CUP: Gordon Second To Stewart In Kansas

Sprint Cup

CUP: Gordon Second To Stewart In Kansas

Jeff Gordon has finished second seven times this season...

Tom Jensen | Posted October 04, 2009 Kansas City, KS

Jeff Gordon (Right) and crew chief Steve Letarte (Left) worked to improve the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet all during the Sprint Cup Series Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

If Sunday’s Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway had a familiar feeling to anyone, it had to be Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon, who finished second in the race to Tony Stewart.

Gordon would be forgiven if he had a slight case of déjà vu all over again after scoring yet another runner-up finish. After all, earlier this season Gordon finished second at Auto Club Speedway.

And at Atlanta Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway. Not to mention runner-up efforts in both Michigan races. Add it all up, and Gordon has finished second a series-high seven times this season.

Unofficially, with his runner-up finish at Kansas, Gordon moved up from eighth to seventh in points. And he trimmed his deficit to points leader Mark Martin from 122 to 103, with seven races to go on the 2009 season.

Gordon never led a lap at Kansas, a place where he twice has won before, but his car was awful at the start of the race, and to end the 400-miler on Stewart’s bumper in second place was a very positive result for Gordon and the team.

“We really struggled at the beginning of this race,” Gordon said. “I was pretty disappointed that the car was doing the things that it did. I'm really, really proud of this team and Steve (Letarte, crew chief) for not giving up. I mean, I was a bear on the radio because I was so mad about it. And we just never gave up on it. We kept tuning on it, and Steve made some great adjustments and we had great pit stops and found ourselves in position there at the end with some guys and two tires to take advantage of it. To come back and finish second is certainly a great, great day for us.”

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Tom Jensen

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