When Will Jeff Gordon Win a Race?
The past three races have all had the same ending for Jeff Gordon. The setup for the finale, however, has proven to be yet another chapter in what appears to be an storied history of the 24 team.
At Bristol, Jeff Gordon ran second with two laps to go after a caution. He had fresher tires than Kyle Busch and should have battled to the wire with the Shrub. Instead, Jeff Gordon was blocked by Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton snuck by on outside to relagate Jeff Gordon to third. For the Jeff Gordon nation, a top 5 after such a terrible car for much of the day was more than acceptable.
Two weeks ago at Martinsville, Jeff Gordon caught Jimmie Johnson with about 25 laps to go, and should have made the move. Instead, he waited, then a caution flew, allowing Johnson's tires to cool and handling to improve. Still, Jeff Gordon caught back up to the 48 with 10 laps to go, played some demolition derby, and again couldn't seal the deal.
Yesterday at Texas? More of the same.
Jeff Gordon led over 170 laps of the 334 lap event and had one the premier cars all day. At the end, Kurt Busch's trouble with pitting just before a yellow flag put Jeff Gordon in the spot to take home his first victory at Texas. With 20 laps to go, Jeff Gordon was pulling away from Matt Kenseth until his Dupont Chevy slid into the turn 4 wall, busting the right front fender and knocking off the handling. It was a mistake that cost him the race, again.
Looking back at these outcomes for the 4-time champion reveals something that we've never really seen out of Jeff Gordon when he's got a great race car and is in position to win. When has Jeff Gordon failed to get into victory lane with this much regularity when having such good race cars at the end of the day? I don't think Jeff Gordon has ever seen it this way, either.
Jeff has been as professional as he could be in interviews following these races where he failed to get the job done. Yesterday at Texas, Jeff Gordon was noticeably upset -- with himself. At Martinsville, he briefly mentioned how Johnson blocked him considerably, but later clarified that had he raced smarter, he would have won at Martinsville.
At what point is the 24 going to breakthrough? He's been so close, and so good for everything that didn't count. His worst finish in 2007? 12th. Simply, the 24 Chevy has been really stout this season, and Jeff Gordon will be in victory lane very soon.
There's really only one person to blame in this situation, and that's Mr. Jeff Gordon himself.
And maybe, just maybe, you could blame it on the curse of the E. Maybe there's something with Jeff Gordon unable to match 76 career wins?
See more at www.aolsportsblog.com