Jeff Gordon pleased with restart, runner-up finish at Texas
FORT WORTH — With a pep in his voice and a smile on his face, Jeff Gordon contentedly munched on a handful of popcorn after finishing second Monday at Texas Motor Speedway.
It was the look of someone who'd just enjoyed an entertaining show, and even though victory was snatched away on the last lap by Joey Logano, Gordon was pleased by the part he played on the final restart of the Duck Commander 500.
"I was very happy with it," he said. "It's something that we're focused on; I'm focused on trying to do a better job. California didn't go so well. But I feel all year long our restarts have been really good other than that."
At Fontana, Calif., two weeks ago, Gordon was cruising toward a victory when the caution flag flew with one lap remaining. He re-emerged from a pit stop in sixth and faded to 13th in a green-white-checkered finish despite taking four tires.
The opposite occurred Monday in Texas when a yellow on the penultimate lap of the scheduled distance wiped out a large lead for Logano. Gordon took the lead on a two-tire stop under yellow, and Logano emerged from the pits in third as the first driver with four.
But the Team Penske driver still needed more than a lap to pass Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet, which quickly had pulled away to a comfortable lead after the green that "shocked" Gordon.
"Some of it's in the car, some of it's in the setup, most of it's in me," the four-time champion said with a laugh about his restarts. "Today, it was just all about not spinning the tires too much. So I tried to carry a little bit more speed to the line because I knew that those guys had an advantage with the newer tires. I was surprised we weren't four‑wide going into (turn 1) because it was just so easy with those old left sides to spin the rears."
Gordon overcame adversity throughout the postponed race, which started with 10 yellow-flag laps as crews worked to dry a track that had been drenched by rain Sunday. Several drivers, including Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman, had to pit after having their roof flaps affected by a passing jet dryer.
"That was odd," Gordon said. "When we left pit road at the beginning of the race, we drove by the two jet dryers, casually going by it. The last one about blew all of us over. I mean, I thought it damaged my car, as well. It got my attention. When I heard that (Brad Keselowski) had trouble, I told my guys, 'I'm not surprised.' I thought it about tore the flap off of mine or pushed in the right side. I was concerned."
The incident reminded Gordon of an April 2004 race at Martinsville Speedway in which a chunk of concrete damaged his car while he was leading. Unlike Monday's race, when drivers were allowed to pit without losing positions, Gordon lost spots to repairs.
"I'm not sure what's more odd, if (the Texas incident) happened or NASCAR allowed those guys to repair (the cars)," Gordon said. "I don't ever remember them letting me repair the car (at Martinsville)."
The Hendrick Motorsports driver still could take solace in his third top five, which vaulted him three spots into the points lead. Though he still needs a win to sew up a berth in the Chase, Gordon believes his team has the speed to join the roster of 2014 winners, which stands at seven through seven races.
"The pressure's always there to win," he said. "It's important to be consistent because that helps get you in a position more often to win. Every race that goes by that there's a different winner, the pressure gets more intense. I'm real happy with the way our team's performing this year. I know that opportunity's going to come."
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