on ▁Cup ▁champion ships ▁in ▁NAS C AR ▁history , ▁second ▁only ▁to ▁Richard ▁Pet ty ▁and ▁D ale ▁E arn hardt ▁( both ▁winning ▁it ▁seven ▁times ), ▁and ▁with ▁a ▁ 3 4 4 - point ▁margin ▁ahead ▁of ▁Tony ▁Stewart . ▁▁ 2 0 0 2 ▁and ▁ 2 0 0 3 ▁featured ▁three ▁wins ▁each ▁for ▁Gordon ▁at ▁Br istol , ▁Dar ling ton ▁and ▁Kansas , ▁and ▁at ▁Mart ins ville ▁( tw ice ) ▁and ▁Atlanta , ▁respectively . ▁In ▁ 2 0 0 4 , ▁the ▁first ▁season ▁under ▁the ▁Next el ▁Cup ▁Series ▁b anner , ▁the ▁team ▁recorded ▁five ▁wins ▁at ▁T alla de ga , ▁Indian apolis , ▁Font ana , ▁Inf ine on ▁and ▁Day ton a . ▁Despite ▁the ▁success , ▁the ▁points ▁reset ▁by ▁the ▁newly ▁formed ▁Ch ase ▁for ▁the ▁Cup ▁er ased ▁Gordon ' s ▁ 6 0 - point ▁lead ▁over ▁Johnson . ▁As ▁a ▁result , ▁at ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁season , ▁he ▁finished ▁the ▁season ▁third ▁in ▁the ▁points ▁stand ings ▁behind ▁champion ▁Kurt ▁Bus ch ▁by ▁ 1 6 ▁points ▁and ▁Johnson ▁by ▁eight . ▁Had ▁the ▁Ch ase ▁not ▁existed , ▁and ▁assuming ▁the ▁finishing ▁sp ots ▁remained ▁the ▁same , ▁Gordon ▁would ▁have ▁won ▁the ▁championship ▁by ▁ 4 7 ▁points . ▁ ▁The ▁ 2 0 0 5 ▁season ▁began ▁with ▁Gordon ▁claim ing ▁his ▁third ▁Day ton a ▁ 5 0 0 ▁victory , ▁followed ▁by ▁a ▁win ▁at