Gordon wins Auto Parts 500

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Jeff Gordon said he came to Martinsville Speedway to do his job, and as he climbed from his car into an embrace with Rick Hendrick in Victory Lane, doing it well never felt better.

Gordon won the Advance Auto Parts 500 on Sunday, turning NASCAR's first visit to the track since a Hendrick Motorsports plane crashed nearby last fall into a tribute to 10 team members and friends who were killed.

"That tells you how meaningful this was."

Hendrick's son, Ricky, was among those killed in the crash.

Before making it to Victory Lane, Gordon said, he was focused on driving the car, especially after going four laps down very early because of a vibration.

Once he saw Hendrick, the rest of the implications surfaced.

"When he popped his head in there, it hit me like a ton of bricks."

In winning the race, Gordon did the same to everyone else. He seemed out of it after going so far back so early, but worked his way back onto the lead lap with 223 laps to go and never stopped closing on the lead.

Fourth on a restart with 46 laps to go, he wasted no time.

From then on, it was smooth sailing to his 71st career victory and second in six races this year. It was his sixth victory at .526-mile Martinsville, the shortest and trickiest track in the premier series.

Only Rusty Wallace, with seven, has more among active drivers.

"There's something special about this place and we lost so many incredible people, part of this organization and racing community, and I think it's only fitting for us to get this victory," Gordon said.

Gordon's only drama as he pulled away from the field was getting around defending series champion Kurt Busch, who had been running with the leaders with 53 laps remaining until Gordon nudged him into the wall.

"We were just two people fighting for one position and neither one of us wanted to give it up," Gordon said.

"That was just showing my disappointment," Busch said of the banging.

Once Gordon got around Busch, he was gone, and the 16th caution flag with less than 10 laps to go didn't hinder him, either. He pulled away from Kasey Kahne with three laps to go and won by .593 seconds.

Gordon's Chevrolet and Kahne's Dodge were followed across the line by Martin's Ford, the Dodge of Newman and Marlin, also in a Dodge.

"You can't ever count out Jeff Gordon here," Kahne, who started 35th, said. "He's one of the best drivers ever at this track."

Kahne has finished second six times in 42 races, but has never won.

The race also had a disappointing finish for the Joe Gibbs Racing tandem of Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart, who led for a combined 279 laps.

Labonte was leading when the race came out of a caution with 105 laps to go, but his car suddenly slowed and he faded quickly to mid-pack.

"We can't build a motor to go 250 laps right now," Labonte said. "Today, at least we were leading the race when it happened."

Stewart, who led four times for 247 of the first 389 laps, was running in the top five with 70 laps to go when his car suddenly slowed in the fourth turn. By the time he got into turn one, everyone found out why: his right front tire came off his Chevrolet and went bounding down the track.

"I can't even describe it right now," the often-fiery Stewart said of his disappointment in not winning. "I guess the thing I'm proud of is that I'm handling it the way I am handling it right now. It's bad."

Busch was next in the barrel. He was racing in the top five with 53 laps to go when Gordon nudged him in turns three and four, spinning Busch's Ford and sending it rear-end first into the outside wall.

The 16 cautions slowed the pace for 91 laps.

Jimmie Johnson, who finished eighth, remained the series points leader by 160 points over Greg Biffle, who was 29th. Elliott Sadler finished ninth and moved up two spots to third in the standings, 182 points back.