Gordon destroys Dover field.

Jeff Gordon dominated Sunday's MBNA Platinum 400 at the Dover Downs International Speedway in a fashion not seen in Winston Cup competition for many years, leading 381 of 400 laps and turning the other 42 drivers into also-rans.

If it wasn't for a 'Competition' caution period 60-laps into Sunday's MBNA Platinum 400 at the Monster Mile at Dover Downs International Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon may well have lapped the entire Winston Cup field in his No.24 DuPont Chevrolet such was his domination around one of NASCAR's most punishing tracks as he scored his fourth career win at the famed concrtet oval, his second of 2001.

Gordon's utter domination of Sunday's 400-lap event may have turned the race into one of the more soporific of the 2001 season thus far but his, and the team's brilliance in finding the perfect set-up after limited track time on a rain-affected weekend should not be underestimated. In short he was virtually perfect.

Jeff Burton may have won last year's Dura Lube 300 in New Hampshire by leading all 300-laps but that had more to do with a complete dearth of passing opportunities rather than Burton being head and shoulders above the rest of the field. On Sunday Gordon was a full body length above the field, only losing the lead during green flag pit-stops after getting the jump on pole-sitter Dale Jarrett into the first turn on the steeply banked oval.

NASCAR had agreed to call a 'Competition caution' after 60-laps to allow the Winston Cup teams to check tyre data on the abrasive surface and change any settings due to their lack of track time on a weekend blighted by rain but thankfully dry on Sunday afternoon. The yellow was a blessing for virtually everybody as Gordon had already pulled out a nine second lead despite two early caution periods caused by two multi-car accidents inside the first 20-laps.

The first saw Jerry Nadeau, Ken Schrader, Michael Waltrip, Jimmy Spencer and Casey Atwood get together in Turn Three with Nadeau venting his feelings toward Spencer shortly afterwards. Spencer, who won yesterday's Busch Grand National Series event, and Atwood were able to continue although 'Mr Excitement' was soon in the wars again when his Travis Carter owned Ford became embroiled with the cars of Kurt Busch, Ward Burton and Mark Martin on lap 15. This time Burton and Martin were able to escape with only superficial damage while Spencer and Busch went behind the wall.

Despite the early interruptions Gordon was simply serene, leading laps 1-22 before Rusty Wallace took over for a lap and then laps 24-146 during which time he was consistently the fastest man on the track. After the lap 60 stoppage, Gordon visibly eased his pace and kept the gap to his nearest pursuers at between two and three seconds depending on traffic.

Gordon maintained his clear advantage at the head of the field for the rest of the afternoon, only losing it during green flag pit-stops and had it not been for a late-race caution period caused by the spinning car of Ron Hornaday, his margin of victory over second place man Steve Park would surely have been greater than seven tenths of a second.

The battle for second place revolved around Park, Dale Jarrett, Tony Stewart, Ricky Craven, Sterling Marlin and latterly Dale Earnhardt Jr who scooped third spot late in the race after picking off Jarrett and the recovering Mark Martin who elected to take two tyres on his final stop.

Park grabbed second from Martin on the final re-start on lap 367 and was surprisingly able to match Gordon's pace in the closing stages. The No.1 Pennzoil Chevrolet driver came back strongly after an early race stop-go penalty and both he and Dale Jr were quicker than Gordon when the chequered flag fell.

However the only man who genuinely looked to be a threat to Gordon all day was the PPI Motorsports Ford of Ricky Craven who started only 30th but made excellent early progress to move inside the top five by the 100-lap mark. Between laps 290 and 350 when Gordon made his final stop, Craven cut his lead from a ridiculous 8.9-seconds to 3.5 and ended the race in fourth spot overall after electing to make an extra pit-stop under the fifth and final caution period. Craven also led the most laps of any driver other than Gordon although his tally of eight is hardly something to write home about.

Current Winston Cup points leader Jarrett ensured that damage to his lead was minimal by finishing a safe fifth overall but his No.88 UPS Ford was more than five seconds behind Gordon at the flag despite a mere 33-lap green flag run to the finish.

Only 13 cars finished on the lead lap in a race that took its toll on the drivers with Marlin, double Dover 2000 winner Stewart, top rookie Kevin Harvick, Martin and Ricky Rudd completing the top ten. Harvick's Richard Childress team worked wonders on the No.29 Goodwrench Chevrolet to bring it and Harvick back into contention after cutting a tyre early on while Martin led three laps during the pit-stop rotation to keep his impressive record of leading a lap in every race of the year thus far intact.

Mike Skinner, Bobby Labonte and Jason Leffler were the only other drivers to go the full distance with Leffler posting his best short-track result to date after failing to make the field at either Bristol or Martinsville earlier this season.

The big loser in the points chase was Dover expert Wallace who battled a loose car all day and incurred a costly pit-penalty as he fell three laps behind the leaders to finish 21st while last weeks winner Jeff Burton saw his 2001 season return to normal with a dismal run to 31st, no less than ten laps down on Gordon.

As usual Dover was a case of nursing your car home to the finish for several drivers and there were plenty of walking wounded trolling around at varying paces in the closing stages.

Amongst those who failed to see the chequered flag were Hornaday, who broke a track-bar about ten metres before his spin after running strongly in the top ten during the first half of the race, Jeremy Mayfield, Johnny Benson, Nadeau, Waltrip and Bobby Hamilton Jr.

Mayfield remained on the lead lap nearly all day before something in the No.12 Mobil 1 Ford's drive-train broke on lap 377 while Benson suffered two punctures before his engine went pop on lap 118. Hamilton Jr was even unluckier after brushing the car of Mark Martin early in the event which led to a terminal overheating problem for the No.33 Chevrolet normally piloted by Joe Nemechek.

When the dust had settled and the fans had drifted home Jarrett still led the points chase from Gordon albeit by a slightly reduced margin while Wallace and Benson both lost out big-time to the consistent performances of Park, Marlin, Stewart and Rudd but today was all about Gordon who, on this performance, looks a sure fire bet for a fourth Winston Cup title.