Jeff Gordon's car was heavily damaged in the Lap 1 accident. Credit: Autostock

Gordon, Labonte KO'd on first-lap accident

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Casey Mears said he was stunned when his car jerked around on Lap 1 of the Golden Corral 500, touching off a melee that involved almost a quarter of the field.

Mears' Dodge broke loose exiting Turn 1, sending him into a spin that evolved into a backstretch demolition derby. The accident was so extensive that NASCAR officials were forced to throw the red flag.

	Bobby Labonte lost nearly 50 laps repairing the damage. Credit: Autostock
	Casey Mears causes a huge pileup on Lap 1 Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

"I lost every bit of grip. The thing just took off on me," said Mears, who finished 19th. "I feel bad for everyone that was involved, because you hate to be the cause of the problem, but it was just one of those deals where it rarely happens."

Scott Riggs was right on Mears' bumper when the fray started.

"I saw (Mears) up there and get close to the 0 (Mike Bliss), and all of a sudden, I saw his rear coming out," Riggs said. "I backed off I got on the binders to try to keep from getting into him."

Ironically, Mears escaped with little damage, but the cars of Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Travis Kvapil and Shane Hmiel were eliminated from contention.

Labonte was arguably the biggest victim. His crew masterfully taped a new nose in place, enabling him to complete 266 laps, but he still wound up 37th, his third finish of 30th or worse in 2005.

He dropped to 37th in the standings.

It was the latest landmine that had exploded under Labonte, who has been caught up in an early accident two weeks in a row.

Labonte, a six-time winner at Atlanta, had spent two days this month testing a brand-new Chevrolet and had hoped to parlay it into a top-five finish.

"You know, a couple of guys already got into two guys," Labonte said. "Two cars got into two other cars off of Turn 2. It's 500 miles. That's all I can say. It's 500 miles, not one lap."

Dave Blaney wasn't sure he'd get through that first lap either. Blaney, like Labonte, had endured a slow start in 2005, but his luck changed when he was able to get through the accident.

GOLDEN CORRAL 500 •   Results •   Standings

"I couldn't see much from smoke and cars kept crossing in front of me wrecking," said Blaney, who finished eighth. "(I was) extremely lucky to miss that. I kind of run it on the apron and they happened to all miss me."

Gordon thought he was clear of the wreck too.

"I thought I was going to get through there," said Gordon, who ran 214 laps and wound up 39th. "I saw smoke but then they all turned down in front of me."

Gordon's Chevrolet had heavy damage. Like Labonte, he got back out to collect points, but there were not many to pick up.

The finish knocked Gordon from fourth to 12th in the standings.