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| Gordon continues his uphill climb. |
He’s running well, and
getting virtually nothing for it.
Despite a major deficit in
the championship standings, Gordon isn’t giving up on winning his fifth NASCAR
Sprint Cup. Lately, though, he must feel like he’s double-timing his way through
a swamp. Since a mechanical failure relegated his No. 24 Drive To End
Hunger/AARP Chevrolet to a 35th-place finish in the Chase opener at Chicagoland
Speedway, Gordon has finished third, second and second.
Unfortunately, that
three-race hot streak has gained him just
five points on leader Brad Keselowski, who has been just about as bulletproof
in that span. Down 47 points after the Chicagoland debacle – a race he had a
good shot at winning before a partially stuck throttle ended his day – Gordon
now trails by 42.
Yes, he’s jumped from 12th in
the standings to sixth, just 17 points behind third-place man Denny Hamlin. But
finishing third was not his goal at the start of NASCAR’s playoffs.
“We can sit there and really
get mad about what happened in Chicago,” said Gordon after his most recent
runner-up finish at Talladega Sunday. “But the reality of it is, all we can do
is go each and every week and keep trying to put ourselves in position to win. It's
not over yet. It is certainly not over yet. So we'll see what happens.
“If we keep doing this, I
really think we might have a shot at it.”
If that prediction is to
come true, Gordon must take control of his own destiny, winning races instead
of running third while waiting for Keselowski to stumble. Charlotte Motor
Speedway provides a prime venue to continue his comeback bid. He has five career
victories at CMS, the most recent coming in the fall of 2007.
As Tony Stewart proved a
year ago, that the best way to hoist the NASCAR Sprint Cup champion’s trophy is
by winning races, and winning often.
Winning isn't going to do it by itself. It will require that BKez have a hiccup. 6 races type 8 point (largest differential from first to second) is 48. You can see the problem.
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