Gordon's effort at Kansas epitomizes strong Chase (cont'd)

But how well the top three drivers in the Chase have been also points to the biggest problem in overcoming an advantage in this Chase format. Even while Gordon's finished 14th, seventh and fourth in successive races, to move from 11th to eighth to sixth in the standings, he's fallen from 99 points back to 118 back coming to Kansas to 143 out of first going out.

But after battling illness all weekend long, Gordon was definitely looking on the bright side.

"I guess I need to be sick more often," Gordon said. "Yeah, that was a good run and a good car. I know if I had been healthy, I would have gotten more out of it. That was a tough day [but] I'm real proud of this DuPont Chevrolet team. They were awesome in the pits and they were calm and made good adjustments."

Gordon admitted the long, hot day at Kansas would continue to sap him for a day or two longer, and continued to stress how much his team meant to the finish.

"Well, I'm going to be pretty sore [Monday] -- I'm just aching all over but hey, when you've got a car and a team that's as good as this one, you can't let somebody else get in there and drive it," Gordon said. "So I'm very proud of this effort [Sunday]. We had a great racecar and great pit stops. All around it was a great effort.

"I wish I'd have been a little healthier. I think I could have contributed to a little bit better finish."

Gordon's contended for enough championships to know what's ahead of him, particularly in this Chase format. Only a phenomenal effort by his teammate Johnson last season kept Gordon from winning his fifth crown, and in his two previous Chases, Gordon's finished third in the inaugural in 2004 and sixth in 2006. He missed the 2005 Chase.

"Right now we just want to be competitive and [Sunday] was a competitive day," Gordon said of his 14th top-10 this season, just one above the least of anyone in the Chase. "We didn't have enough for those leaders, but we had a really solid and strong effort. We were racing all the guys we're racing in the Chase anyway, so it's just all about solid performances and trying to get that win."

Setting aside his physical condition, Gordon has showed just how much doing whatever it takes means to him. In an almost unprecedented move this week, he came to the Hendrick shop to do pit-stop practice with his over-the-wall gang; and he said the results showed up in the race.

"I was [proud of them]," Gordon said of his team. "All that stuff like [going to] that practice and building that team spirit and camaraderie makes a big difference and I think our pit stops showed for this team. I really owe them a lot.

"They really did an amazing job sticking with me all weekend. I haven't been feeling good, but I also haven't been in a very good mood. So those guys, to put that kind of racecar and that type of effort in [Sunday], with those pit stops, were fantastic."

The low point of Gordon's day was getting tangled up with rookie Joey Logano on the last lap, allowing Biffle by. But even that didn't take the luster off the day, for Gordon.

"I hated to give that spot to Biffle on that last corner but other than that I was very happy with the way the day went," Gordon said. "I gave that position up to Biffle there in the end. I came up on the No. 96 [Logano] and he went high the lap before that so I thought I should go to the middle and then [Logano] went to the middle and Biffle got a good run inside of me [but] we're real proud of that effort. We'll take it."

Gordon just laughed when asked to sum up his day.

"You know, the best I've felt all weekend was in the car [because] there are a lot of things that go away when you get in the car," Gordon said. "The track was slick so it played into not feeling good because you could just drive so easy -- [you] just had to be real careful getting in and real careful getting off the corner and that definitely played to our favor.

"I felt it before and I feel it now and I'll feel it a lot later [Sunday night] and [Monday]. I'm very happy to get out of here."