ROAD WARRIOR ROBBY
CONQUERS INFINEON!
Sonoma, CA: Napa Valley became Happy Valley for Robby Gordon as he held off Jeff Gordon to win the Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.
The #31 Cingular Chevrolet was not hard to spot , decked out in dayglo orange with the Charlie's Angels Full Throttle scheme painted on the car. For most of the day, that bright dot stayed in front while the rest of the field was strung out behind.
When Robby took the lead from Boris Said on lap 2, it appeared that he was ready to take charge. He lead the race for 47 laps before he faced his first real challenge from team mate, Kevin Harvick. But as Kevin was looking for a way to take the advantage, Ron Fellows slipped past both cars to take over the lead in the #1 Pennzoil Chevrolet.
It wasn't until there were 30 laps remaining that Robby was able to move into 1st place again. While the rest of the field was beating and banging to try and improve their positions, Robby stayed under control. During the final laps, he was able to fend off a hard charging Jeff Gordon to win the race. This was his 2nd Winston Cup Victory.
Jeff Gordon had stayed in close contention for the lead throughout the race. The #24 DuPont Chevrolet seemed to be as strong as the #31. But the car developed a push late in the race and Jeff could not muscle his way past Robby. He finished the race in 2nd, and also jumped to 2nd in the points standings.
Kevin Harvick was able to stay in the top 10 for most of the day. The #29 Goodwrench Chevrolet appeared to be every bit as good as the #31. Kevin just could not find what it would take to get into the lead. Although Kevin beat Robby off of pit road during a green flag pitstop. Robby jumped back ahead as the two raced to the yellow flag when a caution came out on lap 72. Kevin was upset with Robby for making the move at that time. Kevin ended the day with a 3rd place finish.
The race was not without some miscues as drivers normally used to turning left, had to negotiate tricky right turns. Even though Bobby Labonte was spun around on two separate occasions, he was able to bring the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet to a 9th place finish.
Points leader, Matt Kenseth got a huge break when his left rear tire came off on lap 36. Luckily for the #17 DeWalt Ford, the mishap occurred at the entrance to pit road. Though he lost position from 9th to 24th, Matt was able to battle his way back to finish 14th.
The biggest wreck of the day occurred as three cars tried to take the same position at the same time. Bill Elliott in the #9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, Kurt Busch in the #97 Rubbermaid Ford and Jeff Burton in the #99 Citgo Ford spun around in sync and caused a pile up behind them. Bill Elliott made a great come back, finishing the race in 4th.
Another good road course driver, Rusty Wallace had a chance at the lead late in the race. He had fought his way to the front after he and Jeff Burton got together on lap 62. The #2 Miller Lite Dodge had worked hard throughout the day and looked like he may have an opportunity to get by the #31. But Jeff Gordon slid past him to take over 2nd place on lap 91. Then, with 12 laps to go, a bad wheel hop pushed Rusty back from 3rd to an 8th place finish.
After pushing his way through several cars during the day, Jeremy Mayfield brought the #19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge in at a remarkable 10th. Two of the road course "Ringers" finished in the top 10 as well. Boris Said, who started the race on the pole, finished 6th in the 01 U.S. Army Pontiac and Ron Fellows finished 5th in the #1 Pennzoil Chevrolet.
After all of the spinning, sliding and right turns of this road course race, most of the drivers are looking forward to a week off before returning to the "Go Fast, Turn Left" racing at Daytona.
This article also appeared as a Special on FOXSports.com
Article by S. Kipple
6/22/03
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