Jeff G Wins Virgina 500

MARTINSVILLE, Va. April 13, 2003; The AP reported that with 35 laps of frustrating failure behind him and only 13 left to pass Bobby Labonte, Jeff Gordon did what he thinks any other driver would have done.

Gordon used the nose of his car to nudge Labonte out of the way on the first turn of the 487th lap Sunday to win the Virginia 500.

"I race guys the way they race me," Gordon said afterward. "Bobby raced me clean, but he was definitely crowding me and he was cutting the entry into the corner pretty short."

The victory was the 62nd of Gordon's Winston Cup career, but his first of the season and the first in 16 races, since last September in Kansas City. He won at Martinsville Speedway for the fourth time.

Gordon had been dueling Labonte since they broke free on a restart with 48 laps to go, but Labonte blocked his efforts to pass on both the inside and outside before Gordon finally moved him out of the way.

"Each lap that went by and got closer to the finish, the bumps were going to get harder and harder and harder," Gordon said. "I was pretty determined to win this race. I thought I was kind of nice about it."

The four-time champion said he didn't really even turn into Labonte, but let Labonte turn into him from an outside line entering the turn.

Gordon described Labonte as "a nice guy, and he runs hard and clean, but he doesn't mind getting the job done and doing what it takes to get that win. He came up to me after the race, and we laughed about it.

"It wasn't like I just went down in there and took him out."

Labonte said he had no problem with the bump or the pass, and that he sought out Gordon in Victory Lane purely to congratulate him.

"We held Jeff off as long as we could," Labonte said, noting that a two-tire stop with 63 laps to go paid off in track position but left him unable to run with Gordon, who had taken on four fresh tires.

"That was hard racing. That was good, clean fun," Labonte said. "We respect each other a lot on the racetrack. We don't talk to each other a whole lot off the racetrack, but I respect his ability in a race car, and I think he does the same for me," Labonte said.

When Gordon pulled away on another restart with eight laps to go, the outcome was clear. The 11th caution with a lap to go finished the race.

"There's so many sweet things about getting a victory early in the season, in the first third," Gordon said. "It means so much. It takes that weight off your shoulders. We've been close, and we let a few slip away."

Labonte, who won this race last year, held on for second, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third after dominating and then having some bad luck.

Earnhardt led three times for 195 laps but ran into the back of Ricky Craven's car during a restart with 55 laps to go. The crash pushed both drivers up the track, and dropped Earnhardt to fifth. But he was thrilled to come back and finish third.

"It was pretty good racing, from where I was sitting," Earnhardt said. "There was a little bit of bumping and carrying on, but I guarantee you that three-quarters of the field would have done a whole lot worse."

In a season when he's paying more attention to points than he used to, the end result more than soothed Earnhardt's feelings about his crash. He trimmed 78 points off Matt Kenseth's lead in the standings. He's now 51 behind Kenseth, with Gordon 139 behind and Jimmie Johnson 179 back.

"We had a shot at it, but the 32 car had a flat tire and ran us up the racetrack, but there wasn't anything we could do," Earnhardt said.

Kenseth, who was lapped by Gordon on the 61st lap, finished 22nd. Only 12 cars were still on the lead lap when Gordon took the checkered flag.

Gordon led three times for 190 laps and won with an average speed of 75.557 mph. The race was slowed by caution flags for 64 laps, and the last lead change was the 14th among nine drivers.

Sterling Marlin finished seventh, followed by Rusty Wallace, Jimmie Johnson and Ken Schrader. Ricky Rudd was 11th.

At Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Va.

Lap Lenghtn: 0.526-mile oval

Finish	Start	Driver	Car make	Laps	Winnings
1.	(1)	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	500	$219,143
2.	(39)	Bobby Labonte	Chevrolet	500	$138,348
3.	(2)	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	500	$112,542
4.	(10)	Jeff Burton	Ford	500	$101,592
5.	(18)	Elliott Sadler	Ford	500	$98,950
6.	(8)	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	500	$105,953
7.	(25)	Sterling Marlin	Dodge	500	$97,275
8.	(5)	Rusty Wallace	Dodge	500	$91,217
9.	(7)	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	500	$70,250
10.	(4)	Ken Schrader	Dodge	500	$54,050
11.	(19)	Ricky Rudd	Ford	500	$78,650
12.	(9)	Kenny Wallace	Dodge	500	$68,225
13.	(31)	Bill Elliott	Dodge	499	$88,358
14.	(16)	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet	499	$78,581
15.	(6)	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	499	$53,750
16.	(29)	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	499	$87,678
17.	(24)	Mark Martin	Ford	499	$85,433
18.	(20)	Greg Biffle	Ford	499	$47,975
19.	(13)	Jimmy Spencer	Dodge	499	$63,575
20.	(37)	Dale Jarrett	Ford	499	$94,303
21.	(38)	Robby Gordon	Chevrolet	499	$75,262
22.	(34)	Matt Kenseth	Ford	499	$66,725
23.	(30)	Michael Waltrip	Chevrolet	499	$63,975
24.	(32)	Steve Park	Chevrolet	499	$74,562
25.	(12)	Ward Burton	Dodge	499	$82,931
26.	(35)	Jeff Green	Chevrolet	498	$56,825
27.	(17)	Ricky Craven	Pontiac	498	$67,010
28.	(36)	Kurt Busch	Ford	498	$64,910
29.	(14)	Jack Sprague	Pontiac	497	$44,725
30.	(40)	John Andretti	Dodge	497	$84,178
31.	(15)	Dave Blaney	Ford	497	$64,064
32.	(28)	Johnny Benson	Pontiac	496	$74,200
33.	(27)	Tony Raines	Chevrolet	496	$45,025
34.	(33)	Kyle Petty	Dodge	496	$55,000
35.	(21)	Mike Skinner	Pontiac	496	$46,950
36.	(22)	Casey Mears	Dodge	496	$54,400
37.	(41)	Todd Bodine	Ford	492	$43,850
38.	(3)	Ryan Newman	Dodge	436, brakes	$74,665
39.	(11)	Jamie McMurray	Dodge	319, engine failure	$43,740
40.	(23)	Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge	308, overheating	$51,665
41.	(26)	Jerry Nadeau	Pontiac	267, oil pump	$43,615
42.	(42)	Derrike Cope	Chevrolet	230, engine failure	$43,575
43.	(43)	Hermie Sadler	Chevrolet	133, engine failure	$42,866

Race Statistics

Winner's average speed: 75.557 mph
Time of race: 3 hours, 28 minutes, 51 seconds
Margin of victory: Under caution
Caution flags: 11 for 64 laps
Lead changes: 14 among 9 drivers

Lap leaders: J. Gordon 1-120; T. Stewart 121-131; R. Wallace 132-144; D. Earnhardt Jr. 145-239; J. Gordon 240-295; S. Marlin 296-318; T. Labonte 319; Earnhardt Jr. 320-349; K. Harvick 350-361; E. Sadler 362; Harvick 363; Sadler 364-367; Earnhardt Jr. 368-437; B. Labonte 438-486; J. Gordon 487-500.

Point standings: M. Kenseth, 1,330; Earnhardt Jr., 1,279; J. Gordon, 1,191; J. Johnson, 1,151; K. Busch, 1,125; Harvick, 1,097; T. Stewart, 1,092; M. Waltrip, 1,088; R.Craven, 1,082; E.Sadler, 1,055.