Even though Jeff Gordon won on Sunday after pulling away from Kurt Busch in the remaining laps his post race interviews you could sense the relief. Relief in a driver who a month ago was barely in the top 20 in points and was searching for answers for early season struggles.
On Sunday, Gordon took a step in the right direction after winning his second race this season.
His closest competitors on Sunday in Denny Hamlin (19th) suffered a cut tire on pit road and then a broken brake line.
Kurt Busch (second) who late in the race looked like he had this race won but Gordon and his team put up flawless final stops and got Gordon the lead for good.
Even though he won at Phoenix in the spring Gordon and his put together a flawless race on the track and on pit road.
Coming into 2011 Gordon expected to run up front with his new partnership with Alan Gustafson and be considered a contender like Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson.
He admitted that the last couple of seasons they haven’t ran up to par and that he knows why not many expect him to contend.
“When we were winning on a consistent basis, people were scared of us. Truthfully, me & 24 car, we just have not put the numbers together.”
He continued “But I think the thing that was probably the most disappointing to me, we came into the season talking about the stuff we were going to do. We went to Phoenix and did it. We were like, Oh, yeah, we’re going to get them. Then it kind of fell off the cliff for us. Then at that point it was not about how people looked at us, it was, we got to get it together ourselves.”
Their weakness was clear early on in the season. The 24 team’s intermediate program was off and after struggling at Texas they got to work.
They began making small gains on week to week basis. It was nothing too flashy but overall they were running competitively starting at Richmond.
The results though included an accident, fuel mileage gambles and poorly timed caution still the team after a strong showing at Charlotte was getting their confidence back.
At Kansas after starting 22nd Gordon moved to the top 10 quickly and ran in the top five for most of the race. Finishing fifth momentum was clearly on their side and Gordon could feel it.
“But last week to me, to be able to go up front, stay up front, finish up front, even though we didn’t have the fuel mileage strategy like some of those guys did, we were the best car that didn’t make it or had to stop. To me, we’ve carried a lot of momentum on these last few weeks to get this win. This is going to continue.”
After his win at Pocono on Sunday Gordon was clearly satisfied to see the hard work by his team paying off.
“Days like today to me give us that confidence and momentum and show the competition that, you know, they might need to start worrying about us again.”
Gordon this season knows that there is still work to be done. Even though he is now sitting 11th in standings and virtually a lock for the Chase their season has been wildly inconsistent.
Sunday’s win marked his fourth top five finish of the season but he has five finishes of 20th or worse including a 39th at Richmond and a 36th at Las Vegas.
The hunger is there for Gordon to win more races and to win more titles. He knows he is capable of winning consistently.
The key for this team is to find the consistency that has won Gordon’s titles in the past.
“I don't just want to be in the Chase. At 40 yrs old that's not enough. This is too good of a team. I'll be letting them down if we only make Chase. I want to be a threat for the championship.”
Gordon proved on Sunday he is still a threat.
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