That's when the Nextel Cup points leader received the latest sign today that this might be his season. With everything working for Newman as his Dodge inched closer to the door of Gordon's Chevy on lap 103, rain began falling and eventually halted the Pocono 500 after a previous storm delayed the start three hours.

NASCAR soon called the race after 107 of 200 scheduled laps, giving Gordon a gut-check victory that provided a 242-point lead on Matt Kenseth, who finished ninth. Jimmie Johnson, who started the day 152 behind Gordon, finished nine laps back in 42nd because of damage resulting from a cut left front tire.

"We were lucky, whatever you want to call it," said Gordon, who earned his fourth victory of the season. "Everything's going our way, but we had a good car too.

"At one point I just wanted to finish the race. I didn't think it would be a hundred laps, but getting to halfway was important to us."

Especially to crew chief Steve Letarte, whose attention was divided between the No. 24 Chevy and weather radar that showed an approaching storm from the Northeast. Uppermost in his mind was a gut feeling that the car ran better up front than in the pack and he was determined to do whatever he could to get it there.

So explains several risks taken late in the race, the first of which was keeping Gordon on the track during a late caution following Johnson's blowout. It provided the lead before he pitted off-sequence a final time for gas, but when Carl Edwards came in on lap 99, Gordon was in position to take the lead for good.

A few more dry laps and the strategy might have disintegrated with Newman and Martin Truex Jr. on his tail. But the elements made that academic, much like chasing Gordon is becoming this season.

"Once we realized weather was coming, we were racing for halfway and I quit worrying about the brakes because I figured we're not going to have an issue for 200 laps," Letarte said. "You just feel something. The only thing I remembered thinking sitting up there was a note I had from last year that Greg Biffle was 16 seconds behind the leader here last year and pitted, and didn't lose a lap.

"You won't lose a lap here, so it doesn't matter if it doesn't work because everybody's going to cycle around and they're going to need fuel and it'll be OK. Sometimes you get lucky and make the right decisions. At some point this year it'll turn out as stupid as it might have seemed."

Gordon's brake concerns were understandable after a rotor broke last July as he careened hard into the wall off the tunnel turn at Pocono Raceway. Just before the final caution brought on by rain, he radioed that he "had nothing left."

Having endured a surprise delay when rain appeared an hour before the scheduled start, drivers seemed to be racing as much against the weather as each other.

Drivers hoped the track would be dried for another crack at Gordon but the little remaining daylight caused officials to call the race.

Hurt the most was Newman, who started on the pole and challenged all day while hoping the rain would hold off a little while. Truex meanwhile had the best car at the end but had to settle for a solid follow-up to last week's breakthrough win at Dover.

Casey Mears was fourth, followed by Tony Stewart and defending race winner Denny Hamlin who led the most laps (49), but pitted late for tires and could not catch up to Gordon.