Gordon Earns First Win at Chicagoland Speedway

JOLIET, Ill. (July 9, 2006) - Jeff Gordon earned the 75th victory of his
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series career in dramatic fashion during Sunday's USG
SHEETROCK 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.

Gordon made contact with race leader Matt Kenseth with four laps remaining,
spinning Kenseth to the infield grass. Gordon continued, but Kenseth couldn't
recover.

Gordon then held back pole sitter Jeff Burton in a two-lap shootout to score
his first victory at Chicagoland Speedway.

The win allowed Gordon, a four-time NASCAR champion, to pull within one
victory of the late Dale Earnhardt, who sits sixth on NASCAR's all-time list.
It was also a win he said he needed to make his move for a fifth NASCAR
championship.

"I hate to win one like that. Sorry to Matt," Gordon said from Gatorade
Victory Lane. "I know that's going to take away from (the victory), but I
think we could have (passed) him either way."

Gordon said Kenseth tried to block him a couple of times in the final 30
laps. But Gordon considered it a racing accident.

"If I wanted to spin him, I would have spun him (earlier)," he
said. "I
wanted to race him."

Kenseth's troubles continued from there. After running out of fuel during the
caution, he was bumped by NEXTEL Cup Series rookie David Stremme as they
crossed the finish line. Kenseth slid hard into the outside wall, but he was
not injured. He finished 21st; Stremme finished 22nd.

"That wasn't an accident," Kenseth said of Gordon's contact.
"The last one
was an accident; the first one wasn't. (Gordon) just ran over me."

Burton's second-place finish continued his recent run of success. He has nine
top-10 finishes in the past 12 races, and vaulted from seventh to fourth in
series points.

Kyle Busch finished third with Kevin Harvick fourth and Dale Earnhardt Jr.,
who won last year's USG SHEETROCK 400, in fifth.

Gordon's victory pushed him back into the top 10 in the Chase for the NEXTEL
Cup. Kenseth maintained the second position behind Jimmie Johnson, who
finished sixth in Sunday's race.

Gordon's victory was also the first victory for Hendrick Motorsports at
Chicagoland Speedway.

---
 * SLMR 2.1a * Home of AutoSportsNet * 502/875-8938 * cco.ath.cx


--- GTMail 1.26