NASCAR: Jeff Gordon wins at Kansas Speedway after holding off Kevin Harvick
Hendrick Motorsports ace Jeff Gordon raced to his first victory of the NASCAR season at Kansas Speedway on Saturday.
Last Updated: 11/05/14 11:58am
Gordon grabbed the lead late on in the race and then held off the fast finishing Kevin Harvick on the final lap to claim the victory - his 89th overall.
The 42-year-old became the ninth driver to win in the first 11 races this season, with Kasey Kahne back in third, followed by Joey Logano and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
"This is so sweet," said Gordon, who booked himself a place in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field with the win, which also eased the pressure his team.
"What a huge weight lifted off this team's shoulders. We needed to get to Victory Lane," added Gordon, who had already posted second-place finishes at Texas and Richmond to build a points lead this season.
After the start of the race was delayed 35 minutes by rain, Harvick, who had started on pole, led for the first 41 laps.
But the decisive moment came when his Chevrolet ran out of fuel on his last pit stop and he lost time which he could not recover from.
"I should have been paying attention to my pit road lights and should have got off pit road better," he said. "I made a mistake at the end and it cost us a chance to stay out in front of the 24."
Jamie McMurray and David Gilliland both had their cars erupt in flames in separate accidents, which they walked away from.
