DARLINGTON, S.C. (Aug. 31, 1997)
He might have been handed an oversized check for $1 million in Victory Lane after the Mountain Dew Southern 500 NASCAR Winston Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway, but make no mistake about it: Jeff Gordon wasn't given anything on this day. He earned it all.
In one of the most exciting finishes in recent memory, Gordon edged a determined Jeff Burton by 0.144-second at the checkered flag to win the Mountain Dew Southern 500 for the third straight time and become only the second driver in NASCAR history to earn the Winston Million.
Gordon matched Bill Elliott's 1985 achievement by adding the victory in the 500-mile race around the 1.366-mile Darlington track to wins in the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. That meant he has won three of the "Big Four" races that make up the Winston Million program and now has $1 million to show for it.
"This is just unbelievable," said an elated Gordon. "I never thought anyone would win the $1 million again, let alone three straight Mountain Dew Southern 500s."
Gordon, in the DuPont Refinishes Chevrolet, had to win a last-lap duel with Burton, in the Exide Batteries Ford, to claim the loot. And what a battle it was. As the two drivers headed into the first turn, Burton, after gaining a rush of momentum off the fourth turn, squeezed to Gordon's inside. The two bumped and rubbed sheet metal, courting disaster. But it was Gordon who nudged his way ahead, taking the outside line into the first turn. From there, Burton could not mount a second charge to the checkered flag.
"What a team we have. These guys were doing some great stuff today," Gordon said. "I should've never won that race, but I kept going. A million dollars, I just had to do it.
"We weren't that good," Gordon said. "For the final 30 laps I got all I could out of the car. I knew I was going to have to give it all I had. Not only did this get us the $1 million, it keeps us headed toward the Winston Cup championship. All we've got to do is keep doing what we're doing -- show'em what we're made of."
While Gordon remained a contender for most of the race, for a while it appeared his chances for victory and the money appeared dim. After the race was about two-thirds completed, Gordon found himself battling handling problems. During the race's seventh of 11 caution periods, he pitted twice for adjustments and fell from fourth place prior to the caution to eighth on the restart on lap 217.
He was forced to do the same thing during the eighth caution period. He was fourth when he pitted, and 10th -- the last driver on the lead lap -- when the race restarted.
"I got real loose when the sun was out," Gordon said. "We tightened it up and finally got it tight enough and then the clouds came in. It was way too tight."
It was at this time that Dale Jarrett, who came into last year's Mountain Dew Southern 500 bidding for $1 million but lost his chance when he slapped the wall early in the race, took control.
Jarrett, in the Quality Care / Ford Credit Ford, took the lead for the first time on lap 258 when he passed Bill Elliott -- who had dominated early -- in Turn 1. He remained in the lead until the ninth caution period, which began on lap 295 after a smattering of rain hit the track.
At first, it appeared Jarrett would be the only one of the leaders who would remain on the track. But as he saw the others, led by Gordon, dash onto pit road, he did likewise and went from first on the track to third in the pits.
When the race restarted on lap 303, Jarrett was second to Gordon. He made an attempt to pass low in Turn 1 and again in Turn 4 on the restart lap, but Gordon held him off.
With 50 laps to go, Gordon's lead was 0.22-second -- about three car lengths. With 40 laps to go, Gordon, Jarrett and Burton were locked in a three-car duel, each no more than two car lengths apart from the other. Then, on lap 332, Ward Burton's MBNA Pontiac spun out of the second turn, directly in front of the trio of leaders. All of them avoided disaster and pitted under the ninth caution period of the race.
Again, Gordon was out first with Jarrett second. Burton fell to seventh after his crew had to replace lug nuts that had fallen off the left side of his Ford.
When the race went back under the green on lap 339, Gordon was first, Jarrett second, Terry Labonte third, Ricky Rudd fourth and Mark Martin fifth.
Jarrett knew he had his last opportunity to snatch victory away from Gordon.
It evolved into a tense, dramatic finish. Jarrett doggedly pursued Gordon and with 10 laps to go, the two were nose-to-tail -- and Burton was closing. Two laps later, Burton was on Jarrett's rear bumper and it was a three-car duel again.
On lap 364, Burton swung low alongside Jarrett in the first turn and made the pass, which allowed Gordon to pad his lead slightly. But with two laps to go, his margin disappeared. Burton closed on Gordon's rear bumper and set up the drama that would be the last lap.
As the white flag flew, Burton shot off the fourth turn and moved alongside Gordon. Going into the first turn, the two bumped, causing smoke to trail off their rubbing sheet metal. Burton was on the inside and Gordon on the outside.
"Gordon was going for $1 million and when I got under him, he cut down on me," Burton said. "If I had cut back on him, I might have wrecked him. I'm not saying, though, that I might not have done the same thing. If I was going for $1 million, I might have done the same thing.
"Gordon was racing for a million dollars. You can't blame the guy. But we were here to win, too." I didn't think there was enough time for Burton to catch me but I saw him come up and said, 'Oh, man,'" Gordon said. "On that last lap, I was going for $1 million. Jeff and I slammed and bammed and we really put on a show for the fans. Yes, he could have wrecked me. "But he had problems in the pits most of the day and had he been able to be up there with us on the restarts, he might have been the one to beat today.
His car was great on long runs." Jarrett admitted he didn't have enough to pass Gordon, although he tried mightily.
"We were just a bit off," he said. "Jeff did a fantastic job out there but I think if I had been able to get out front I could have held him off. When I was behind him, my car picked up just enough of a push that there wasn't enough for me to get by him.
"My hat's off to Jeff," said Jarrett, who as much as nearly anyone must appreciate what Gordon accomplished.
Gordon's victory propelled him back into first place in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series point standings. He has 3,437 points, 25 more than Martin, who came into the race with a 13-point pad over Gordon. Jarrett remains in third place, 168 points behind Gordon.
For most of the race Elliott, in the McDonald's Ford, displayed the form that earned him 11 superspeedway wins, 11 poles, the Winston Million and "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville" back in 1985. He led twice for 116 laps, more than any other driver. Elliott's last NASCAR Winston Cup Series win came at Darlington in 1994. But he couldn't keep pace with the top-3 finishers and wound up fourth-- still his sixth top-10 finish in the last seven races, showing that the No. 94 is once again a force, if not the dominant force.
Ricky Rudd rallied to finish fifth in his Tide Ford while Terry Labonte took sixth in the Kellogg's Chevrolet and Bobby Labonte, the Busch Pole winner, was seventh in the Interstate Batteries Pontiac.
Martin wound up eighth in the Valvoline Ford with Michael Waltrip ninth in the Citgo Ford and Ken Schrader 10th in the Skoal Bandit Chevrolet.
Gordon averaged 121.149 mph in his ninth victory of the year and the 28th of his career. His take from the Mountain Dew Southern 500 -- not counting the $1 million bonus -- was $131,330. That, coupled with the bonus, has driven his career earnings to $13,668,532 and that puts him sixth on NASCAR's all-time list. No other driver has earned more than $13 million as quickly as Gordon.
Just add that to the lengthening list of impressive achievements the 26-year-old has compiled in a very, very short time.
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