Robby Gordon Wins First Career Busch Race

RICHMOND, Va. September 10, 2004; Hark Kurz writing for the AP reported that Robby Gordon went from third to first in a three-car battle with 15 laps to go Friday night and held off Casey Atwood's charge the rest of the way for his first NASCAR (news - web sites) Busch Series victory. Gordon, running third as Atwood and series leader Martin Truex Jr. dueled for the lead on the 235th lap, slid under both for the lead when Truex's Chevrolet wiggled into Atwood's, sending both wide in the turn.

Atwood regained his command and quickly pulled up onto Gordon's bumper, but Gordon repeatedly closed off Atwood's favored outside lane on lap after lap and won the Emerson Radio 250 by 0.177 seconds.

The victory came in his 23rd career start in the Busch Series.

"This is our first win, but there should have been about five or six of them," Gordon said in Victory Lane before thanking his team.

"You can't say enough about guys that want to win."

Truex was third, followed by Jason Leffler, Kyle Busch, Mike Bliss and Kevin Harvick, giving Chevrolet the top seven spots.

David Stremme, in a Dodge, finished eighth to end the Chevy run.

The race appeared to be shaping up as a duel between Atwood and Truex, both of whom moved to the front when the leaders pitted with 98 laps left.

But when Truex pulled inside Atwood in the fourth turn of Richmond International Raceway, his car slid into Atwood's, and the veteran Gordon seized the opportunity, blasting past both in the lower groove.

"It's just tough short-track racing. You get up under somebody and it's so hard not to get loose down there on the bottom, especially on cold tires," Truex said. "I got a run on him, got loose and I want to apologize to him. He had an awesome car and probably should have won the race."

"I'm so disappointed. I thought we were going to win tonight," said a dejected Atwood, who has two career victories, but none since 1999.

Truex, meanwhile, extended his points lead to 105 over Busch with eight races left. Leffler is a distant third, 453 behind.

Gordon was only the third leader of the race after pole-sitter Kasey Kahne led the first 152 of 250 laps and Atwood led the following 83.

Kahne led most of the first 153 laps, often in dominant fashion, until the sixth caution sent most of the leaders onto pit road one last time.

Atwood, running fifth, had pitted with everyone else 18 laps earlier and stayed out to grab the lead, followed by Mark McFarland and Truex, who got back the spots he lost when a loose lug nut caused an extra pit stop.

Among the leaders that pitted, Kahne went from first to 14th, Busch dropped to 16th and neither had a chance to get back into the mix.

Mark Martin, tied for the lead with four series victories at Richmond since the track was reconfigured in 1988, started 13th and finished 12th.

The race got off to a sloppy start with a two-car crash on the second lap bringing out the first caution. It was the first of three quick crashes that slowed the pace for 22 of the first 45 laps.

In all, there were 10 cautions for 67 laps.