Double win for Gordon
SONOMA, Calif. — Jeff Gordon called crew chief Steve Letarte with two pieces of important news Sunday morning.
"I told him, 'Steve, I'm engaged and we're going to win today."
Gordon, who let the world know Sunday that he and longtime girlfriend Ingrid Vandebosch are planning to marry at some as yet unspecified date, also made good on his promise to Letarte, leading a race-high 44 of 110 laps at Infineon Raceway on the way to a record ninth road racing win.
"I can't even describe the emotions of winning today because it's been a while," Gordon said after parlaying patience and a fast car into his 74th NASCAR victory, but his first since last October at Martinsville. "It's a relief.
"It's so important to get that first win because, as the season goes on, you just feel more and more pressure," added the four-time NASCAR champion.
NASCAR's top "Road Warrior" started 11th in the 43-car field and took the lead for the first time on lap 49. He went on to earn his fifth victory on the picturesque wine country circuit.
Gordon said he choked up in the car after taking the checkered flag.
"You know, I guess it suddenly hit me everything that was going on," Gordon said. "I had gone 30 days without telling anybody about the engagement, so I had been holding that in, and it's been a long time since we got that last win. Everything all just came together this weekend."
Perhaps most important, the victory also vaulted Gordon back into the top 10 in points with just 10 races until the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship begins. The top 10 drivers in the points after the 26th race of the season are eligible for the 10-race playoff.
Last year, Gordon struggled, failing to qualify for the Chase, and switched crew chiefs, with Letarte replacing Robbie Loomis for the last 10 races. Gordon promised his fans and the team he was going to bounce back, but they went 16 races into the 2006 season before getting that first victory, only the third time since he came into NASCAR's top series full-time in 1993 that Gordon has gone that long without a win.
Two-time series champion Terry Labonte grabbed the lead for a while with a slick fuel strategy, but Gordon was able to hunt NASCAR's "Iceman" down, regain the lead on lap 88 and eventually pull away for his first Sonoma win since June 2004.
"Man, I didn't know if we were ever going to win another one of these races. I knew this team was something special, we just haven't had a chance to really show it," he added. "They gave me such an awesome race car this weekend that I had to get them this win. If we didn't win with this car, we can't ever win."
Labonte, driving this week for the first-year Hall of Fame Racing team co-owned by former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman, pitted for the final time on lap 60 and found himself in the lead on lap 71 after all the other leaders made their final stops.
