Problems saddle Gordon with 23rd-place finish

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Jeff Gordon salvaged a decent finish at Martinsville despite several major problems.

	Jeff Gordon cuts a left-front tire.

Gordon ended up 23rd -- two laps down -- and fell from sixth to eighth in the Winston Cup standings.

After starting on the pole, the defending Winston Cup Series champion was running second on lap 210, but he suffered a left-front flat on his No. 24 Chevrolet while trying to avoid a wreck in Turn 4.

On lap 253, Gordon had more mechanical problems when smoke came pouring out of the back of his car. He laid fluid on the track to bring out the seventh caution of the day. While trying to make repairs, he went four laps down to the leader.

Radio conversations between he and the crew revealed it was the power steering that failed on the car. Gordon finished the race without power steering.

"That was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in a race car," Gordon said. "So, in a way that's a good character builder for me and this team. It's like running five or ten miles. The first one of two miles were a killer and then you get numb and do what you can to get it to the end.

"I was just so angry. I was so mad that I think that's the only thing that kept me going. Everytime I went into the corner, I was so mad that I just had to give the wheel a jerk."