In the last six weeks Jeff Gordon might not have had the best car on the track but somehow and someway this team has rallied since his win at Pocono from 16th in the standings to seventh.
He has done this by collecting five top 10 finishes in that span.
In early June at Kansas he and his team battled all day long to fourth place finish followed up with that win at Pocono. His worse finish was 17th at Michigan.
Then at Sonoma they were marred in traffic all day but timely cautions and good strategy saw Gordon finish second. At Daytona he spun with four laps to go but in the final two laps of the event he went from 30th to sixth.
This past week at Kentucky the car was okay but poor track position and long green flag runs saw Gordon and his team forced to play strategy with the wave around and timely cautions.
It wasn’t pretty but they finished 10th and moved up to seventh in the standings. The highest he has been since his win at Phoenix in February.
To say Gordon and his team are hitting their stride would be an understatement. They battled inconsistency early on this season and now are finally starting to run like people expected.
Gordon has acknowledged he and his team need to continue to win races and run strong but on days like Saturday night when you are not at your best those solid finishes can add up.
The next couple weeks give Gordon prime opportunity to earn a few more wins as New Hampshire, Indianapolis, Michigan, Pocono and Watkins Glen are ahead. All tracks that Gordon has found success and all tracks that he could feasibly win at.
Even with their solid finishes since beginning of June he hasn’t been a threat to win every week. Pocono and Kansas were seemingly his best chances.
At Sonoma, Michigan, Daytona and Kentucky they put themselves in position for solid finishes but they certainly didn’t have a car to win.
Their two wins virtually ensure them a spot in the Chase this season but they still have work to do.
Gordon essentially is getting better at the right time and this team’s confidence is high right now.
Still both Gordon and his crew know that everyone around them is getting better also so work is still to be done.
Busch’s win on Saturday was his third of the season which ties him with Kevin Harvick for series lead in wins.
Gordon and Matt Kenseth each have two but Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson who have each won once are also weekly threats for wins.
The team still has to look over there back as they are still in the danger zone in the points picture.
They have 24 point lead over 10th place driver Denny Hamlin and a 39 point lead over 12th place driver Clint Bowyer.
That is less than one race difference between making the Chase and not making the Chase.
After a rough start to the season this team is finding ways to get it done on the track on a week to week basis.
Gordon has some work to do but if his recent climb through the standings is any indication he and his team are positioning themselves to make a run for the title.
opinions expressed here are that of the writer
Written by:
