Racebeat
by Rich Romer

DOVER, DE--NASCAR Winston Cup: Jeff Gordon held off rookie Ryan Newman following a restart with three laps remaining to win the crash-marred NASCAR Winston Cup Protection One 400 for the second year in a row. Winless through the first 24 events of the season, Gordon recorded his third victory in the last six races and the 61st of his career. Newman finished .618 seconds behind Gordon in a Ford Taurus and was followed by his Penkse Racing teammate Rusty Wallace, Joe Nemechek and Bill Elliott. Mark Martin's bid for an elusive Winston Cup championship hit a setback after the points leader went to the garage with about 17 laps left due to engine failure. Rookie Jimmie Johnson, who finished a lap down in 10th place, climbed atop the standings for the first time in his brief career. Battling back from a flat tire, Johnson took an 11-point lead over Martin.

Tony Stewart, who came in eighth, is 36 points back while Gordon is 109 points off the pace with seven races to go. However, Johnson trails Newman by 16 points for Rookie of the Year honors. Johnson has three wins to one for Newman, who notched his 13th top-five finish Sunday. Johnson six top-five showings. Gordon was leading by more than four seconds when a yellow flag came out on lap 249 to clear up debris on the backstretch. He stayed on the track while Newman and Wallace pitted with the rest of the field. Johnny Benson's Pontiac Grand Prix slid into Jimmy Spencer's Dodge Intrepid, a wreck that also involved Jeremy Mayfield and Ricky Rudd on lap 261, bringing out the 11th caution flag of the afternoon. The final green flag flew with three laps left in the 267-lap race and Gordon was able to stay ahead of Newman. Pole-sitter Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished sixth after losing the lead early to Newman. Earnhardt was fourth on the final restart, but his Chevrolet made contact with the Ford of Matt Kenseth.

NASCAR Busch Grand National Series: If Jeff Burton ran regularly in the NASCAR Busch Grand National series, he could be a championship contender. Having a modest Winston Cup season by his standards, Burton ran away from the field to capture the Mr. Goodcents 300 at Kansas Speedway for his fourth Busch series victory of the year. Burton has run just 11 Busch races this season but is tied for the lead in wins with Greg Biffle and Jason Keller, who are vying for the series championship. Burton led 48 of 200 laps in a Ford Taurus and passed Kerry Earnhardt with 29 laps left. He took the checkered flag by 3.272 seconds over Earnhardt, who settled for a career-best second-place finish. Burton averaged 120.509 mils per hour and won $71,125. Driving a Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Earnhardt held the lead for the first time in a Busch race, running in front between laps 163-171. Joe Nemechek led twice before finishing third, also in a Chevrolet. Nemechek was passed in a controversial move by Jeff Green while coming around to the start-finish line at the beginning of a caution period. Biffle was stuck in traffic early in the race but worked his way to fourth place, extending his lead to 127 points over Keller, who retired on lap 169 with engine problems and placed 30th. Tony Raines rounded out the top five. Veteran Jimmy Spencer finished sixth and was followed by Green, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Lyndon Amick and Jamie McMurray. The race had a track-record nine caution flags for 39 laps. There were 19 lead changes among 15 drivers, including rookie Scott Riggs, who was in front a race-high 51 laps but finished 23rd.