After 23 years at the pinnacle of the sport, Jeff Gordon is not easily moved.
With four Sprint Cup Series championships and 93 career victories – third on
NASCAR’s all-time list – the Hendrick Motorsports driver has achieved virtually
everything there is to accomplish in the sport. But as he basked in the gloaming
of a Sunday evening Victory Lane at Martinsville Speedway, even Gordon was at a
loss for words.
His victory in the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500, achieved only after
runaway leader Joey Logano was unceremoniously wrecked by rival Matt Kenseth with
just 50 laps remaining, punched Gordon’s ticket for an unlikely chance at a
fifth series title.
“Yeah, baby,
yeah! We go to Homestead!” shouted Gordon over his in-car radio, after claiming
a .335-second victory over Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Sunday. “That
was huge! That was huge! I love you guys!”
In Victory
Lane, an emotional Gordon struggled to be heard over a thundering grandstand of
frenzied race fans; each of whom knew they had just witnessed a pivotal moment
in the history of the sport.
“(Retirement)
was a joke,” he teased, hopping up and down like a toddler on a sugar high. “I’m
coming back next year! This is the sweetest, most amazing feeling. I am so
proud of this team. You want to talk about holding back emotions; right now
man, wow. We’re going to Homestead! I can’t believe it.”
The California native called his ninth career Martinsville victory, "one
of the finest moments I've ever had." And perhaps more important, it created
an opportunity for Gordon to author his greatest – and most unlikely – moment of
all, just three weeks hence at Homestead Miami Speedway..
Coming into the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Gordon was the longest
of longshots. Winless in 26 regular-season starts, he struggled simply to
qualify for NASCAR’s playoffs. Once the Chase began, he remained decidedly
under the radar with a 14th-place finish in the opener at Chicagoland,
followed by lukewarm showings of seventh and 12th at New Hampshire
and Dover. He upped the ante only modestly in the Contender Round – eighth at
Charlotte, 10th in Kansas and third at Talladega – once again doing enough
to advance, but not much more. Sunday at Martinsville, though, Gordon answered
the bell with a rousing victory that could turn the tide in the 2015
championship Chase.
“It’s never over,” said Gordon in Victory Lane. “People don’t give this
team enough credit. We seized an opportunity (today). I don’t think this
opportunity would present itself the next couple of weeks. We’re going to take
advantage of this.”
He also spoke of persevering through the first half of the season, when he
struggled to find speed and squandered his rare good days with a slew of miscues
and pit road speeding penalties.
“When we went through those moments and came through it -- still talking to
each other, still smiling, communicating and trying to be better -- I knew that
if we could just get in this position, we could do something special.”
Nearly 30 minutes
after the checkered flag waved Sunday, the darkened Martinsville grandstands
remained packed with race fans, celebrating what might have been the final
victory for one of the sport’s most transcendent stars.
"I don't know what it feels like to be a rock star, but that's as
close as it can get," said Gordon, as the crowd roared its approval.
"That's a rock star moment right there."
And even while posing with his ninth Martinsville grandfather clock, Gordon
turned his focus to the championship race to come.
“This has
turned into a fairytale year,” he said. “Homestead is going to be an unreal
weekend and we’re going to completely focus now. We talked about this in our
meeting before the race; that if we could make it through today and win, all
our focus is on the Homestead car.
Gordon’s numbers at Homestead Miami Speedway are solid, with seven Top-5
and 12 Top-10 finishes in 16 career starts. He went to Victory Lane there in the
2012 season finale and has a lifetime average finish of 10th.
Gordon can win at Homestead. And if he does, he will retire as champion.
“We’ll grind it out,” he promised. “We’re going to give them something to
think about. Don’t count us out. We’ve proved that during this entire Chase,
and we certainly proved that today. This team is fired up. We’ve got some
momentum now!
"Yeah, we had a few things that
fell in our favor (today). But you've got to be there and be ready for that
moment when it comes, and we were."
You
can bet he’ll be ready again at Homestead Miami Speedway.
I'm glad to see Gordon get a win during his last season. It will be fun to see how he tackles Homestead! As for the whole Kenseth and Logano mess that overshadows Jeff's win- I think NASCAR had every opportunity to nip that one in the bud before the race even took place. I don't agree with what Joey did (2) weeks ago and I don't agree with what Matt did yesterday but the old saying goes, "what goes around- comes around".
ReplyDeleteThe BS that Joey was going for the win at Kansas and that makes it ok doesn't hold water. If memory serves me correct- it wasn't like Matt got dumped on the last lap in the last corner. And someone form Nascar even applauded Joey and said something to the effect that it was a very smart move because it all but eliminated one of the biggest threats to the championship. Joey didn't have to dump him but he chose to... and it dramatically affected how Kenseth would have to race his way into the next round.
What Matt did to Joey at Martinsville was the same thing- only he wasn't on the lead lap. Nascar could have sat both of them down (2) races ago and put an end to it but they chose to soak up all the publicity they could and label it 'fierce competition'.
Do I agree what either team did over the last few weeks? No. But I don't think Matt should be penalized for doing what was done to him when Joey's actions were labeled as 'smart' just (2) weeks ago.
For as much as the Talladega finish left everyone wanting, the 24 Team celebration, this week, made up for it, and is the highpoint of the Chase thus far.
ReplyDeleteRick in Indiana
Yes, it was a great win for Gordon (courtesy of Matt Kenseth), but "rock star" moment? Jeff Gordon with his little boy excitement certainly bears no resemblance to any "rock star."
ReplyDeleteI live in Western Canada. When I retired in 1998 I bought a motorhome and began to attend NASCAR races. It seemed back then that I was one of only a few Jeff Gordon fans. He was always roundly booed. It's nice now to see that he is finally getting the credit and adulation that he deserves. The man is a living legend. Years from now, people who jeered him in the past will brag to their grandchildren that they actually saw Jeff Gordon race in person. You go, Jeff, and get that fifth championship.That would be the icing on a magnificent cake. What a career! What a driver! -Al Girard, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
ReplyDeleteSome of us have been watching Jeff Gordon since he was a runny nose kid in a sprint car at Winchester, In, LimaLand, Lima, Ohio, Eldora, & Findley Ohio. We have cheered him & booed him. rooted for him in a Ford, Booed him & 4 championships in a Hendrick Chevy. Jeff learned real fast from Earnhardt to get victories by applying the "Chrome Horn" . Jeff has done many great feats in Nascar & will be ranked with the "greats of Nascar". Yes we've loved, hated, booed & cheered what Jeff has accomplished. Most of all, I have respected what Jeff has done since his 1st Cup start in 1992.
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