If you missed Jeff Gordon’s victory in Sunday’s thunderous stock car race at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, you missed one of his career gems.

Gordon started 34th and led just a single lap – the last one in the electrifying UAW-Ford 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup event, in which he beat teammate Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet) and a game Dave Blaney (Toyota).

Gordon, 36, drove the final couple of turns as determinedly as I remember him doing in the years since his last championship in 2001, playing a game of cat and mouse before finally pouncing with less than two miles left.

Gordon has reclaimed the lead in the Chase for the Championship with six races remaining and the next stop in Charlotte on Saturday night.

The Hendrick Motorsports ace is hungry for a fifth title, and the way he’s racing there’s no reason to believe he won’t do it.

Gordon is driving smart and hard, a tough combination to beat, and is taking care of his equipment.

On Sunday, he avoided trouble, moved through the pack and turned on the burners at the right time.

Gordon has four career Cup victories at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, seven at Martinsville (Oct. 21) and four at Atlanta (Oct. 28) – the next three races on the calendar.

By Texas (Nov. 4), this year’s championship could be his to lose.

Of course, thinking too far ahead in racing, like in any sport, is not wise, but Gordon, who has five victories for the year, has certainly laid down the gauntlet.

Johnson trails Gordon by nine points and is awfully good at Charlotte, too, having won there five times, four of his victories coming in succession.

Clint Bowyer (Richard Childress Racing), the big surprise in the Chase thus far, is 63 points behind Gordon, with Tony Stewart (Joe Gibbs Racing) 154 back of the lead.

There’s time for the others to run Gordon down, but they’d better get cracking this weekend or the driver from Vallejo, Calif., will be dedicating a championship to wife Ingrid and baby daughter Ella.

Kalitta’s streak intact: “We never lost faith we could get it done, but we’ve struggled so much this season.”

A relieved and happy Doug Kalitta of Ann Arbor spoke of his top-fuel win-his first victory of the year-over Melanie Troxel in Sunday’s NHRA Torco Racing Fuels Nationals in Richmond, Va.

“This win will take away a lot of frustration in our team and the entire Kalitta Motorsports organization,” he said.

Kalitta, who qualified 11th for the final eliminations, ran the quarter-mile trip in 4.647 seconds, at 316.08 mph, to edge Troxel (4.649, at 316.45) by .002 seconds.

The victory extends Kalitta’s streak of winning at least one event each year since his Top Fuel debut in 1998.

Another open-wheeler to stocks: American Scott Speed , who lost his F1 ride with Scuderia Toro Rosso this season, finished seventh in Friday’s ARCA RE/MAX race at Talladega after running as high as second. Not a bad debut for the 24-year-old, considering this year’s Indy 500 winner and Indy Racing League champion, Dario Franchitti , placed 17th.

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AP-NY-10-08-07 1956EDT