I should have better sense than getting into this:
Gordon has always been a great driver, but with an Achilles heel over the last 7 or 8 years. Which is obviously restarts, I know he has made recent improvements, but he is still more often than not is passive rather than the aggressor.
I hate yellow fever but Gordon and Gordonites should hate them more. This should all be obvious or self evident. Short runs, and short pit cycles work against him most and it did last night.
I think Gordon would have shot that gap in the 90s, he had less of a conscience then. Bump and runs and being the animal when needed was part of his deal. With time that animal changed to being more about finesse. He is still brilliant and kick ass on long runs. I think that is more righteous and I honestly wish that was more rewarding and there were less resets.
Nascar has changed a lot in recent years, in this era of double files, and with more compressed resets, the aggressive types have gained even more power or an even greater advantage.
Last night I simply think he allowed to much space for an animal like Brad, he should have maintained less than a car widths space between him and Jimmie. There was just to much at stake to let that go unchecked, you have to be ever present or aware of who's behind you and what happens when they smell an opportunity. It goes beyond who is right or wrong, it is simply what one has to do.
And I don't think Jeff would have shot that gap if the tables had been turned. He just isn't that aggressive imo. He says he would have moved Jr at Martinsville but he didn't and I can't see the current gentleman actually performing the deed.
He also lamented about not moving Hamlin at Atlanta late in the 2012 race. Which if successfully performed would have guaranteed almost guaranteed a chase spot, but bottom line he didn't move him.
The difference in driving styles or whatever terms fits, probably bothered him as much as anything. Two different drivers with two different approaches that will never agree on who was right or wrong.
We could write long well documented essays on who's right or wrong ourselves Yada Yada.
But at the end of the day, Gordon has to get better with a little more aggression on the restarts. Do some instigating of his own.
He has more of a conscience now, I like him better as a person, but it doesn't serve a driver well wanting to win this type of chase, especially with Green White Checkers, Yellow fever and the following double file restarts.
All of the above is obviously just my opinion that I can not prove. I like folks on both sides of this thing. I am going to do my best to say no more. Probably said to much already.
