Gordon parlaying solid qualifying into best ever start
Posted: Tuesday May 8, 2007 11:28AM; Updated: Tuesday May 8, 2007 11:28AM
Here are five things we learned on Sunday in Richmond, the windiest day in recent memory at a Cup race.
1. Jeff Gordon is going to be extremely hard to beat this year.
Gordon didn't have his best-handling car of the season on Sunday, but he still managed to finish fourth. Producing a good finish out of an ordinary car is something that Gordon has been able to do his entire career -- and, frankly, when you boil it down, is why the guy is so good -- but this year there's just something different about Gordon and his No. 24 team. Instead of eeking out a 10th place run when they struggle, which is what this team did last year, now Gordon and his crew chief Steve Letarte are coming in fourth.
After the race I walked with Gordon down pit road and I asked him if, 10 races into the schedule, this was the best start to a season that he's ever had. Now, remember, Gordon has won four championships in his career and in 1998 -- which is widely considered to be one of the most dominant seasons in NASCAR history -- he won 13 races and had 26 top-five runs.
So what did Gordon say late on Sunday afternoon as he squinted into the falling Virginia sun? "There's no doubt this is the best start I've ever had," said Gordon, who currently holds a hard-to-believe 233-point lead in the standings over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson. "A big key is that we're qualifying up front. And I've been known throughout my career to finish well if I qualify well. Everything is just really clicking right now."
Indeed. If not for the 10-race Chase format, which makes it possible for a team to get hot late in the season and steal the title a la Kurt Busch in 2004, you'd have to say that it'd be a huge upset if Gordon didn't win the championship. As it stands, if Gordon can maintain his momentum and not suffer any unreasonable amount of bad luck late in the year, it's going to be very, very hard for any driver to speed past Gordon this season.
2. The Hendrick dominance continues.
The numbers are pretty staggering: Drivers from Hendrick Motorsports have won seven of the last eight races; they've swept all four Car of Tomorrow events; and on Sunday they finished first (Johnson), second (Kyle Busch) and fourth (Gordon). In the magazine this week I wrote about Jack Roush's plan for catching the Hendrick juggernaut, but it's not going to be easy -- though Roush is extremely confident that one of his drivers is going to win it all.
3. The one non-Hendrick driver who's impressed the most season is Matt Kenseth.
I spent some time with Kenseth and his team recently for the story in SI this week, and how they performed on Sunday in Richmond revealed precisely why they're still title contenders even though Hendrick is ruling the sport right now.
Early in Sunday's race, Kenseth's Ford was one of the slowest cars in the field, and he ran in the back of the pack for the first 100 laps or so. Whenever the caution flag waved, Kenseth brought his Ford onto pit road, where crew chief Robbie Reiser calmly fine-tuned it. After about 250 laps, Kenseth was up to 15th. About 100 laps later, Kenseth was up to 12th. After Johnson took the checkered flag, Kenseth came across the line in 10th -- another solid points day.
The hallmark of No. 17 team is that their car is always -- and I mean always -- the fastest that it's been all weekend in the final laps of the race, and this is why Kenseth will be in the mix all the way to Homestead. Very quietly, Kenseth is currently third in the points.
4. To say that the Fords in the COT races have struggled would be an understatement.
One stat tells you everything you need to about how the Fords are faring in Car of Tomorrow Events: So far in the four COT races, Fords have led a whopping four laps -- and all of them by Kenseth.
5. Kyle Busch owns Richmond.
Mark it down: When the Cup circuit returns to Richmond on Sept. 8, Busch will finish in the top three. After all, in five career starts at the .75-mile oval, his average finish is an incredible 3.4. More impressive, he appears to be getting better at the track with each passing lap.
Posted: Tuesday May 8, 2007 11:28AM; Updated: Tuesday May 8, 2007 11:28AM
Here are five things we learned on Sunday in Richmond, the windiest day in recent memory at a Cup race.
1. Jeff Gordon is going to be extremely hard to beat this year.
Gordon didn't have his best-handling car of the season on Sunday, but he still managed to finish fourth. Producing a good finish out of an ordinary car is something that Gordon has been able to do his entire career -- and, frankly, when you boil it down, is why the guy is so good -- but this year there's just something different about Gordon and his No. 24 team. Instead of eeking out a 10th place run when they struggle, which is what this team did last year, now Gordon and his crew chief Steve Letarte are coming in fourth.
After the race I walked with Gordon down pit road and I asked him if, 10 races into the schedule, this was the best start to a season that he's ever had. Now, remember, Gordon has won four championships in his career and in 1998 -- which is widely considered to be one of the most dominant seasons in NASCAR history -- he won 13 races and had 26 top-five runs.
So what did Gordon say late on Sunday afternoon as he squinted into the falling Virginia sun? "There's no doubt this is the best start I've ever had," said Gordon, who currently holds a hard-to-believe 233-point lead in the standings over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson. "A big key is that we're qualifying up front. And I've been known throughout my career to finish well if I qualify well. Everything is just really clicking right now."
Indeed. If not for the 10-race Chase format, which makes it possible for a team to get hot late in the season and steal the title a la Kurt Busch in 2004, you'd have to say that it'd be a huge upset if Gordon didn't win the championship. As it stands, if Gordon can maintain his momentum and not suffer any unreasonable amount of bad luck late in the year, it's going to be very, very hard for any driver to speed past Gordon this season.
2. The Hendrick dominance continues.
The numbers are pretty staggering: Drivers from Hendrick Motorsports have won seven of the last eight races; they've swept all four Car of Tomorrow events; and on Sunday they finished first (Johnson), second (Kyle Busch) and fourth (Gordon). In the magazine this week I wrote about Jack Roush's plan for catching the Hendrick juggernaut, but it's not going to be easy -- though Roush is extremely confident that one of his drivers is going to win it all.
3. The one non-Hendrick driver who's impressed the most season is Matt Kenseth.
I spent some time with Kenseth and his team recently for the story in SI this week, and how they performed on Sunday in Richmond revealed precisely why they're still title contenders even though Hendrick is ruling the sport right now.
Early in Sunday's race, Kenseth's Ford was one of the slowest cars in the field, and he ran in the back of the pack for the first 100 laps or so. Whenever the caution flag waved, Kenseth brought his Ford onto pit road, where crew chief Robbie Reiser calmly fine-tuned it. After about 250 laps, Kenseth was up to 15th. About 100 laps later, Kenseth was up to 12th. After Johnson took the checkered flag, Kenseth came across the line in 10th -- another solid points day.
The hallmark of No. 17 team is that their car is always -- and I mean always -- the fastest that it's been all weekend in the final laps of the race, and this is why Kenseth will be in the mix all the way to Homestead. Very quietly, Kenseth is currently third in the points.
4. To say that the Fords in the COT races have struggled would be an understatement.
One stat tells you everything you need to about how the Fords are faring in Car of Tomorrow Events: So far in the four COT races, Fords have led a whopping four laps -- and all of them by Kenseth.
5. Kyle Busch owns Richmond.
Mark it down: When the Cup circuit returns to Richmond on Sept. 8, Busch will finish in the top three. After all, in five career starts at the .75-mile oval, his average finish is an incredible 3.4. More impressive, he appears to be getting better at the track with each passing lap.