Richmond recap: Gordon and Johnson in top 10

RICHMOND, Va. (May 1, 2010) – Jeff Gordon scored a runner-up finish in Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Richmond International Raceway, while his teammate Jimmie Johnson crossed the line 10th. Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, led three times for 144 laps, but couldn’t hold off eventual winner Kyle Busch on the final restart. Gordon improves four spots to sixth in the driver standings. “It was a heck of a night for us,” Gordon said. “It was a great run for the DuPont Chevrolet. A little disappointed again that we are coming up short, but we are getting plenty of practice at this green-white-checkered and these shootouts at the end. Hopefully when it counts later in the season, we’ll make it count.” Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet, started third and picked up his seventh top-10 finish of the season before getting tangled up with Clint Bowyer past the start-finish line. “It was a tough night to earn points where we had competitive speed, not dominant speed where we could run with leaders,” said Johnson, who now ranks second in the driver standings. “There at the end, we had guys on (new) tires and I wasn’t on tires. We were just fighting really hard for that (10th-place) spot. Clint (Bowyer) got inside of me off of (Turn) 4, and I could hear him on the gas, and I wasn’t going to let off. We touched tires and around we went. Luckily, I don’t think anyone hit anything hard. Exciting finish for the fans.” Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 Hendrickcars.com/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, maintained his footing in the top 10 in the championship standings with a 25th-place finish. Dale Earnhardt Jr. crossed the finish line 32nd in his No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet. He now ranks 13th in the driver standings.