FanHouse TexasMotorSpeedway

While Jeff Gordon's win at Texas Motor Speedway was a big deal to most of us, it wasn't as significant as we've all made it out to be. Sure, he broke a 47-race winless streak and snagged a win on one of the two remaining tracks he hadn't conquered, but the whole incident was terribly overplayed and revealed just how much of a slave Gordon is to his own success.

While Gordon had never before visited Victory Lane at Texas, how quickly we forget the man led a bunch of laps and landed many top-five finishes at the 1.5-mile venue before.

Sunday afternoon, the longest drought in between wins in Jeff Gordon's Sprint Cup career finally came to a close with a 'W' in Texas Motor Speedway's Samsung 500. Here's a quick look at No. 24's drought by the numbers:

14,037 - Laps completed between victory lane visits

540 - Days in between wins for Gordon [Lowe's, Oct. 13, 2007 - Texas, April 5, 2009]

447 - Total laps led in 2008

394 - Total laps led in seven 2009 races

For the first time since October 2007, we don't have to hear about Jeff Gordon's winless streak.

Gordon went from worst a year ago at Texas Motor Speedway to first on Sunday to win the Samsung 500 and cement the No. 24 as a legitimate championship contender.

Where: Texas Motor Speedway
Time: Sunday 2 p.m./EDT
TV/Radio: FOX Sports, PRN Radio
Forecast: Sunny, 62 degrees
Distance: 334 laps (501 miles)
Pole Winner: David Reutimann
2008 Winner: Carl Edwards


For the sake of racing in general let's hope that Saturday's Nationwide Series race at TMS will have been nothing like Sunday's Samsung 500. Missed that race? Well, here's all you need to know: Kyle Busch, Kyle Busch and, yep, more Kyle freakin' Busch.

The old cliché 'what a difference a year makes' couldn't have rang more true for Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 00 Friday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway.

A year ago, that No. 00 driven by Michael McDowell suffered one of the single-most violent crashes in NASCAR history as it first slammed the turn one wall before rolling multiple times down the track in qualifying. McDowell, miracuously, was uninjured.

Friday, though, David Reutimann continued his hot start to the season in the No. 00 by taking the pole for Sunday's Samsung 500.

It's quite easy to think that after the season's first two races, Jeff Gordon's 2009 appears headed in one direction.

A direction, that is, that will lead to his four Sprint Cup championship trophies earning a fifth partner on Gordon's mantle.

But lest we get caught up in the hype -- or is it desire? -- of seeing one of the sport's icons rise back to the top before realizing that the No. 24's disappointing 2008 started out in much the same fashion.

Texas Motor Speedway's Eddie Gossage has figured out a way to slash the prices on some tickets, remove 21,000 seats and still be in a position to make more money in 2009.

Perhaps we need to put ol' Eddie in charge of this seriously fun economic situation. And by seriously fun, I mean, well something a whole lot different.

Anywho, Gossage announced that -- count 'em -- 21,000 backstretch seats will be eliminated over the next 75 days and replaced with a nice, hopefully level, viewing mound that will accomdate the parking spots of 74 motorcoaches who will pay $15,000 per year for the most luxiorous accomodations a speedway could offer.

Wireless internet, pre-race pit passes, a dedicated concierge/assistant and a plethora of other offerings one would probably expect after dishing out $15k for a few race weekends are included, as well as passes for 10 people to the motorhome area, pit area during pre-race and a access to the track's Speedway Club.

So, if any of you NASCAR highballers out there need a know-it-all blogger to indulge in the fruits of your hospitality, I'll gladly make my way to the Lone Star State to help you out.

For the rest of us, TMS also announced a pretty good deal some of the remaining seats along the backstretch, or what is now dubbed "burnout alley".

Chase for the Sprint Cup point leader Jimmie Johnson is tired of Carl Edwards biting at his heels during his quest for a third-straight NASCAR Sprint Cup title -- especially after finishing a modest 15th a week ago at Texas Motor Speedway that allow Edwards a small glimmer of championship hope.

No more of that, Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 said Friday afternoon at Phoenix International Raceway as he put the Chevrolet on the pole for Sunday's Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500k.

Johnson -- who had paced the prior practice session -- starts first thanks to a lap of 134.725mph that bested that guy who has been a having a pretty good go things lately, Jamie McMurray.

Johnson and McMurray will start on the front row while Kurt Busch, David Reutimann (man, where he has come from lately?) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. round out the grid's Top-5. Carl Edwards rolls off in a pretty unremarkable 15th spot that could pose a few problems at this track positon-heavy track that doesn't bode well for great amounts of passing in the new car.

Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway had a grand total of two cautions for actual on-track wrecks, and had David Gilliland not intentionally wrecked Juan Pablo Montoya, that number would have been cut in half.

First, the video:



I saw Montoya's crash live Sunday during our live blog here on the 'House, and immediately felt my stomach drop for how blatantly intentional Gilliiland's move was.

Who knew David Gilliland was that type of racer?

Carl Edwards' odds are long to catch Jimmie Johnson in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings if they are based on the numbers alone. Factor in Johnson's status of being a two-time defending champion, and the odds banked on nearly impossible heading into Sunday's Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

All of that was riding on the mind of crew chief Bob Osbourne in final 100 miles of Sunday's race as he pondered two options: tell Carl to conserve fuel and hope for a miraculous win or bring Carl in for fuel and salvage a handful of points.

Osbourne bet on the former, and boy, did it pay off.