Gordon catches Earnhardt

The Nextel Cup leader won Saturday night for his 76th career victory.
By REID SPENCER
SPORTING NEWS NASCAR WIRE SERVICE
AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Jeff Gordon kept a promise he made Thursday afternoon, and in doing so he tied Dale Earnhardt for sixth on the NASCAR Nextel Cup all-time win list.
After winning the pole for Saturday night's Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, Gordon vowed not to make the kind of mistake that had cost him a victory last Sunday at Texas, where Gordon bounced off the wall while leading late in the race.
True to his word, and with an ample measure of good fortune, Gordon collected the 76th victory of his career and his first of the season. He also won for the first time at PIR and became the first driver to win from the pole in 22 races at the one-mile track.
Gordon beat Tony Stewart to the finish line by .697 seconds. Denny Hamlin came home third, despite an early pit road speeding penalty that sent him from the top spot to the back of the field for a restart on Lap 104.
Jimmie Johnson fought electrical problems but managed to keep his batteries alive long enough to finish fourth. Matt Kenseth drove his No. 17 Ford to fifth place, the best result for a non-Chevrolet.
Jeff Green, Kyle Busch, Bobby Labonte, Johnny Sauter and Kevin Harvick completed the top 10.
Paraded with No. 3 flag
After taking the checkered flag, Gordon grabbed another flag -- a No. 3 Dale Earnhardt flag -- and took a victory lap around the track. A visit from Dale Earnhardt Jr. in victory lane allowed Gordon to savor the win even more.
"We've been holding onto that flag for a long time, because we wanted to do something really cool for Dale and pay tribute to him," Gordon said. "I had so much fun racing with him, and I miss him a lot out there. To do something that he'd done in this sport is pretty overwhelming for anybody, and it is for me.
"I can't believe that we've won 76 races. It feels good to get back into victory lane and just be able to hold that flag. I wasn't sure how people were going to take that. I was afraid some people might think we're trying to get the Earnhardt fans or think that we're saying that we're as good as him, but that wasn't the case.
"It felt really good that Junior came in and really accepted it that way. It was a special moment and a special night."
Won with stroke of luck
Gordon couldn't have won the race without a stroke of luck. The driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet narrowly avoided being trapped in the pits.
Gordon was rolling down pit road for his final stop under green when Dave Blaney's wreck brought out the sixth caution of the race. Crew chief Steve Letarte called for Gordon to stop for tires and fuel, and Gordon got out of the pits ahead of the pace car and inherited the lead when the rest of the frontrunners made pit stops on Lap 286.
"At the time the yellow fell, we were fortunate enough to put four tires on," Letarte said. "At the end of the race, we had the best car. To come here and get a little lucky on a yellow feels nice. It feels real good to win here."
Gordon took the green flag for the restart on Lap 294 and briefly surrendered the top spot to Stewart on Lap 299. But Gordon got back by Stewart on Lap 300 and held the point for the final 13 laps.