Mayfield wins GFS 400
Published 7:40 am Monday, August 22, 2005
By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
BROOKLYN - Jeremy Mayfield played the fuel mileage game and came away a winner Sunday in the GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
While nearly everyone else was making one more pit stop in the late stages of Sunday's NEXTEL Cup race, Mayfield and Scott Riggs stayed out and tempted fate with their gas tanks.
The result was Mayfield's first victory since Sept. 11, 2004 when he won at Richmond in the final race before NASCAR's "Chase for the Championship."
Sunday's victory moved Mayfield up to sixth place in the NEXTEL Cup championship standings with only three races remaining before the 2005 Chase for the Championship begins.
Riggs ended up finishing second with Matt Kenseth, who was forced to make a late pit stop, finishing third. Rookie Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart, last week's winner at Watkins Glen, N.Y. rounded out the top five.
Stewart, who has won five of the last eight NEXTEL Cup races, increased his points lead over runner-up Jimmie Johnson to 126 points. Greg Biffle, who was sixth on Sunday, remained third - 252 points behind Stewart.
Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin, who both were honored before the race by MIS officials, are fourth and fifth in the point standings in their final season of full-time NEXTEL Cup racing.
Wallace ended up 12th and Martin 17th after late pit stops for fuel.
Rounding out the top 10 finishers were defending NEXTEL Cup champion Kurt Busch, pole sitter Joe Nemechek, Brian Vickers and Johnson.
Rounding out the top 10 drivers in the point standings are Mayfield (-399), South Bend's (Ind.) Ryan Newman (-420), Edwards (-510) and Jamie McMurray (-566).
Four-time NEXTEL Cup champion Jeff Gordon finished 15th on Sunday, but moved up to 12th in the point standings with three races remaining. Gordon is now just 58 points out of 10th place.
The top 10 drivers, plus anyone within 400 points of the leader will "chase" the championship over the final 10 races of the season.
Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was running in the top 10 late in the race, finished 18th after a late pit stop for fuel. He is now 16th in the point standings and all but eliminated from making the "chase."
Besides Gordon, Dale Jarrett (11th in the standings), Elliott Sadler (13th), Kevin Harvick (14th) and Kenseth (15th) all are within 104 points of 10th place.
The race, which was run before the 30th consecutive sellout at Michigan International Speedway dating back to 1991, took two hours, 49 minutes to complete, thanks in part to seven caution flags.
A total of 27 drivers finished on the lead lap, with Busch led the most laps with 65.
GFS Marketplace 400
Michigan International Speedway
Top 10
1. Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge; 2. Scott Riggs, Chevrolet; 3. Matt Kenseth, Ford; 4. Carl Edwards, Ford; 5. Tony Stewart, Chevrolet; 6. Greg Biffle, Ford; 7. Kurt Busch, Ford; 8. Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet; 9. Brian Vickers, Chevrolet; 10. Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet