Cool Down Lap
Jeff Gordon adds to his legacy with Dover win
Sept. 29, 2014
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
DOVER,
Del.—With all the jockeying for Chase positions in the middle of the
field, it was difficult at times to focus on what was happening at the
front of the field in Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway.
At
the end of the day, Jeff Gordon took the checkered flag for the 92nd
time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career and took another stride
toward
a milestone everyone—including Gordon—once thought was untouchable.
Make
no mistake. Gordon already is in rarified air when it comes to his
accomplishments in stock car racing. With 92 victories, he’s third on
the all-time
list. He’s a four-time series champion with an abiding hunger for a
fifth title. He’s a shoo-in for the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
And he’s now within sight, at least, of David Pearson’s 105 career Cup wins, second all-time.
A
few scant years ago, catching Pearson was the furthest thing from
Gordon’s mind. He was having some serious issues with his back. Gordon
and wife
Ingrid added to their family with the births of daughter Ella and son
Leo.
Gordon
wasn’t particularly fond of NASCAR’s Gen-5 platform, introduced into
the Sprint Cup Series in 2007 as the Car of Tomorrow. And, when asked,
he would dismiss Pearson’s milestone as an impossibility.
Now,
it seems that only Richard Petty’s unassailable series-record 200
victories is out of reach. Through treatment and exercise, Gordon’s back
is
better. NASCAR’s new Gen-6 race car better suits his driving style,
especially since the implementation of the no-ride-height rules this
year.
Gordon
has bonded with crew chief Alan Gustafson, and together they have found
top-of-the-line speed in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Despite
his superstar status within NASCAR racing and the crossover appeal that
makes him a comfortable fill-in co-host with Kelly Ripa, for example,
Gordon isn’t above team-building within his organization.
Two
days before the AAA 400, after a hair-raising qualifying lap at the
Monster Mile, Gordon spent the evening at a local Dover fish house with
Gustafson
and his crew. Wearing a T-shirt and baseball cap and sitting
inconspicuously at a family-style table, Gordon was just one of the
guys.
On
the track on Sunday, he was an opportunist. Kevin Harvick was the class
of the field, but mechanical issues bit Harvick’s No. 4 Chevrolet as
they
often have since his last victory at Darlington in April. Gordon seized
the moment, passed Brad Keselowski for the lead on Lap 305 of 400 and
controlled the balance of the race.
As he invariably does, Gordon deflected talk of reaching the century mark in victories.
“I'm
going to tell you the same thing I say every time I'm sitting here
after a win: It's awesome to have 92, and I look forward to challenging
for
93,” Gordon said in the Dover media center. “I can't even think about
100 until we get to 99.
“I
mean, I never dreamed in a million years that I would be here talking
to you after 92 wins, and especially at this point in my career, this
many
years in the sport, to be having the year that we're having, it's just
something I never thought could happen. It feels amazing, and right now
if I felt like we could stay this competitive for the next several
years, I would say, yeah, we could get there.”
But Gordon, of course, has a more immediate goal.
“We're
just laser-focused on this championship and going to the next race,” he
said. “I don't think we're going to get to 100 this year, but I hope
we get past 93. That would be pretty awesome to get a couple more, and
it almost takes a win to get to Homestead. That's our goal, getting to
Homestead, whatever it takes.”
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