After winning the Subway Fresh Fit 500K at Phoenix International Raceway nearly four months ago, it appeared as if Jeff Gordon and his No. 24 team were off to a quick start in 2011.
All the pieces were there for the 39-year-old driver to win multiple races as well as logging in top-five finishes with new crew chief Alan Gustafson. Immediately, fans and critics felt that the glory days of "The Gordon Express" were returning to the Cup series.
However, this season hasn't quite panned out yet in the right direction for Gordon and company. They've struggled at most venues with getting the handle on their Drive To End Hunger/DuPont Chevrolet Impala fleet, running generally between 10th-15th position, hardly looking like title contenders.
Although their cars have been strong on the plate tracks and smaller venues, on the 1.5-mile intermediates, Gordon's tackled with handling issues as well as a lack of speed during these races.
Races at Las Vegas and Texas were an exercise in frustration, throwing about any adjustment to their car only to either wreck out or finish well below the top-10 running order.
To their defense, the Hendrick Motorsports organization hasn't been quite as strong as the Roush-Fenway Racing Ford Fusions at tracks like Charlotte or Texas.
Jack Roush's arsenal of David Ragan, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, and Carl Edwards have run particularly well at the intermediates mostly due to the FR9 motors.
Call it a case of competitors catching up with the Hendricks (the NASCAR version of "Keeping with the Joneses") or how close the racing action is in the Sprint Cup Series. In any event, for every gain made in racing, the bar of excellence raises itself to the next level.
For Gordon and his crew, that bar is probably about an echelon or two higher than most teams mostly because of their success in the past during their championship years of the late 1990's and their most recent title in 2001.
In recent races, the tide has started to turn the corner for the Vallejo, CA native, almost living up to their sponsor's name in their "Drive to End Hunger." Or in this case, it's more like "driving to end their 'drive for five.'"
Their performances at Charlotte and Kansas have shown some notable improvement, as their cars have consistently run faster in the corners as well as finding the balance with speed and handling.
Last Friday, Gordon mentioned how his team would "go for broke" despite the fact that they currently hold one of the two "wild card" spots for this year's Chase field.
Consider this: it's pretty clear that just one win won't do the trick for making the playoffs, especially as they sit 13th in the points standings.
Drivers like Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya, and A.J. Allmendinger have been close to winning races, which doesn't bode well for any teams that are complacent with their performances.
These hungry races are starting to pick up on their performances in the past month, which is bad news for Gordon.
If any racer outside the top-10 picks up a victory or two between now and Richmond in September, there's a chance that the No. 24 team could be eliminated from the title hunt.
All weekend long at Kansas, Gordon essentially reminded the field that he hasn't forgotten how to wheel a stock car, even after his somewhat disappointing 22nd-place qualifying effort on Saturday.
Their car was a consistent, strong machine that was capable of clicking off fast laps all race long, which propelled them towards the front.
Following this past Sunday's running of the STP 400 at Kansas Speedway, Gordon was encouraged by his fourth-place finish.
"We were just trying to maintain second and see what the pit strategy was going to be," Gordon said per an AP Sports report. "We played it to the best that we possibly could. If I hadn't been quite so free, I might have been able to get third. But all-in-all, a great top-five and a great day."
Although Gustafson and his peers still have a ways to go in order to get Gordon consistently running in the top-five at the 1.5-mile tracks, their runs at Charlotte and Kansas show that they do have the resources to become a solid championship contender this fall.
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