Lucky Seven: Gordon Completes Martinsville Sweep

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (Oct. 23, 2005) – Jeff Gordon won his fourth race of 2005 and completed a season sweep of Martinsville Speedway on Sunday. The victory was the 73rd of his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series career and first under crew chief Steve Letarte. “What a great, great effort by this DuPont Chevrolet team,” Gordon said. “It's been a tough year and we certainly could use a win and today was just phenomenal. “I just want to thank Steve Letarte and all the guys on this team. They work really hard.” The win was Gordon’s seventh in 26 career appearances at Martinsville, where he’s won four of the last six races. “There's nothing sweeter than getting one of those clocks,” said Gordon, referring to the customary grandfather clock awarded to the winner at Martinsville. “Those grandfather clocks are just so cool.” Gordon’s performance marked the 13th Martinsville victory for Hendrick Motorsports, which is second to only Petty Enterprises at the track. It was the 139th win for Rick Hendrick, who is now tied with legendary car owner Junior Johnson for second on the all-time list. Driving his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevy, Jimmie Johnson finished third to post his 12th top-five result of 2005. He is now second in the NEXTEL Cup championship standings, just 15 points behind the leader with four races remaining. Kyle Busch and Kellogg’s Racing notched their 12th top-10 finish of 2005 with a ninth-place showing at Martinsville. The 20-year-old Busch continues to lead the 2005 Raybestos Rookie standings. After a promising start, Brian Vickers and GMAC Racing were saddled with a 36th-place finish after mechanical problems sidelined the team for much of the race. Vickers is now 16th in the standings, one spot behind teammate Gordon.