TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) - As beer cans bounced around his car, Jeff Gordon crossed the finish line Sunday for win No. 77 - breaking a tie with the late Dale Earnhardt on NASCAR's career victory list.
It was only fitting that it happened at Talladega Superspeedway, where Earnhardt - who would have been 56 on Sunday - won 10 times in his Cup career.
But it was anticlimactic and confusing, ending under caution to leave Gordon unsure if he'd actually won and taken over sixth place on the wins list.
"Is it over?" he radioed his crew. "Is it over? Is it official?"
Nobody knew after two separate accidents on the first lap of a three-lap shootout to the finish froze the field and had NASCAR scrambling to make sense of the finish.
It was a stark difference to last week, when Gordon won in Phoenix to tie Earnhardt's mark and flew a No. 3 flag on his victory lap as a tribute to the seven-time champion. The gesture was poorly received, though, as fans threw debris at him even though Dale Earnhardt Jr. immediately - and publicly - praised the tribute.
