Crew chief Steve Letarte celebrates his first victory with Jeff Gordon, who won at Martinsville for the seventh time. Credit: Autostock

Cross' Words: M'ville

Random ruminations after the Subway 500 -- which clearly should be the Subway 250, since that's when the racing begins ...

• Prior to Sunday's victory, Jeff Gordon's last top-five finish came May 7 at Darlington.

Inside the Numbers Drivers with wins in each of NASCAR's top three series Driver Cup Busch Truck G. Biffle 8 17 16 * Ky. Busch 1 6 2 * R. Craven 2 4 1 * C. Edwards 2 4 6 B. Hamilton 4 1 10 K. Harvick 5 16 2 * K. Kahne 1 3 2 * B. Labonte 21 9 1 T. Labonte 22 11 1 M. Martin 35 47 1 J. McMurray 1 7 1 * S. Park 2 3 1 K. Schrader 4 2 1 J. Spencer 2 12 1 * T. Stewart 24 1 2 * -- Joined list in 2005

In the meantime, Mark Felt was confirmed to be Deep Throat ... Michael Jackson was acquitted of child molestation charges ... Lance Armstrong won a record seventh consecutive Tour de France, then retired ... Hurricane Katrina ... Hurricane Rita ... Daniel Craig was introduced as the new James Bond ... the Cubs' World Series hibernation is at 60 consecutive years.

Take solace, Cubs fans, there is no curse; the team management blows worse than the winds off Lake Michigan.

Yeah, it's been a while. ... Margaret Thatcher was 79 the last time Gordon won a race -- and 20 when the Cubbies were in the '45 Series.

• Rusty Wallace, your championship hopes have gone the way of the Grand Prix.

But hey, the weekend wasn't a total loss; Steve finished 15th in his Busch Series debut at Memphis on Saturday.

• Fifteen points separate Cup Series points leader Tony Stewart and second-place Jimmie Johnson. With four races remaining, the odds are in Smoke's favor (four wins in 33 starts at Atlanta, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead).

Johnson has one win in 20 starts at those tracks, but his average finish is better -- 9.3 to 12.7.

• I still like JJ's chances to become the fourth consecutive driver to win his first Cup championship in his fourth full season, joining the list of Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Stewart.

If it happens -- and I know, Stewart fans, that's a big if -- the series will have a different champ for the seventh consecutive year, the longest stretch in history.

• Martin Truex Jr. is on the brink of joining Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1998-99), Randy LaJoie (1996-97), Larry Pearson (1986-87) and Sam Ard (1983-84) as back-to-back Busch Series champions.

Truex now leads Clint Bowyer by 100 points with only three races remaining.

• Congratulations, Ricky Craven. After taking the checkers in the Truck Series race at Martinsville on Saturday you're the 15th driver to win a race in the Cup, Busch and Truck series. ... And like two others who joined the list this year -- Steve Park and Bobby Labonte (or so rumor has it) -- you'll be in a different ride in 2006.

Craven is the seventh driver this year to join the list.

• Finally, to answer the questions about how the points would be stacked sans the Chase, here's a comparison (and my own editorial comment on how winning isn't rewarded nearly as much as a bad finish hurts):

Flags

• Red -- Jeremy Mayfield fell to 10th in points -- 216 behind leader Tony Stewart and 44 out of ninth -- after a 28th-place finish at Martinsville. He was 10th at the end of last year, too. Sunday marked his ninth finish outside the top 10 in the past 10 Chase races, and in 16 playoff starts his average finish is 19.6.

• Yellow -- Jamie McMurray's seventh-place finish at Martinsville vaulted him from 14th to 11th in the point standings. He now leads Kevin Harvick by 18 points in the race for the $1 million bonus. This is the second time during the Chase that McMurray has been 11th; he also was in the catbird's seat after Loudon.

• Green -- Since taking over the No. 11 at Kansas, Denny Hamlin has two top-10 qualifying efforts and two top-10 finishes -- back-to-back eighth-place showings at Charlotte and Martinsville.

Hamlin is a breath of fresh air because it's been one cluster after another for the famed No. 11, the car number with the second most victories in Cup history (180) behind the No. 43 (198).

SUBWAY 500 •   Race Results •   Point Standings •   Lap-by-Lap Recap Victory LaneJeff Gordon celebrates his Subway 500 victory 'Just an idiot'Smoke gives his opinion on Biffle's driving tactics Around and downEarnhardt Jr. spun by Harvick, loses a tire Subway 500Catch all the racing highlights from Martinsville Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

The last time a driver pulled the No. 11 into Victory Lane was Sept. 4, 1994, when Bill Elliott won the Southern 500 at Darlington. Since then, its drivers -- Brett Bodine (259 starts), Leffler (19), Elliott (8), Yeley (6), Terry Labonte (5), Hamlin (3), Geoffrey Bodine (1) and Ricky Craven (1) -- are a mind-boggling 0-for-302.

Quote, Unquote

"They name streets after guys like that -- One Way and Dead End. ... He's just an idiot."
-- Tony Stewart describing Greg Biffle, who was racing the leaders one lap down

Around the Track

Tony Stewart has ...
• 16 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes, the most of all drivers.
• Four top-five finishes in the Chase, the most of all drivers.
• Led the most laps (583) in the Chase, earning 40 lap leader bonus points, 15 more than any other Chase driver.

• Chevrolet has clinched the 2005 Manufacturers' Championship, it's third in a row, 29th overall and 25th of the modern era (since 1972).A Chevy has won 16 of the 32 races. Ford has won 13 victories and Dodge has three.

• Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman each have five top-10 finishes in six Chase races.

• Rusty Wallace has 24 top-15 finishes in 32 races, the most of all drivers.

• Ryan Newman has 26 top-10 starts in 32 races, tops among all drivers.

• Roush Racing's "Ford Five" have won 12 of the 32 races (38 percent) this year. However, despite having half the Chase field, the stable's numbers haven't been sterling:

Up Next

Atlanta Motor Speedway

• Dale Jarrett will make his 600th Cup start this weekend, while Jeff Burton will crank 'er up for the 400th time. DJ is 19th on the all-time starts list, while Burton is 38th.

• Ricky Rudd will start his 56th race at Atlanta to tie Darrell Waltrip and Bill Elliott for third all-time behind Dave Marcis (59). Richard Petty holds the track (65). Rudd has one victory at AMS (March 15, 1987).

• Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, and Tony Stewart all had top-10 finishes in both races at Atlanta in 2004 -- and Biffle, Johnson and Kahne posted top-10s in the spring race this year; Stewart finished 17th.

• Kevin Lepage has been running at the finish in all 11 of his races at Atlanta. No other driver has competed in 10 or more races at AMS without a DNF.

• There have only been five sweeps at Atlanta since twice-a-year racing began there in 1960. Bill Elliott had the most recent sweep at Atlanta (1992).

Inside the Numbers Lap Leaders at Atlanta Rank Driver Races Led 1. C. Yarborough 47 3,316 2. D. Earnhardt 46 2,655 3. R. Petty 65 1,867 4. D. Pearson 39 1,468 5. B. Allison 48 1,156 6. B. Elliott 56 1,016 7. J. Gordon 26 975 8. B. Labonte 25 944 9. M. Martin 39 881 10. Bud. Baker 54 785

• Ryan Newman is the only driver to lead in each of the past seven races at Atlanta. He also is the only active driver who has led in every Cup race that he has competed in at the track.

Mail Call

As with most opinions, there were supporters and detractors for a drivers' union, and since there is a better chance of the TomKat relationship surviving the test of time, the issue is moot.

Nonetheless, there are other issues:

"Not to be outdone, the Cup Series had 15 [cautions] -- which was down considerably from 22 in the May race." That May race was 100 miles longer. They were on pace for another 20-plus caution race.
-- Brian Bock

Maybe the written word isn't the best way to express sarcasm. I'll try to remember that -- or maybe not.

Thought your "Green Flag" comment was funny, though you completely missed the main thing about David Reutimann's first Nextel Cup race: He was driving the State Fair Corn Dog car -- and it finished the race!
-- Diana M., Lynnwood, Wash.

Yeah, can't get enough of the State Fair Corn Dog car. I just need a Sun-Drop to wash it down.

E-MAIL •   Send Duane your thoughts ...

During the cooldown lap [at Charlotte] Jimmie Johnson was shown turning a knob on the dash. Was this a height adjuster so he would make it through tech? I know there are no knobs on a dash in Nextel Cup -- switches and buttons only.
-- Dom

Several e-mails were fanning the flames over JJ's perceived twist of the wrist. Well, it wasn't an optical illusion -- he was turning a knob that, in fact, brought his car back within tech specs.

(Update: OK, enough with the e-mails. ... Johnson was adjusting the brake bias -- for a more impressive burnout. ... Damn sarcam getting lost on the World Wide Web.)

Fantasy Perspective

At Atlanta ...
• Greg Biffle has three consecutive top-10 finishes.
• Kurt Busch has one top-10 finish in his past five races.
• Carl Edwards has finished third and first two starts.
• Jimmie Johnson has four consecutive top-five finishes.
• Matt Kenseth has one top-10 in his past four races.
• Mark Martin has back-to-back top-five finishes.
• Jeremy Mayfield has two top-10s in his past 10 races.
• Ryan Newman has one top-10 in his past four races.
• Tony Stewart has seven top-10 finishes in his past eight races.
• Rusty Wallace has one top-10 finish in his past nine races.