All News Bobby Labonte Brendan Gaughan Brian Vickers Dale Earnhardt Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jeff Gordon Jeff Green Jimmie Johnson Joe Nemechek Johnny Sauter Kasey Kahne Ken Schrader Matt Kenseth Rusty Wallace Scott Riggs Scott Wimmer Terry Labonte Todd Bodine Ward Burton

StockCarFans.com – Rumblings – California:

May 2, 2004 at 12:00 AM
  • #24-Jeff Gordon went back-to-back today….and did it with all of about a gallon of gas to spare. In what turned into a “fuelish” event (don’t they so often do both here and at Michigan), Jeff Gordon won today’s Auto Club 500 at California Speedway by 12.871 seconds….but it was actually much closer than that. #18-Bobby Labonte got to within a couple seconds late, but ran out of gas on the final lap. For Gordon, this was his 3rd win at Fontana (he won the inaugural event in 1997 and again in 1999) and his second win of 2004. This was win #66 for his career, and the 120th for Hendrick Motorsports (made even sweeter since they ran 1/2). The victory was worth $318,628 for Gordon from the over $5.7M in posted awards. Ah, Rusty!!! In a sport rapidly becoming colorless, it’s like a breath of fresh air to hear a driver say what _he_ thinks instead of what he’s been told to say. Hot? You think today was hot? How quickly we forget those July races in Talladega….
    #77-Brendan Gaughan (6th) had his career-best finish today. His previous best was last week at Talladega when he was 13th.
    #5-Terry Labonte (7th) had his best finish since he was 6th at Martinsville last October.
    Labonte & Gaughan’s Top-10 finishes give us 28 drivers to score a Top-10 this season…..last year’s number was 42.
    #0-Ward Burton (10th) had his best finish since he was 9th at Rockingham in February.
    #98-Todd Bodine (34th) had his best finish since he was 11th at Homestead last November (only 5 races).
    STREAKIN….Jeff Gordon has 5 Top-10’s in a row. Jimmie Johnson has 6 Top-10’s in the last 7 races.
    The Rookie Report: For the second week in a row Brendan Gaughan (6th) is the top-finishing first year driver. He was followed by: Kasey Kahne (13th), Johnny Sauter (21st), Scott Riggs (25th), Brian Vickers (29th) and Scott Wimmer (30th).
    This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the week is a tie….and it stays in the family! Bobby Labonte (+22) and brother Terry Labonte (+22) grab the title, followed by Matt Kenseth (+21). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Jeff Green (-34), followed by Joe Nemechek (-26), Rusty Wallace (-26), Brian Vickers (-23), and Scott Riggs (-21).
    Brendan Gaughan led once today for one lap….the first time he’s led in his Nextel Cup career. Ken Schrader led one lap today….it’s the first time he’s led since he led twice for 46 laps at the Daytona 500 of 2002! We’ve had 38 different leaders this season….last year’s number was 48.
    Dale Earnhardt Jr maintains the points lead, but his margin is down to 25 over Jimmie Johnson with Jeff Gordon just another two points back. Brendan Gaughan (27th to 22nd) made the best move forward today, while Scott Wimmer (21st to 25th) fell the most positions.(StockCarFans.Com Nextelcup Newsletter)(5-2-2004)