Gordon pleased for teammate

Monday, April 29, 2002 | 9:29 a.m.

FONTANA, Calif. -- Jeff Gordon said it had been a long time since he felt so happy after a 16th-place finish.

Gordon, co-owner of Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, said he was gratified to see his protege win Sunday's NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California Speedway in the team's 13th Winston Cup start.

"I'm really proud of these guys and thankful," the four-time Winston Cup champion said. "You see it all come together with all the people and all the hard work and Jimmie was certainly a big part of it."

Gordon admitted that he was pleasantly surprised that his Hendrick Motorsports teammate was able to win so quickly.

"If you would have asked me last year (when we started the team), I would have said we would have to be patient and that it would take a while," Gordon said.

"I do know that Hendrick Motorsports has the best race teams and resources out there. The No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet team (Gordon's team) has (helped) this Lowe's team come along but these guys went out there and did it."

Team owner Rick Hendrick said Johnson reminds him a lot of how Gordon got started with Hendrick Motorsports.

"It was almost a mirror of Jeff's deal," Hendrick said. "He didn't have a sponsor (when we signed Johnson) and we didn't know what the team was going to look like.

"We just knew he was a young guy with a lot of talent. When you see (talented young drivers), you just try to take advantage of it. I never dreamed we would do this well this quick."

Harvick cut a left-rear tire coming out of Turn 4 on lap 229, lost control and clipped Earnhardt, sending Earnhardt's car nearly headfirst into the wall. A television replay showed that Earnhardt was traveling at 134 mph when he made contact with the wall.

A California Speedway spokesperson said that Earnhardt was treated and released from the infield care center, but left the track on crutches. Earnhardt's injury will be re-evaluated when he gets back to North Carolina.

"If I cannot keep up, be near the front, have fun and be comfortable -- which is how it has been -- then I think the time has come," McGriff said. "I wrecked in (the Winston West race in) Las Vegas two weeks ago, so I don't want to do that again.

"I am 74 years old -- that is it."

McGriff drove in NASCAR's first Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in 1950.

Harvick, who arrived at the half-mile track only minutes before the start of the race, started from the rear of the 28-car field and took the lead with eight laps remaining.