Jeff Gordon notched his first win of the season Sunday afternoon in Sonoma, California on the Infineon Raceway road course, moving him back into the top ten in the standings for the final push in the Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship.

The surprise of the day was the third place finish of Terry Labonte, who plans on retiring at the end of the season. His last win came in 2003 at Darlington.

Ryan Newman ran a strong race, finishing second. Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Points leader Jimmie Johnson finished 10th, extending his lead over Matt Kenseth from 74 to 101 points. Kasey Kahne is third, 313 points back of the leader. Mark Martin is fourth, 321 back and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is fifth 329 markers behind Johnson.

The Nextel Cup Series comes back east for the running of the Pepsi 400 at Daytona Speedway Saturday. Tony Stewart won the event last July.

Bob Welborn ran 140.121 miles per hour to win the pole for the first Daytona 500. Lee Petty won in a photo finish over Johnny Beauchamp. Bill Elliott has the track record at Daytona, running 210.364 mph. That was before restrictor plates were introduced.

Once again Lernerville fell to the wet weather Friday night. The MACS Late Model Series and the All-Star Sprint Series were scheduled. The MAC show has been rescheduled for Sept. 1 The All-Stars show will not be made-up.It's back to a regular Friday night program featuring the Sprints, Late Models, Modifieds and Pure Stocks.

Former Lernerville Sprint division champion and current World of Outlaws competitor Tim Shaffer suffered a fractured vertebrae Friday night at Knoxville as a result of a violent flip. Shaffer was taken to a hospital in Des Moines, Iowa. The Aliquippa, Pa. native was scheduled to be released from the hospital Monday.An upper neck fracture will require him to wear a neck brace for the next three weeks.Tri-City Speedway was rained out Sunday evening. A five-star racing program plus a fireworks display is on tap this Sunday. Racing begins at 6 p.m.Lynn Geisler finally found victory lane. Geisler won the Late Model feature at Pittsburgh Motor Speedway Saturday night, notching his first win in two seasons and 66th career win at PMS.Ed Lynch, Jr. visited victory lane for the fifth time this season at Sharon Speedway Saturday, winning the Sprint feature going away.Kevin Schaeffer of Kittanning finished second. Russell Dunn of Fenelton finished second to Scott Stiffler of Farmdale, Ohio in the E-Main main event. Fans at Sharon donated over $25,000 for the Victory Junction Gang Camp. Several NASCAR drivers were on hand to sign autographs.Arnie Kent put his sprinter in victory lane Saturday night at Mercer Raceway Park. Rod George finished second, Bob Felmlee was third, Carl Bowser fourth and Gale Ruth fifth.Second generation driver George Hobaugh, Jr., out of the Petrolia Valley area, nailed his first ever Mercer victory in the Micro Sprint feature.Mercer has a regular show scheduled Saturday night plus a holiday Fireworks display. Track owner Vickie Emig is rolling out the red carpet for all residents of Butler County, offering free admission to the show.