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Gordon leads final session; Waltrip finds trouble
By Lee Montgomery, NASCAR.COM
November 6, 2004
02:25 PM EST (19:25 GMT)
AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Drivers and teams in the Chase for the Nextel Cup have dominated the news lately, and rightly so. The championship is on the line, and with five drivers within 100 points of the lead, competition has been stiff.
But Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway, non-Chase drivers stole the show. Four non-Chase drivers led the final practice before Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500, with Robby Gordon topping the charts at 130.312 mph.
Behind Gordon was rookie Kasey Kahne at 129.711, with Rusty Wallace third at 129.562 and Jeff Green fourth at 129.496. Kahne is the highest-ranked driver among the quartet, and he's 13th in points.
Interestingly, the next five drivers are all in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Jeff Gordon was fifth, with defending race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart tied for sixth, Elliott Sadler eighth and Jimmie Johnson ninth.
Rounding out the top 10 was Joe Nemechek.
Polesitter Ryan Newman clocked in 15th at 128.824 mph. Nextel Cup points leader Kurt Busch was 17th.
Busch leads Johnson by 59 points with three races remaining, with Gordon third, 72 points behind. Mark Martin is fourth, 81 out of the lead, with Earnhardt Jr. fifth, 98 behind.
Johnson has won three races in a row to close on Busch, who helped Johnson's cause last weekend with a blown engine early in the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Gordon, who is leaving Richard Childress Racing at the end of the season, sits 23rd in the points. He is winless in 2004, with a best finish of fourth at Darlington back in March.
Michael Waltrip slapped the outside wall early in the practice, and his Dale Earnhardt Inc. team was forced to bring out the backup car. Waltrip was running two-wide on the outside of Kevin Harvick when he slipped off Turn 4.
Waltrip's crash came on his third lap in Happy Hour, and the crew was able to get the backup car out to run several laps. Waltrip was 30th at 127.977 mph.
