KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- As it turned out, there were enough sports fans in the Kansas City area Sunday to go around.

With the Protection One 400 at Kansas Speedway being run on the same day as the Kansas City Chiefs' home game against the Miami Dolphins at Arrowhead Stadium, the question was whether the race -- and the Chiefs' 1-2 record going into that game -- would put a dent in the NFL team's attendance on the Missouri side of the state line.

Not to worry. The stands were packed for Jeff Gordon's second win at the 80,000-seat speedway, and nearly full at Arrowhead, where the announced crowd of 78,178 watched the Chiefs' 48-30 win over the Dolphins.

"This game was always a sellout," Chiefs spokesman Bob Moore said. "We are not surprised at all by the good attendance."

Home sick
Gil Martin, crew chief for Kevin Harvick's No. 29 Chevrolet, returned home to Concord, N.C., after being diagnosed with acute bronchitis Saturday.

Martin, who was fighting the condition all week, is expected to return this week at Talladega.

"We'd rather have Gil go home and get better so that he's ready and healthy for the remainder of the season," owner Richard Childress said. "It was a decision we all talked about, and we all look forward to seeing him back next week."

Butch Hylton, Jeff Green's crew chief in the Busch Series, assisted Harvick, Childress and car chief Scott Naset in calling Sunday's race.

Hard-luck Waltrip

	Waltrip

Michael Waltrip hoped to win at least one race this weekend for his daughter, Margaret, who turned 5 on Sunday.

But Waltrip, who started fourth Sunday and on the pole for Saturday's Busch Series race, will have to settle for another souvenir of his trip to Kansas Speedway.

He blew a tire and crashed into the wall on the 20th lap of Sunday's race, finishing 26th.

"I was passing Tony (Stewart) and when I got to turn one, the car just wouldn't turn," Waltrip said. "It went dead straight into the wall."

On Saturday, he was running third in the Mr. Goodcents 300 when he got a cut tire, crashed on the 156th lap and finished 33rd.

Both times, Waltrip said, the crash happened as a result of debris on the track.

"Goodyear makes a great tire. There's nothing wrong with the tire," he said. "We just seemed to find metal in both races this weekend."

More on tires

	Newman

Rookie Ryan Newman also had some praise for Goodyear after his second-place finish behind Gordon.

"I commend Goodyear on bringing a good tire here," Newman said. "We didn't have any tire problems at all, which we saw some last year."

It's the first time in three trips to Kansas Speedway that Newman has been happy with his tires. In his first visit, Newman verbally ripped tire maker Hoosier after a blown tire caused him to crash in an ARCA race in 2001.

Pit stops