Martinsville, Va. ? As he tried to fight his way back from three laps down in Sunday’s Advance 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Jeff Gordon had to stay focused on his immediate obstacles.

It was only afterward, after he’d made up those three laps, after he had fought from the back of the pack to take the lead with 36 laps left and after he held off Kasey Kahne in a final three-lap dash to the checkered flag that it really hit him how much it all meant.

“You get so caught up in the moment of driving the car and trying to win the race, it doesn’t pop into your mind until it is over,” Gordon said after his second victory of the season and the 71st of his career.

On Oct. 24, 2004, in the minutes after teammate Jimmie Johnson had won the previous Nextel Cup race at this .526-mile track, Gordon and the rest of the people who work for Hendrick Motorsports learned the tragic news. Ten people — team owner Rick Hendrick’s son, Ricky; brother, John; John’s twin daughters; team general manger Jeff Turner; engine builder Randy Dorton; and four others — had been killed in the crash of one of the team’s airplanes. The plane had been on the way to the race.

“There’s something special about this place,” Gordon said. “We lost so many incredible people out of this organization and out of the racing community. I know how much it means to Rick Hendrick and his family and all those other families.”

Fourth on a restart with 46 laps to go, Gordon wasted no time. He followed third-place Mark Martin past Ryan Newman for third on the 461st lap, went underneath Martin for second three laps later and caught and passed Sterling Marlin for the lead with 34 laps remaining.

From then on, it was smooth sailing to his 71st career victory and second in six races this year.