Phoenix International Raceway.
First win of the season. First win at Phoenix. First driver to win from the pole at Phoenix — and of course, Gordon is still first in the point standings.
But winning the pole on Thursday, which allowed him to have the first pit box on pit road, turned the tide for Gordon — and helped determine the outcome of Saturday's Subway 500.
When the sixth and final caution fell after Dave Blaney crashed in Turn 4 on Lap 283, Gordon had already pulled onto pit road before the yellow flag flew. Crew chief Steve Letarte opted to execute the stop and Gordon was able to exit pit road ahead of the leaders. That enabled Gordon to take the point ahead of Tony Stewart. Although Stewart was able to pull around Gordon 12 laps after the restart, the No. 24 passed the 20 car with 13 laps remaining for the win.
"We did it at Phoenix! Yes!" Gordon shouted over the radio.
Aaron Kuehn, tire specialist on the No. 24 car, grabbed a radio and replied that something was waiting for Gordon at the start-finish line. That "something" the Kennsington, Conn. native was holding was a black flag with the familiar number "3." Kuehn was shaking as he passed the flag on to his driver.
"I knew 76 was the number to try to get that win and it just wasn't working," Kuehn said. "Man, I wanted to win so bad at Texas. I wanted it to be somewhere where he hadn't won so it was memorable. It was a tribute to that family and all that they've done to put the sport where it is.
"I was a Davey Allison fan. All my uncles loved Earnhardt — that was it. Everyone growing up, up North were all Earnhardt fans, so I was always getting picked on. It was hard when I started working for Jeff because they were all big Dale fans.
"It was a tribute to all the fans — they're all Earnhardt fans and they have been forever. I just thought it would be a cool deal."
Gordon carried the flag proudly around the track during his victory lap as he celebrated his 76th victory — tying the late Dale Earnhardt for sixth on the all-time win list.
Gordon described the experience as "overwhelming."
"It means the world to get a win at a track we never won at before," Gordon said. "I drove my guts out. I love racing Tony Stewart and Jimmie (Johnson) and all the guys who are racing there.
"You know, holding the '3' flag, it's certainly by no means to say I'm as good or we're as good or even close, but tell you what, to honor him in that way, it really means a lot to me. I learned so much from him and to even come close to anything he had done in the sport is amazing to me. We want to honor him. We have been holding on to the flag for a long time, but to get 76 is incredible."
And one of the first drivers to congratulate Gordon in Victory Lane was Dale Earnhardt Jr.
"We wanted to honor Dale and to have Junior come over and say he appreciated that and said that was a class act, that means the world to me to have his blessings because I didn't want it to come across the wrong way," Gordon said. "We wanted to show tribute and honor and that was what we were able to do and it felt great."
Gordon extended his point total to 1,326 markers — 74 points ahead of Jeff Burton.
Lee Spencer is a senior NASCAR writer for FOXSports.com. Talk racing with Lee at her NASCAR blog.
First win of the season. First win at Phoenix. First driver to win from the pole at Phoenix — and of course, Gordon is still first in the point standings.
But winning the pole on Thursday, which allowed him to have the first pit box on pit road, turned the tide for Gordon — and helped determine the outcome of Saturday's Subway 500.
When the sixth and final caution fell after Dave Blaney crashed in Turn 4 on Lap 283, Gordon had already pulled onto pit road before the yellow flag flew. Crew chief Steve Letarte opted to execute the stop and Gordon was able to exit pit road ahead of the leaders. That enabled Gordon to take the point ahead of Tony Stewart. Although Stewart was able to pull around Gordon 12 laps after the restart, the No. 24 passed the 20 car with 13 laps remaining for the win.
"We did it at Phoenix! Yes!" Gordon shouted over the radio.
Aaron Kuehn, tire specialist on the No. 24 car, grabbed a radio and replied that something was waiting for Gordon at the start-finish line. That "something" the Kennsington, Conn. native was holding was a black flag with the familiar number "3." Kuehn was shaking as he passed the flag on to his driver.
"I knew 76 was the number to try to get that win and it just wasn't working," Kuehn said. "Man, I wanted to win so bad at Texas. I wanted it to be somewhere where he hadn't won so it was memorable. It was a tribute to that family and all that they've done to put the sport where it is.
"I was a Davey Allison fan. All my uncles loved Earnhardt — that was it. Everyone growing up, up North were all Earnhardt fans, so I was always getting picked on. It was hard when I started working for Jeff because they were all big Dale fans.
"It was a tribute to all the fans — they're all Earnhardt fans and they have been forever. I just thought it would be a cool deal."
Gordon carried the flag proudly around the track during his victory lap as he celebrated his 76th victory — tying the late Dale Earnhardt for sixth on the all-time win list.
Gordon described the experience as "overwhelming."
"It means the world to get a win at a track we never won at before," Gordon said. "I drove my guts out. I love racing Tony Stewart and Jimmie (Johnson) and all the guys who are racing there.
"You know, holding the '3' flag, it's certainly by no means to say I'm as good or we're as good or even close, but tell you what, to honor him in that way, it really means a lot to me. I learned so much from him and to even come close to anything he had done in the sport is amazing to me. We want to honor him. We have been holding on to the flag for a long time, but to get 76 is incredible."
And one of the first drivers to congratulate Gordon in Victory Lane was Dale Earnhardt Jr.
"We wanted to honor Dale and to have Junior come over and say he appreciated that and said that was a class act, that means the world to me to have his blessings because I didn't want it to come across the wrong way," Gordon said. "We wanted to show tribute and honor and that was what we were able to do and it felt great."
Gordon extended his point total to 1,326 markers — 74 points ahead of Jeff Burton.
Lee Spencer is a senior NASCAR writer for FOXSports.com. Talk racing with Lee at her NASCAR blog.
