Gordon ties Dale Earnhardt with 76 wins

Jeff Gordon got two firsts and tied Dale Earnhardt's 76 in the win category.  Gordon got his first win at Phoenix and he was the first driver to win from the pole at Phoenix.  Gordon may have not led the most, but he led the ending laps of the race to give him the win.

Gordon paraded around the track with the #3 flag in honor of the late Dale Earnhardt and the tying of the 76 wins.

Tony Stewart led the most laps and came in second, it seemed as if his car got better the longer they ran and there just weren't enough laps left after that late caution.  The little bumping that Gordon and Stewart were doing as they were battling for the lead also could have hurt his car, but he was able to hold onto second.

Denny Hamlin appeared to have the best car out there, but a speeding penalty put him in the back of the field on lap 101 and there just weren't enough laps for him to get back to the lead, Hamlin ended up finishing third.

Surprise finishes by Jeff Green, Bobby Labonte and Johnny Sauter who all finished in the top ten.

Bad luck for Stremme, Riggs, Blaney, Ragan and Mears, all caught up in incidents and also bad luck for Newman, where an apparent miscommunication during a pit stop caused lots of damage to the car.

And the last observation, Kahne and the COT don't mix, they've had horrible luck getting those cars set up right.  This year will be a learning experience for them and hopefully they can get it right for next season, this one is done.

Your thoughts?