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Russ Bond Motorsport Report: Jeff Gordon Ties Dale Earnhardt Sr in Wins

Phoenix International Raceway was the site of the eighth race of the2007 Nextel Cup Series, and it was the third race for the new COT's, or CANs as I like to call them. This was to be the race where aero came into play for the new car, and if that was the case, then there is still work to be done.

Fact is, other than the last 30 laps, it was a snooze fest.

But before I get into all that, let me tell you the good part – at least according to some. The Hendrick Motorsports team has been carrying one thing around in the hauler since July 2006 – care to guess what it was?

It was a flag bearing the famed #3 of Dale Earnhardt Sr. The gist was that they would get Jeff Gordon to carry the flag around the track when he tied NASCAR's best driver in wins.

That day finally came on Saturday night, when Gordon passed Tony Stewartfor his 74th career win with just a few laps to go ... here's Jeff.

"It means the world," Gordon said. "Holding that 3 flag, it's certainly by no means saying we're as good as him. I learned so much from him. We wanted to honor him. We've been holding on to that flag for a long time."

The fans had

Tony Kanaan won the fuel mileage race in Japan. (Photo: IRL Media)

a mixed reaction, but it was hard to tell what exactly they were booing, Gordon gets his share of boos for just being him. Anyhow, one of the first to his winning Dupont Impala SS was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who congratulated him on tying his dad in wins.

"That means the world to me because I didn't want to come across the wrong way," Gordon added. "We wanted to show tribute and honor.”

Second was Stewart, and he wasn't in a mood to talk. He led the most, but didn't win – again. Denny Hamlin, who was third, had the dominant car, but a pit speed limit penalty sent him to the back and he spent the rest of the race trying to overcome that. Another 20 laps and Hamlin would have won.

Like I mentioned earlier, this race was a snooze fest from the drop of the green. The new car has one serious drawback that the old car doesn't have. It changes the style of

Canadian Bruno Spengler continues to impress in the DTM series. (Photo: DTM Media)

racing basically because it is a “better” car.

In the old cars, when you run up behind someone you could stay fairly close and race them clean. If they still didn't move, you could move very close and take the air off their rear spoiler and move them up the track in the corners without touching them.

With the new car, this is not the case, and the result was a lot of cars stuck in the position they were in with no way to pass. That is why you saw Juan Pablo Montoya and others being so aggressive on the restarts – it was the only way to pass.

Guys like Denny Hamlin, who were way better than the other cars didn't have that problem as they could just pass on the top or the bottom of the track, but guys racing for position didn't have the same luxury.

This is something that really needs to be addressed by NASCAR before they make this car a full time deal.

DEBRIS - Dude, Every Boring Race Is Slowed-up

Juan Pablo Montoya was not very good at Phoenix in the new CAN - he wasn't alone. (Photo: Todd Warshaw, Getty Images for NASCAR)

At Phoenix, I'll give NASCAR credit, they made liberal use of the “Debris” flag, which slows the racing down. Normally the debris flag is for a (and I know this sounds simple) piece of debris on the track. It could be dangerous to other drivers, so NASCAR throws the yellow so it can be picked up.

At Phoenix, three of the debris flags weren't for debris. I know, because the 10,000 or so TV cameras were able to find the debris on the track as Darrell Waltrip eluded to in his commentary during the race: “Folks, if we can see the debris, we'll show it to you.” One that was for 'metal in turn 3' turned out to be duct tape. The other two, nothing could be found.

So, I guess when NASCAR sees a parade, and viewers leaving the telecast, they now know to throw a debris flag to keep the interest up. Not a bad idea, so I think debris in NASCAR can mean, Dude, Every Boring Race Is Slowed-up. In the south its “Whoa-ed up”, but that doesn't fit here.

For sure NASCAR now has some

Kevin Harvick was good early on, but faded at the end. (Photo: Todd Warshaw, Getty Images for NASCAR)

work to do on the new cars, so drivers can race with them. A few more yawners like that and Formula 1 will look exciting (news flash Russ... unless you're Honda, F1 is now exciting while NASCAR continues to be a yawnfest... even when the officials try to create something interesting by breaking their own rules - Ed).

Subway Fresh Fit 500 | April 21, 2007 | Race 8 of 36
FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 190/5 312 Running
2 9 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 180/10 312 Running
3 3 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Kinko's 170/5 312 Running
4 5 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 160/0 312 Running
5 17 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT 155/0 312 Running
6 14 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet Best Buy 150/0 312 Running
7 24 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg's 146/0 312 Running
8 26 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 142/0 312 Running
9 42 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Haas Automation 138/0 312 Running
10 8 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 139/5 312 Running
11

Single file racing made NASCAR through the phantom debris flag three times in Phoenix. (Photo: Todd Warshaw, Getty Images for NASCAR)

28 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 130/0 312 Running
12 20 01 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 127/0 312 Running13 31 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 124/0 312 Running
14 23 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 121/0 312 Running
15 27 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 118/0 312 Running
16 16 13 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Pinnacle Las Vegas 120/5 312 Running
17 18 16 Greg Biffle Ford Ameriquest 112/0 312 Running
18 6 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 109/0 312 Running
19 15 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 106/0 312 Running
20 7 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 103/0 311 Running
21 22 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 100/0 311 Running
22 12 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet DIRECTV 97/0 311 Running
23 2 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 94/0 310 Running
24 38 7 Robby Gordon Ford Jim Beam 91/0 310 Running
25 33 15 Paul Menard * Chevrolet Johns Manville / Menards 88/0 310 Running
26 39 88 Ricky Rudd Ford Snickers 85/0 310 Running
27 37 14 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Waste Management 87/5 309 Running
28 34 21 Ken Schrader Ford Motorcraft 79/0 309 Running
29 43 44 Dale

Jeff Gordon tied Dale Earnhardt Sr. in Cup wins with his win at Phoenix. (Photo: Rusty Jarrett, Getty Images for NASCAR)

Jarrett Toyota UPS 76/0 309 Running
30 40 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Wells Fargo 78/5 309 Running
31 10 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 70/0 309 Running
32 25 00 David Reutimann * Toyota Domino's Pizza 67/0 309 Running
33 36 42 Juan Montoya * Dodge Texaco / Havoline 64/0 309 Running
34 21 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 61/0 308 Running
35 30 38 David Gilliland Ford MandM's 58/0 308 Running
36 35 4 Ward Burton Chevrolet Va. Tech / State Water Heaters 55/0 305 Running
37 13 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC 52/0 303 Running
38 19 12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 49/0 301 Running
39 11 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 46/0 281 Off Track
40 29 78 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 43/0 279 Running
41 32 6 David Ragan * Ford AAA "Show Your Card and Save" 40/0 264 Running
42 4 10 Scott Riggs Dodge Valvoline / Stanley Tools 37/0 250 Off Track
43 41 40 David Stremme Dodge Coors Light 34/0 248 Off Track

Phoenix Notes: Penske's Luck

You have to wonder about Penske Racing's Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch. Both were running good, and both got caught out on yellow while they were pitting. You just can't make luck that bad unless you're Jeff Gordon, who

Tony Stewart has led the most laps this year, yet still hasn't won a race. (Photo: Rusty Jarrett, Getty Images for NASCAR)

was down the other end of the pit lane, who was under the same circumstance, came out with the race lead and win.

Waltrip ... Again

I'll change my report on the ailing Michael Waltrip situation, as he is now one for eight. Waltrip didn't make the show again, and Dale Jarrett is down to one provisional. Many say Bill Elliot is inMichael's car next week, but it will be at least two weeks as Jarrett has a provisional left. NASCAR rules allow for only one past champions provisional per race, and by putting Awesome Bill in Mikey's car, he could punt out his teammate. By the way, if this continues, Waltrip could well be the first driver ever in the history of NASCAR to finish a year with negative points. Currently Waltrip is showing -27 points for the year. Now that's a bad year.

Where's My Wing?

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