After runner-up finish at Martinsville, Jeff Gordon in Chase driver’s seat

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In light of Sunday’s runner-up finish in the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Jeff Gordon’s “Drive For Five” has now become a drive for three.

As in three races stand between Gordon and his fifth career Sprint Cup championship – and his first since 2001.

Gordon left Martinsville finishing just a split-second behind winning Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“It was a great performance, a really good finish,” Gordon told ESPN after the race. “I about threw this one away on pit road with the speeding (penalty he received earlier in the race).

“Then there at the end, we were stuck on the outside on the restarts. At that point, it was just a matter of clawing our way back.

“To have a 1-2 finish, it’s pretty awesome. I would have loved to have gotten that win to move on to Homestead, but this is certainly a great start for us. We have two more great tracks for us coming up.”

Indeed Gordon does with Texas and Phoenix still to come in the Eliminator Round.

But while finishing second is typically the first loser, that’s not the case for Gordon. He moves to the second race in the three-race Eliminator Round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup with the lead in the points standings.

Ryan Newman (minus-3), Joey Logano (-4), Matt Kenseth (-5) and Denny Hamlin (-7) are all within striking distance of Gordon heading to next Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway.

At the same time, Gordon has a hearty lead over the other three drivers still in the Chase: he leads Carl Edwards by 20 points, Brad Keselowski by 31 and Kevin Harvick brings up the rear of the Chase standings, 33 points behind Gordon.

“I’ve never felt like you couldn’t think about being consistent in this format, but points can still get you through,” Gordon said. “Winning gets you through but points still can.

“It’s good I was second to someone not in the Chase. Had it been someone in the Chase, it would have been hard to swallow.”

As the final two laps played out, Gordon thought long and hard about trying to move Earnhardt out of the way with a bump-and-run, but that strategy and Gordon’s car both fell short of actually doing so.

“I would have moved him, for sure,” Gordon said in his post-race media conference. “Everyone who’s out there has to weigh risk versus reward, and it’s worth taking the risk even if you upset your teammate.

“If that guy can win the race and put himself in Homestead, you can pretty much guarantee you’ll get the bumper. Dale drove a nice clean race and I never had an opportunity (to get close). I didn’t have the car to run him down.

“We had our opportunities. It wouldn’t matter who it was, I would have taken big chances, big risks. You can do that here in Martinsville. There’s a lot of tactics you can use to win the race.”

In addition to not being able to catch and potentially move Earnhardt, Gordon was still kicking himself for the earlier speeding penalty.

“Unfortunately, I lost this race today because of my mistake on pit road,” he said. “We played catch-up the rest of the day.

“I felt had we been in control of the race, we would have been in a much better position to win this race. It wasn’t easy to come back and we got pretty fortunate. (It was a) good points day.”

And then, as if almost an afterthought, Gordon had the understatement of the day:

“Anything can happen (in any race. That’s) why you want that win so bad. Thank God none of the next two are Talladega.”

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Supercross 2023: Results and points after Detroit

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The focus of the Detroit Monster Energy Supercross round was on the mid-pack battle while Aaron Plessinger pulled away from the field, but when he crashed after hooking his foot in the dirt, the results once more looked like we’ve come to expect, with Chase Sexton, Cooper Webb and Eli Tomac sharing the podium for the fifth time in 10 rounds.

Supercross Results Detroit
Justin Barcia was part of an exciting, four-rider battle in the middle of Detroit’s A-Main. – Feld Motor Sports

For Sexton, Plessinger’s late-race crash was a vindication of sorts. Several times already this season, Sexton has crashed while battling for the lead and the points that has cost him keeps him sporting the red plate. He lost points in Detroit for a different reason, however.

Sexton was allowed to keep the win, but was penalized seven points for jumping in a red cross section of the course. As a result, he dropped four points to Webb and two to Tomac. Sexton is now 17 points behind Webb in the championship hunt.

RESULTS: Click here for full 450 Overall Results; Click here for 250 Overall Results

One week after snatching the red plate from Tomac for the first time in 2023, Webb stretched his advantage by two. With his second-place finish, Webb holds a three-point lead over Tomac, which essentially means both riders control their fate in the coming weeks. Webb continues to have a sweep of the top five this season with his sixth consecutive podium.

Coming off his worst finish of the season, Tomac rebounded to finish third. His eighth-place result last week was partially attributed to a stiff neck that hindered him in traffic and he still suffered some of those same effects in Detroit. Before Plessinger’s crash, he was destined to be the only rider in the three-man title scrum to finish off the podium in Detroit.

It is surprising what one position can do for one’s confidence.

Click here for 450 Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Last Chance Qualifier | Lap Chart

Justin Barcia scored his fourth top-five of the season. He was part of the exciting four-man battle that dominated the middle stages of the race before Sexton and Webb gained a little separation. Finishing less than three seconds behind Tomac, he kept that rider honest for the entire race.

Coming off his first win of the season, Ken Roczen finished fifth. It was his seventh top-five of the season and it elevated him to fifth in the standings.

Plessinger’s fall took the wind from his sails. He attempted to right his bike after a hard crash, but as it smoked and pinged, he dropped to 13th in the final rundown.

Click here for 450 Overall results | Rider Points | Manufacturer Points


Hunter Lawrence tied his brother Jett Lawrence with 10 wins each after another dominating ride in the Detroit Supercross race and the results in the points continue to widen. With his fifth win in six rounds and a worst finish of third, Lawrence now has a 35-point advantage over Nate Thrasher with four rounds remaining. Finishes of 14th or better in the final four mains will give him his first 250 championship.

Supercross Results Detroit
Strong starts have been one of the keys to Hunter Lawrence’s success in 2023. – Feld Motor Sports

Jett will have an opportunity to retake his wins’ lead as Supercross heads west for the next two rounds in Seattle and Glendale, Arizona.

Nate Thrasher earned his third second-place finish of the season with a gap of 7.6 seconds to Lawrence. He won the overall in Arlington earlier this season, but a 15th-place finish in the opening round in Houston and 10th in Daytona hurts his championship chances.

Click here for 250 Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Last Chance Qualifier | Lap Chart

Haiden Deegan scored his second podium and fourth top-five in six rounds of his young career. On his way to that finish, he rode aggressively against his teammate Jordon Smith in the heat race. Fans are getting a glimpse of what his on-track personality might be.

Jeremy Martin continues to be the model of consistency. He has not finished worse than sixth or better than fourth in six rounds now and that has allowed him to close to within two points of third in the 250 East championship standings.

Rounding out the top five is Chris Blose, who was pressed into service at the start of the season because of a rash of injuries at Pro Circuit Kawasaki. This is Blose’s first top-five of the season, although he’s steadily improved over the past five rounds.

Click here for 250 Overall results | 250 East Rider Points | 250 Combined Rider Points

Max Anstie entered the race weekend second in the points, but a hard crash in heavy traffic early in the main forced him to retire after two laps. Earning only one point for the round, he plummeted to fifth in the standings.

The news was worse for Smith, who was dropped out of the top nine in his heat after the altercation with Deegan and failed to advance through the LCQ. In the last chance race, he stalled his engine and had to mount a determined charge. He got only as high as seventh in that race after crashing while attempting to make a pass on fourth-place Jack Chambers.

2023 Results

Round 10: Chace Sexton wins, penalized
Round 9: Ken Roczen wins
Round 8: Eli Tomac wins 7th Daytona
Round 7: Cooper Webb wins second race
Race 6: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence win
Race 5: Webb, Hunter Lawrence win
Race 4: Tomac, H Lawrence win
Race 3: Chase Sexton, Levi Kitchen win
Race 2: Tomac, J Lawrence win
Round 1: Tomac, J Lawrence win

2023 SuperMotocross Power Rankings

Week 8: Chase Sexton unseats Eli Tomac
Week 7: Jason Anderson narrowly trails Tomac
Week 6: Perfect Oakland night keeps Tomac first
Week 5: Cooper Webb, Sexton close gap
Week 4: Tomac retakes lead
Week 3: Ken Roczen takes the top spot
Week 2: Roczen moves up; Sexton falls
Week 1: Tomac tops 450s; Jett Lawrence 250s