NASCAR NOTES

GDO Report

 More importantly, he was out of brakes.

Contending for its first top-five since May, Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet was forced to slow dramatically over the final 15 laps and fell to 25th -- the seventh finish of 25th or worse in the past nine races. Gordon said running in traffic apparently prevented air from reaching his brakes.

"I was pumping them all day long so we overheated them a little bit earlier in the race, but I wasn't expecting to have any problems with brakes," he said. "All of a sudden, the brake pedal went to the floor, and we were done."

His title hopes are facing extinction as well. With seven races remaining before the Chase for the Nextel Cup cutoff, Gordon is ranked 15th -- 120 points out of 10th.

"We were doing exactly what we needed to do," the four-time champion said. "We ran up front. We had a competitive car and good pit stops. Crazy things keep happening one after another.

"I've had a lot of good luck over the years so I can't complain too much. I can't say it can't get any worse because it seems like it does."

Gordon hasn't finished outside the top 10 since placing 14th as a rookie in 1993.

SADLER SLIDING: With three consecutive finishes outside the top 20, Elliott Sadler's Chase for the Nextel Cup bid is in jeopardy. The Emporia native slid four spots in the points to ninth after a 39th and now sits only 22 points ahead of teammate Dale Jarrett in 10th.

Sadler, who hasn't been outside the top five in the standings since late March, backed into the Turn 3 barrier after a bump from Mark Martin on a Lap 234 restart. Sadler didn't talk after being checked out at the infield care center. Martin said he was caught off guard when Sadler apparently braked to avoid some cars making contact ahead.

"I'm just as sorry as sorry can be for running into Elliott," Martin said. "It was just an accident. They were banging off each other down the backstretch and then going into 3, my car had been pretty good going into the corners, and he got out of it early. I just hate it. They know I wouldn't race anything like that."

WELCOME TO THE TEAM: Jamie McMurray won't become Matt Kenseth's Roush Racing teammate until 2007, so perhaps all will have been forgotten by then from yesterday's run-in on Lap 26.

Heading into Turn 3, Kenseth's Ford tagged the rear of McMurray's Dodge, which had completed a pass on the straightaway a few seconds earlier. McMurray spun hard into the SAFER barrier on the driver's side. He put the blame squarely on Kenseth, who admitted fault to his team on the radio.

"When you wreck somebody there, there's not an excuse for it," said McMurray, who dropped three spots to 11th in the points with a 40th. "Matt must have been mad about something earlier in the year. We were 30 laps into the race, and usually you let guys go then. My car was quite a bit better. I didn't want to get loose up underneath and wreck him. As it turned out, maybe I should have."

UNDER REVIEW: NASCAR Vice President of Communications Jim Hunter said potential changes in Nextel Cup testing rules are being discussed with teams for next season. Hunter said several options are being considered but wouldn't go into details other than saying the ideas were aimed at saving teams money. Cup teams currently are allowed five two-day and four one-day tests at tracks on the schedule, and there are no testing restrictions at non-Cup tracks such as Kentucky Speedway.

One proposal reportedly would ban testing at non-Cup tracks and limit teams to six tests at tracks designated by manufacturers. Testing during the Chase also would be prohibited.

JUNIOR'S BUNCH: Winchester's Mark McFarland scored a career-best second place for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Hooters Pro Cup Chevrolet at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford on Saturday night. McFarland had a strong cheering section for his sixth straight top-five finish thanks to the team's Virginia connections. Crew chief Jefferson Hodges is a New Kent native who formerly worked at Townsend Racing Products in Ashland.

Earnhardt reeled off his third straight top-10 yesterday and now sits 59 points out of 10th.