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posted October 17, 2006 at 10:26 EST in NASCAR Betting Trends

NASCAR Pepsi 400: Gordon’s lucky charm

Bookmark and Share by Mark Rothstein

betting NASCAR Gordon
Gordon hitched again
You’ve heard it a million times: Behind every great man stands a great woman. Chauvinistic? Absolutely. But if this were an article about acting/modeling, we’d be talking instead about how Jeff Gordon could be breathing new life into Ingrid Vandenbosch’s career.

Vandenbosch is the Belgian beauty who has been dating Gordon for the past couple of years. Before that, she was linked romantically with actor Bruce Willis and former Baltimore Orioles outfielder Brady Anderson. Gordon must have decided he didn’t want to be just another name on Vandenbosch’s dating resume; he revealed Saturday that the couple has become engaged. One day later, Gordon took the checkered flag at the Dodge/Save Mart 350 for his first Nextel Cup win of the season.

Cynics might say Vandenbosch has been more of a distraction for Gordon than a good-luck charm. But the man who was beaming after Sunday’s victory was not the same frustrated driver who failed to make the Chase for the Cup last year. If anything, wedding bells could be exactly what Gordon needs to get his focus back. He went through a particularly nasty divorce proceeding in 2003 with former Ms. Winston Brooke Sealy that cost him $15 million to boot. That’s ancient history now.

Gordon felt so good about Saturday’s announcement, he predicted Sunday’s victory. “I never do that,” Gordon said about his soothsaying after it came true. “And I just, for some reason, had that feeling that it was going to happen today. I don’t have that very often, but I had it all day today, and it’s great.” Not that Gordon was alone in his confidence. He was one of the huge co-favorites (along with Tony Stewart) to win last week’s race at Sonoma, just a few laps away from his hometown of Vallejo. Both drivers are road-race specialists.

The good vibes should continue this week at Daytona International Speedway, home of this Saturday’s Pepsi 400. Gordon is also well versed in the art of restrictor plate racing. He has six career Cup victories at Daytona: three Pepsi 400s and three Daytona 500s. That puts Gordon once again squarely among the favorites, along with Hendrick Motorsports teammate (and Cup points leader) Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Gordon and Johnson share the benefit of driving for Hendrick, who have poured a lot of money and attention into their plate program. It’s already paid off with victories for Johnson at the 2006 season-opening Daytona 500 and the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. The Hendrick plate program is now considered the best in NASCAR, even better than Dale Earnhardt, Inc. That’s a slight Earnhardt hopes to rectify this Saturday. He’s already enjoying a Gordon-like revival this season, riding eight Top-10 finishes (including a win at the Crown Royal 400) to fifth place in the Cup standings.

Restrictor plate driving is as much a specialty craft as road racing. Last week’s odds list read quite different than most; this time, although there isn’t a contingent of “ringers” populating the market, there is still a huge gulf between the favorites and the rest of the pack. The only other driver who poses a realistic threat to the aforementioned trio is Stewart. He broke through at Daytona for the first time in 15 attempts by winning last year’s Pepsi 400. The strategy for the rest of the Cup contingent? Steal Hendrick’s trade secrets, or find their own Belgian models.
 
 

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