Two of this season winners had a race on Saturday night they would soon like to forget at Texas Motor Speedway. Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick both struggled to even be competitive on Saturday night and their finishes reflected that.
Harvick qualified 29th but as we have seen never had a problem making his way to the front when it counted.
Saturday was a different story for him. Early on he struggled with a very loose race car. Unable to make any progress forward the team took every opportunity to work on the car but Harvick was never comfortable in the car.
Harvick’s early struggles were on pit road where he was blocked in and the next stop David Reutimann was spun out right in front of Harvick’s pit. He lost a lot of track position of pit road, two long green flag runs and an ill handling race car cost them two laps.
Harvick who came into the race having won two races in a row would end up finishing 20th on the day and one lap down.
Crew chief, Gil Martin reflected on the day and the finish. "No. It's not, but it's not the end of the world either. We've had a good race every race this year. Sooner or later you're going to have a bad one. We'll bounce back from it."
That bounce back could come this weekend for Harvick as he is the defending race winner at Talladega. Harvick broke a winning streak here last April and helped jump start his run for the title last season.
Including his win at Talladega last spring, Harvick has five top fives and nine top 10 finishes. He has an average finish of 14.8.
Harvick last spring pulled off one of the best last lap passes we have seen at Talladega in a long time. For Harvick he could be looking at win number three this season on Sunday.
Gordon since his win at Phoenix has been struggling. The team has dealt with tire issues and battling the handling of his race cars. Gordon’s best finish since his win came at Martinsville where he finished fifth.
The team once again battled a loose condition at TMS on Saturday night and it all started with a dismal qualifying effort of 32nd.
Gordon was unable to make any moves forward and ran around 23rd for much of the race.
He never was a factor and struggled to stay on the lead lap. A gamble on fuel didn’t pay off as he ran out coming to the checkered flag. He ended up finishing 22nd and two laps off the pace.
The struggles for Gordon have been very consistent from race to race; he has battled loose conditions. The adjustments made throughout the races haven’t helped the race car and results are beginning to show that.
Heading into this weekend at Talladega, Gordon and his team have an opportunity to get back on track and to victory circle.
Gordon hasn’t won at Talladega since 2007 and last season he finished 22nd in this race after starting fifth.
He has six wins, 13 top fives and 17 top 10 finishes. The teams’ struggles could begin to turnaround this weekend at a track where Gordon has plenty of success.
Both Harvick and Gordon are leaving TMS in the rear view mirror and looking ahead to Talladgea; a track where both have found success.
Harvick and Gordon are two drivers looking to forget about a forgettable weekend at TMS and get back to challenging for wins at Talladega.
photo:hendrickmotorsports.com
quote:rcrracing.com
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