Jeff Gordon crashes early at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Jeff Gordon’s losing streak has reached 14 races.

In the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, caution came out for the seventh time on lap 158 while Gordon was racing for the lead.

Gordon lost two laps as he sat on pit road for repairs. He later took his car behind the wall to replace the rear end of the car.

"As long as they pay points for that far back, then you got to do what you can to get them," said Gordon, who finished 31st and fell from sixth in the NASCAR Winston Cup standings to 10th.

The red-and-blue No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet was racing hard trying to catch leader Jimmy Spencer when his car broke free and slammed the wall in Turn 2.

Gordon, who was not hit by any other cars, pitted with major damage to rear of his car. He had started from the pole and had led a race-high 82 laps before the accident.

He has not recorded a top-five finish since his win at Kansas last September. It is the longest such streak of his Winston Cup career.