Everything is going Gordon’s way in 2007
LONG POND — When it’s your year, things just seem to go your way. And 2007 seems to be Jeff Gordon’s year.
In two weeks, Jeff Gordon will become a father for the first time. And in five months, it is looking like he will win his fifth NASCAR Nextel Cup Series championship.
Sunday’s victory in the rain-shortened Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway was his fourth of the season and his 10th top-five finish in 14 races. He increased his lead in the Nextel Cup point standings to 242 points over Matt Kenseth.
However, it is not so much the statistics that is making this Jeff Gordon’s year. It is the manner in which he is doing it. Not only does he have the talent, the team and the resources, but the breaks also seem to all be going his way.
For example, while leading at Darlington in the final laps, his car was overheating and spitting out steam. Yet it managed to go the distance and take the checkered flag.
Then Sunday at Pocono, a pit strategy gamble by crew chief Steve Letarte and a timely downpour all worked to Jeff Gordon’s benefit.
When the leaders headed to pit road during a caution on lap 65, Letarte elected to keep Jeff Gordon — whose multi-colored No. 24 Chevrolet was running in the top 10 — on the track. With rain bearing down on the track, Letarte took a chance that the move would have Jeff Gordon out front when the next round of pit stops would take place and the race reached the halfway mark, making it official.
That’s exactly what happened.
“A lot of times at Pocono, the only way to win a race or run up front is to get off cycle,” Letarte said. “So we had decided at that point that we had run 50 to 70 laps and eighth was about as far as we were going to get. So we got off cycle and got track position.
“Everybody is saying how good an idea it was. There were other teams that did it. We were just fortunate to have a good enough car, a good enough driver and a fast enough pit crew to make it all work.”
Good fortune was not finished smiling on Jeff Gordon.
As rain began pelting the track in turn one on lap 103, Jeff Gordon was battling an ill-handling car. His tires were going away and he was having a problem with his brakes. He even came on his radio and declared, “I’m done.”
Knowing that the rain and the pending darkness would likely end the race, second-place Ryan Newman challenged Jeff Gordon for the lead on lap 104. He put the nose of his blue and white No. 12 Dodge alongside Jeff Gordon’s car. But before Newman could complete the pass, NASCAR put out the caution flag for the rain, thus freezing the field and keeping Jeff Gordon in the lead.
If the race goes one more lap, Newman is the winner. If it goes another 10, Martin Truex Jr., who finished third but was reeling in both Jeff Gordon and Newman, likely wins. If it goes any longer, Denny Hamlin probably would have won.
Hamlin had the dominant car early, but his team made the wrong call on the lap-65 pit stop that put him back in the pack. He charged up from 21st to sixth and was still coming when the race was halted.
But the race went 106 laps, exactly what Jeff Gordon needed. That’s just the way his season has gone.
“I’m a big believer in things happening for a reason,” Jeff Gordon said. “Some times, when it’s your time, it’s your time. Right now, whatever we’re doing, we’re doing something right.
His detractors will say that he is lucky. But Jeff Gordon said it is more than luck.
“It’s because you put yourself in the position to make things happen through preparation and hard work and utilizing the tools and resources that you have,” he said. “Add up all those things and that’s when good things happen.”
As much good fortune as he has had this season, Jeff Gordon knows that things can change quickly. He simply is trying to enjoy it while he can and put himself in a good position for when the season-ending Chase for the Championship rolls around.
“If we didn’t have the Chase format, I’d say, yeah, things are better than ever,” Jeff Gordon said. “But, with the Chase, it only matters what you do in those last 10 (races) once you get in. So for us, right now it’s making sure we’re in the Chase, which we’ve been doing a good job of. Then, it’s about momentum. We’re in it to win the championship, and we’ve got the tools to win it.”
All indications thus far are, come November, Jeff Gordon will win it.
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