. "The car was really good on long runs. It took it a while to come in, but we were real good on long runs. I was just waiting for it come in. Sterling got inside of me and I let him have it, then I don't know what happened."

With Rudd's win, he is now 171 points ahead of his teammate Dale Jarrett, who moved up from fourth to third with his fourth-place finish.

Tony Stewart utilized his 33rd starting spot to seventh-place finish to move from fifth to fourth in overall points. He is now 19 behind Jarrett and 54 ahead of Marlin.

Marlin, who was third coming into the race, was leading on lap 94 when the caution came out. When he pitted, he got into his box a little deep and Ken Schrader stopped short in his box just ahead of Marlin's.

Gordon is seeking a fourth Winston Cup title.

"I had to put my car in reverse and back up like I've done a million times before," Marlin said. "When I put it in reverse it just wouldn't go anywhere. It made a bunch of racket so we must have stripped something in the transmission."

Bobby Labonte maintained his sixth-place spot with a sixth-place finish. He heads to New Hampshire International Speedway 35 points behind Marlin and 23 ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr, who used his third-place finish to retain the seventh spot in points.

Rusty Wallace dropped to ninth.

Fellow Chevrolet driver Kevin Harvick's second-place finish moved him up one spot to eighth where he trails Earnhardt Jr by 14 points. Harvick's upward move came at the expense of Rusty Wallace's fifth-place finish, who dropped one spot to ninth. He trails Harvick by five points.

Johnny Benson remains in the top-10 with his 10th-place finish and is 127 markers behind Wallace.