Jeff Gordon never has approached the popularity of the late Dale Earnhardt -- perhaps NASCAR's biggest star ever. But Gordon is fast approaching one of Earnhardt's greatest accomplishments.
A victory last Sunday at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia was the second of the year and 71st of Gordon's career, moving him within five of matching Earnhardt's 76 wins -- sixth on NASCAR's victory list.
Jeff Gordon has 71 career wins, five behind NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, but has never won in Fort Worth.
(Tony Gutierrez -- AP)
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| _____ Daytona 500 _____
• Jeff Gordon clinches his third Daytona 500 title, edging Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Sunday.
• Final Results
• Hendrick Motorsports overcomes tragic plane crash to remain favored team in Daytona.
• Michael Waltrip edges teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the early qualifying race and Tony Stewart wins the nightcap.
• The Daytona 500 has served as the personal playground lately for Team Earnhardt.
_____ Multimedia _____
• Audio: washingtonpost.com's Mike Snyder reports after Jeff Gordon's tight victory Sunday.
• Photos
• Joe Gibbs talks about the parallels between football and NASCAR and the challenges and rewards of both.
• Audio: Gibbs talks about his future in auto racing and pro football. (Jan. 26)
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• Interactive guide to NASCAR's 36-race Nextel Cup series, including photos, schedules, profiles, statistics and more.
• Previous winners
_____ Live Online _____
• The Post's Liz Clarke was talking racing' Friday. Read the transcript.
_____ Flashback _____
• Six years after his father won NASCAR's grandest race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. roars to victory in the '04 Daytona 500.
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_____ Nextel Cup Basics _____
• Results
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• Standings
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• Nextel Cup page
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_____ Multimedia _____
• Audio: washingtonpost.com's Mike Snyder reports after Jeff Gordon's tight victory Sunday.
• Photos
• Joe Gibbs talks about the parallels between football and NASCAR and the challenges and rewards of both.
• Audio: Gibbs talks about his future in auto racing and pro football. (Jan. 26)
_____ On Our Site _____
• Interactive guide to NASCAR's 36-race Nextel Cup series, including photos, schedules, profiles, statistics and more.
_____ Basics _____
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Results
• Schedule
• Standings
• Statistics
• Nextel Cup page
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Earnhardt's death in a crash during the season-opening Daytona 500 in 2001 came as the seven-time series champion was approaching his 50th birthday. "The Intimidator," who struggled through the bush leagues of stock-car racing for a number of years, didn't make it to the Cup series for good until 1979, at the age of 28.
At 33, Earnhardt had won only 11 races. Gordon, a four-time champion, will not turn 34 until August and might just be reaching his prime.
Richard Petty's record of 200 wins is virtually untouchable, but David Pearson's runner-up total of 105 victories certainly could be reachable if Gordon stays on top of his game into his 40s.
Gordon doesn't want to think about that right now.
"I look at 71 [wins] and I'm blown away by it," Gordon said. "And I look at Dale Earnhardt and I know what a legend he was in the sport. I'm pretty overwhelmed by those numbers.
"But, at the same time, I also recognize that you've got to take them one at a time. Just when you think you're knocking on the door and you think five more, all of a sudden you go on a 31-race stretch where you don't win any races. So you can't focus on that."
The first order of business for Gordon will be trying to get his first win at Fort Worth's Texas Motor Speedway in today's Samsung/RadioShack 500. The 1.5-mile oval is one of only four tracks on the current Nextel Cup schedule at which he has never taken a checkered flag.
The first four years that NASCAR raced at the Texas track, Gordon never finished better than 25th. In the four races since then, he hasn't finished worse than fifth and was second to Matt Kenseth in 2002 and has been third the past two years.
"Wins don't happen just because you show up at the track," Gordon said, shrugging. "You've got to do your job. We've had cars capable of winning here and it just didn't work out for us because we weren't in the right position at the right time at the end of the race."
• BUSCH SERIES: Kasey Kahne got past 19-year-old rookie Reed Sorenson just before the final caution and held on over the final two laps after the restart for a NASCAR Busch Series win at Texas Motor Speedway.
After starting 25th, Kahne was in the top 10 midway through the 200-lap race and finally slid under Sorenson on the backstretch on the 194th lap, less than two laps before the yellow flag flew for the ninth time.
It was the second Busch win in 89 races for Kahne, and his first since the 2003 season finale. No other Busch winner at the track had started lower than 20th.
"It's a long time coming for us," said Kahne, who led a race-high 47 laps. "It feels good to be back."
