Notebook: Gordon takes one for the team

RICHMOND, Va. -- One guy pitted, two did not.

They ended up in the top 10 of the Chevy American Revolution 400, so either decision seemed to be the right one for Hendrick Motorsports.

Jimmie Johnson's team decided to stay on the track during the final caution with 56 laps to, and the No. 48 ended up second. Jeff Gordon followed Johnson's lead but couldn't hold track position and finished sixth.

Their rookie teammate, Brian Vickers, pitted for tires and held on for an eighth-place finish, the best of his young career.

"It feels really good," Vickers said. "The team did an awesome job all weekend. We had a great car in qualifying and came away with our first pole, and the race went pretty good today. We had a little mishap on pit road that set us back with a loose tire but we got back up to the front. Our car just seemed to get real tight there at the end from the center off. We made a couple adjustments, and they weren't quite enough there at the end of the race.

"We came away with our first top-10. Right now we're just focused on growing this team and building it at a good steady pace. That will make it a championship team in the long run."

Gordon's team is already a championship team, and Richmond was proof. Gordon had a so-so night at Richmond, holding down ninth place before the final yellow.

	Jeff Gordon

"We had about 26-lap fresher tires than those guys," Gordon said. "We needed the track position. We should have finished fifth. If Tony (Stewart) hadn't been a bonehead, we would have."

Stewart, on newer tires, charged inside Gordon on the restart but slipped and pushed the two drivers up the track. Bobby Labonte went inside both drivers, pushing Gordon outside the top five.

"It was a good effort," Gordon said. "We came from way back to finish sixth, so I'm pretty happy with that. We were never right. We were always a little bit off."

Johnson seemed to be on all night, leading three times for 91 laps. Only eventual winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. led more. And he finished second after a spin just past halfway.

"As you are crashing you are doing damage control," Johnson said. "I knew I didn't hurt anything suspension-wise. I knew we were going to be OK. I just needed green-flag running."

He got it late in the race, as the final 45 laps were run caution-free. But Junior was on top of his game at that point.

"I really felt like I had something for Junior," Johnson said. "At the end we were about three tenths better than that group of cars in front of me. Once we went under caution and went back out, Junior just took off. He flat off was on it and drove away from us. I was trying to hang with him and I was making mistakes and Bobby was catching me. At that point I had to defend the position I was in."

New pavement gets passing grade

Drivers were unsure Richmond's new asphalt would generate two grooves of racing Saturday night, but they were proven wrong.

"I'll be honest, I didn't think it was going to be this good," Tony Stewart said. "There were two grooves and almost three grooves. Whoever got contracted to do the job here, they did an excellent job paving this place. Right off the bat, it was a racy racetrack."

There were 19 lead changes among 12 drivers, and there was plenty of room to race - defying notions of a one-groove track.

"This was great," Elliott Sadler said. "It exceeded every expectation I think every driver had. On Friday we were really worried and even when I was here testing we were worried, but it's the same old Richmond. We were side-by-side, moving up, up and down, run on the bottom and run up high. It just made it fun because it was so fast. It's a cool place to race."

Martin moving on up

Mark Martin has quietly rallied from a last-place finish in the Daytona 500 to place himself 12th in the Nextel Cup points standings. Saturday's seventh-place finish at Richmond was his fourth top-10 of the season.

	Mark Martin

"We were really awesome early, and then we got off in the middle of the race and got an adjustment behind," Martin said. "But at the end we got it back to where it was hooked up. It was blazing at the end there, and it was too bad the race ended when it did because I was passing cars left and right and was coming on strong.

"I'm so proud of this team. It feels so good to drive a racecar that'll run. We had great power tonight and we had it all. We had a good car. We got off a little bit and fixed it back up and went back at 'em."

Rudd avoids controversy this time

Ricky Rudd ended last fall's race at Richmond in controversial fashion, spinning Kevin Harvick out while the two raced for third. Rudd wasn't quite as strong this time around, but he still called it the best effort of the season for the Wood Brothers.

	Ricky Rudd

"Yeah, we raced pretty good all night," Rudd said. "We had to come from 30th, and I guess we actually got the lead with the way everybody pitted, but I would say we were an honest seventh-place car, and we ended up 11th. That's quite a bit better than we've been. That's the best we've been all year."

Rudd was in seventh when the final caution fell, but after pitting for tires, the car got loose.

"We had a good run, but right there at the end we got our worst set of tires of the night," Rudd said. "We had been pushing, and all of a sudden the car got loose. Right when we needed a good run we ended up falling back. It got running about the last 10 laps, but it was too late then. A couple of more laps and I would have had the 15 and the 12, but I just ran out of time."

Spin and ... 14th for Burton

Jeff Burton did something at Richmond he hasn't done much of this season: race for the lead. But while trying to pass Jeremy Mayfield for the lead on lap 194, Burton's car snapped out from under him and spun along the front straightaway.

"I spun the thing out going for the lead," Burton said. "I was under him, and I hadn't been loose all night, and, boy, that thing came around. When it came around, it came around fast. I just stood in the gas and luckily I didn't hit anything, but that hurt us."

Burton's car was fine, but he said the team "lost the racetrack" as the race progressed.

"Our setup was good for long runs early, and then late it was kind of slow," Burton said. "It wasn't terrible, but it turned into a 10th-place car. It was a good effort for us. We ran up front and charged from the back several times. We had good pit stops.

"We got a lap down, but it was a catch-22 situation. We were pitting late enough where we waited for fuel, but we got a lap down waiting for fuel. But if the thing would have gone green the whole way, we could have gone the whole race, so it was a catch-22 right there. I'm proud of the effort. That's one of our better efforts. We do need to get a little better for sure, but we're showing some promise."

Great night goes bad for Busch

After starting 23rd, Kurt Busch charged through the field to lead the race on lap 105. But a great effort then went sour.

"We lost the alternator belt, and that turns the water pump, so the water pump wasn't turning and the power steering wasn't turning," said Jimmy Fennig, Busch's crew chief. "We had to come in and replace the belt. We don't know what caused the belt to break, but I believe (engine builder) Doug Yates and the guys will find the problem and fix it."

He finished 14 laps down in 31st.

"I hate bragging," Fennig said, "but we probably had the best car here."

Gaughan can't be mad

Brendan Gaughan brought out the race's fifth caution after spinning in turn 3, and he wanted to be mad at the driver who caused him to spin. But he couldn't.

"It's so hard to be mad at Terry (Labonte)," Gaughan said. "His spotter went up and said that he locked up a brake and slid into me and he was sorry. Labonte is one of those guys who, you know what, he's good. We've raced side-by-side for weeks. If it was me, they'd be yelling and screaming, but it's Terry and I go, 'I can't be mad at him, darn it.'"