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Sprint Cup
CUP: Gordon Happy With Wins But Wants More
Jeff Gordon won three races in 2011 but stumbled in the Chase...
Jeff Gordon drew the ire of many competitors, and NASCAR, for his actions at Phoenix. (Photo: Getty Images)
Jeff Gordon entered the Chase for the Sprint Cup as one of the favorites. Not only did he have three victories during the regular season, one of those came at Atlanta as part of a run of 11 top-10s in 14 races to end the regular season.
He had a fifth Cup title in his sights, thinking it was one of his best chances since his last championship in 2001.
But then he struggled at Chicago to finish 24th, lost a fuel mileage gamble at New Hampshire and placed fourth and then was 12th at Dover. All of a sudden those Chase hopes were in serious doubt.
Gordon left Dover ninth in the standings, never recovered and only got as high as eighth in the standings the rest of the season. He finished eighth.
“We stunk at Chicago, that didn’t help," Gordon said. "Then we go to New Hampshire and didn’t win when we had a 10-second lead. The blocks tumbled from there.”
Still, for the first year paired with new crew chief Alan Gustafson, Gordon had more wins in one season than he had over the last three, where he had just recorded only one victory.
“We had all the momentum; we were running good at so many different tracks,” Gordon said. “We had everything it took coming into it. But even with that, you’ve just got to perform and you can’t make mistakes.”
Season Highlight
The highlight was Atlanta, where Gordon stepped up to third in all-time career victories as he won his 85th race.
Gordon led 146 of the 325 laps in the race, including 46 of the final 50.
“That win at Atlanta, it’s hard to top that. … Winning [No. 85], that was an exciting moment,” Gordon said.
Low Point
Without a drafting partner at Talladega, Gordon thought he had one in Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne. But then Bayne saw that Matt Kenseth, a Ford teammate, needed a drafting partner and left Gordon out to dry.
Bayne felt bad about what he did, and Gordon lamented the fact that maybe team orders were involved.
Gordon ended up 27th without a drafting partner. It was just one of the many days where Gordon had a better race car than where he finished.
Defining Moment
Leading 138 of the 312 laps on the way to a victory at Phoenix in just the second race of the season, Gordon not only snapped a 66-race winless streak, he served notice to the Cup garage that he would be a force in 2011.
Gordon passed Kyle Busch with nine laps left for the win.
“The longer you go without winning, the harder it is,” Gordon said. “That’s why we made big changes [in the offseason]. … The win at Phoenix was big.”
All of a sudden, Gordon had the swagger back.
“What an awesome, awesome feeling it is when you've got the car right like that and they give you 20 to go and it's your job to go get it done and you've got what you need to go do that,” Gordon said. “I thought, 'Even if i catch him, what am I going to do with him?'
“We caught him, he got loose and I got underneath him. I didn't know what to expect. I got into [Turn] 1 and he was right on my door and I got loose and got up into him. They said, ‘Clear.’ I went because I knew I needed to get away from him as fast as I could. God it feels so amazing. I can't tell you how amazing this feels.”
Key Stat
Gordon won the pole at Talladega. He has won in 19 consecutive years – he has won a pole every year since his first full-time season in 1993.
Outlook
Gordon is optimistic about 2012. He feels good about his team. He feels good about his crew chief. He feels good about his back, which had bothered him a few years earlier.
A meeting the week after the season had Gordon psyched for 2012.
“I came out of that so pumped and excited about next year,” Gordon said. “I feel like we took our chemistry level to the next level and I hear the things that [Gustafson] thinking about working on for next year that can make us better with the cars and our preparation for getting in the Chase and what we’re going to do in it.
“And he heard back from as well. The confidence I have in him and hearing the confidence he has in me, that’s why I left from that meeting so excited.”
One key will be getting a better handle on the tire used at Chicago, where the Chase opens, and Texas.
“We still have some work to do,” Gordon said. “We weren’t good enough to win the championship this year when it counted most, for sure.”
SceneDaily.com • Kellogg’s renews with Carl Edwards as primary sponsor for four Cup races
He had a fifth Cup title in his sights, thinking it was one of his best chances since his last championship in 2001.
But then he struggled at Chicago to finish 24th, lost a fuel mileage gamble at New Hampshire and placed fourth and then was 12th at Dover. All of a sudden those Chase hopes were in serious doubt.
Gordon left Dover ninth in the standings, never recovered and only got as high as eighth in the standings the rest of the season. He finished eighth.
“We stunk at Chicago, that didn’t help," Gordon said. "Then we go to New Hampshire and didn’t win when we had a 10-second lead. The blocks tumbled from there.”
Still, for the first year paired with new crew chief Alan Gustafson, Gordon had more wins in one season than he had over the last three, where he had just recorded only one victory.
“We had all the momentum; we were running good at so many different tracks,” Gordon said. “We had everything it took coming into it. But even with that, you’ve just got to perform and you can’t make mistakes.”
Season Highlight
The highlight was Atlanta, where Gordon stepped up to third in all-time career victories as he won his 85th race.
Gordon led 146 of the 325 laps in the race, including 46 of the final 50.
“That win at Atlanta, it’s hard to top that. … Winning [No. 85], that was an exciting moment,” Gordon said.
Low Point
Without a drafting partner at Talladega, Gordon thought he had one in Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne. But then Bayne saw that Matt Kenseth, a Ford teammate, needed a drafting partner and left Gordon out to dry.
Bayne felt bad about what he did, and Gordon lamented the fact that maybe team orders were involved.
Gordon ended up 27th without a drafting partner. It was just one of the many days where Gordon had a better race car than where he finished.
Defining Moment
Leading 138 of the 312 laps on the way to a victory at Phoenix in just the second race of the season, Gordon not only snapped a 66-race winless streak, he served notice to the Cup garage that he would be a force in 2011.
Gordon passed Kyle Busch with nine laps left for the win.
“The longer you go without winning, the harder it is,” Gordon said. “That’s why we made big changes [in the offseason]. … The win at Phoenix was big.”
All of a sudden, Gordon had the swagger back.
“What an awesome, awesome feeling it is when you've got the car right like that and they give you 20 to go and it's your job to go get it done and you've got what you need to go do that,” Gordon said. “I thought, 'Even if i catch him, what am I going to do with him?'
“We caught him, he got loose and I got underneath him. I didn't know what to expect. I got into [Turn] 1 and he was right on my door and I got loose and got up into him. They said, ‘Clear.’ I went because I knew I needed to get away from him as fast as I could. God it feels so amazing. I can't tell you how amazing this feels.”
Key Stat
Gordon won the pole at Talladega. He has won in 19 consecutive years – he has won a pole every year since his first full-time season in 1993.
Outlook
Gordon is optimistic about 2012. He feels good about his team. He feels good about his crew chief. He feels good about his back, which had bothered him a few years earlier.
A meeting the week after the season had Gordon psyched for 2012.
“I came out of that so pumped and excited about next year,” Gordon said. “I feel like we took our chemistry level to the next level and I hear the things that [Gustafson] thinking about working on for next year that can make us better with the cars and our preparation for getting in the Chase and what we’re going to do in it.
“And he heard back from as well. The confidence I have in him and hearing the confidence he has in me, that’s why I left from that meeting so excited.”
One key will be getting a better handle on the tire used at Chicago, where the Chase opens, and Texas.
“We still have some work to do,” Gordon said. “We weren’t good enough to win the championship this year when it counted most, for sure.”
SceneDaily.com • Kellogg’s renews with Carl Edwards as primary sponsor for four Cup races
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