Gordon not alone when it comes to lost win seasons

Perhaps the most surprising statistic of the 2008 Sprint Cup season was the failure of Jeff Gordon to visit Victory Lane.

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Sixth on the all-time list with 81 career victories, Gordon had been amazingly consistent for 14 years, winning at least two races every season since 1994. But Gordon was unable to get the No. 24 Chevrolet a victory in 2008, despite 13 top-five finishes, and one has to wonder what that bodes for the future.

Richard Petty faced the same situation after his 18-year win streak was snapped in 1978. He promptly answered critics by winning the 1979 championship. Dale Earnhardt's streak of 15 consecutive seasons with a victory ended in 1997, but he went on to win six more times -- including a much-deserved Daytona 500 victory -- and finish second in the 2000 standings.

On the other hand, after Rusty Wallace's first winless season in 17 years, he would win only one more race. And Darrell Waltrip's trips to Victory Lane slowed dramatically after he failed to win a race in 1990, ending his consecutive season streak at 15.

Surprisingly, none of the others at the top of NASCAR's winningest driver list were able to score another win after having their consecutive season winning streaks snapped, for varying reasons. The injuries Lee Petty suffered as a result of a 1961 Daytona qualifying crash effectively ended his career. He would make only a handful of starts during the next three seasons before retiring.

David Pearson was 46 and Cale Yarborough 47 and both were driving part-time schedules when their streaks ended. And Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson, both in their mid-30s, retired after winless 1966 seasons.

So what's next for 37-year-old Jeff Gordon?

Interestingly enough, three other top drivers have faced that dilemma about the same time in their careers, with widely varying results: Bill Elliott, Mark Martin and Bobby Allison.

Elliott was coming off a 1992 season in which he had won five races and finished second to eventual champion Alan Kulwicki by 10 points. Hopes were high for 1993, but Elliott's season seemed over before it even began when he blew an engine midway through the Daytona 500, finishing 39th.

That pretty much summed up the season for Elliott, who didn't lead a lap until winning the pole for Talladega in July, and finished the season with a total of 14 laps led. His only second-place finish of the season came at Richmond, but Wallace had things well in hand until the field was bunched following a late-race caution.

Elliott snapped his winless drought with a win in the 1994 Southern 500 at Darlington, but wouldn't return to Victory Lane again until 2001. And since that magical 1992 season, he has won just five races.

Martin had won 13 races in a four-year span heading into 1996. And a quick glance at that season shows Martin's incomparable consistency: 14 top-fives, 23 top-10s and 702 laps led. But for some reason, Martin was never able to close the deal that year.

Consecutive seasons with at least one victory

Wins after streak ended

Driver	Seasons	Wins
Richard Petty	18	15
David Pearson	17	0
Rusty Wallace	16	1
Dale Earnhardt	15	6
Darrell Waltrip	15	5
Jeff Gordon	14	?
Lee Petty	13	0
Cale Yarborough	13	0
Bobby Allison	10	38*
Bill Elliott	10	5

* 35 wins in seven-year stretch

At Michigan in June, he led 121 laps before a debris caution brought the field onto pit road for service with less than 40 laps remaining. Martin came in first, but came out 10th after a jammed air gun forced him to pit twice to change all four tires. He finished a disappointing ninth.

Two months later, Martin seemed to have another certain victory at Michigan snatched away when Dale Jarrett passed him with seven laps to go. He wound up losing by .168 seconds, despite leading 135 of 200 laps.

Despite not winning, Martin put together a string of 15 consecutive top-10 finishes to close out the season, including seconds at Charlotte and Phoenix. However, he ended the drought in style the following season, winning at Sears Point and then a caution-free rescheduled race at Talladega just five days later.

Since 1996, Martin has won 17 more races and finished second in the standings in 1998 and 2002, and is scheduled to be Gordon's teammate at Hendrick Motorsports in 2009.

After winning races every year from 1966 through 1975, Allison went through a two-year victory drought starting in 1976, leaving many to wonder if his career was washed up. But in 1978, Allison signed with Bud Moore to drive the No. 15 Ford and things immediately clicked.

He snapped the losing streak in a big way, taking the 1978 Daytona 500 en route to five wins and second place in the standings. Throughout the next seven seasons, Allison would win 35 times and, in 1983, became the oldest driver to win the championship.

That streak stopped with another winless season in 1985, but Allison would go on to win races in each of the next three seasons, including the 1988 Daytona 500, when be beat son Davey to the finish line.

If there's a driver Gordon might like to emulate at this point in his career, Bobby Allison would be the perfect choice.