Notebook: Does Jeff Gordon have a winning hand?

Notebook: Does Jeff Gordon have a winning hand?

Aug. 25, 2012

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Jeff Gordon conceded Friday afternoon that, if he's going to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, he's going to have to win another race.

Though he's 16th in the Cup standings with one victory, and third in line for the second of two wild-card spots in the Chase, Gordon likes his prospects. In poker terms, he thinks he might have a winning hand, given that the race for the Chase will be decided at three tracks he likes -- Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond.

"Honestly, I feel like we have pocket aces (for Atlanta) and ace-king suited for Richmond," Gordon said. "I feel like (Bristol) is a great track for us. We've run very well the last two or three times we've been here. This is a track we can win at.

"Atlanta, absolutely. We won there last year -- another track we can win at. Richmond is a track we have run very well at, but we struggled, but we struggled the last time we were there, so we have some work to do. I still feel like we can get that, improve that. The next three tracks are great for us. They are also good tracks for some other drivers."

Gordon's path to the Chase is complicated. He could claim the second wild-card berth without winning a race, provided he leap-frogs over Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch in the standings, provided none of the other wild-card contenders with one victory -- Newman, Busch, Joey Logano or Marcos Ambrose -- wins a second race, and provided Carl Edwards (12th in the standings and winless) doesn't get a victory.

Gordon also is rooting for both Tony Stewart (ninth, with three wins) and Denny Hamlin (10th, with two wins) to remain in the top 10 -- so that neither of those drivers will have to use a wild-card spot (awarded to the two drivers in positions 11-20 with the most victories, the tiebreaker being position in the standings).

Realistically, Gordon knows what he must do to avoid missing the Chase for the second time since NASCAR's playoff system was adopted in 2004.

"I think we have to win," Gordon said. "I feel like we're right back to where we were before Pocono (where Gordon picked up his only Cup victory thus far)."

NO DRIVER INPUT

Bruton Smith didn't ask Kyle Busch for his opinion when he decided to grind away two degrees of banking from the top groove at Bristol Motor Speedway.

In fact, Smith didn't ask for any driver input before embarking on the project designed to correct a perceived lack of action at the .533-mile track.

Asked for his opinion of the changes after finishing third in Friday night's Food City 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race, Busch replied with characteristic frankness.

"It's definitely hard to pass out there," he said. "I think we all see it on the restarts that everybody is fighting for the top, just trying to root everybody out of the way to get up there and get in a single-file line. It's frustrating.  It's certainly not what we all want to see around here.

I felt like before there was a bottom and there was a (third lane up top), and you could even use the middle and you could work a lot around through there. Right now, they brought the top closer to the bottom so it actually hurts the bottom worse, because you don't have room to move up off the corners and get into the corners and all that stuff. You're actually to the mercy of the guy on your outside." 

Busch couldn't resist closing with some vintage sarcasm.

"I'm glad they conferred with all the drivers," he said.

WHO IS THAT GUY?

Driver Carl Edwards and his crew chief, Chad Norris, have worked together for five races, and they aren't exactly bosom buddies.

In fact, since Norris took over for longtime pit boss Bob Osborne, his relationship with Edwards has been confined to things that make the No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford go faster.

"I don't even know where he lives," Edwards told ESPN's Ricky Craven with a smile. "I don't know his middle name."

Edwards, who is fighting for a Chase spot, has posted two top-10s since Norris came on board, but he needs at least one victory in the final three races before the Chase to have a realistic shot.