Gordon has another solid run despite clutch issues (cont'd)

The slipping clutch was an issue from that point forward, Gordon admitted.

"From that point on, I had to play around with it," he said. "It would last for maybe a second, 2 seconds before it would just start to grab, and I had it pushed all the way to the floor. I thought that it was a one-time thing until about the fourth stop, and got the same thing.

Getting closer

Jeff Gordon's winless streak is now at 45 races -- the longest of his career. He has finished in the top five 17 times in that span including four runner-up finishes. Two of his second-place finishes have come in '09.

2009 Results

Race	Finish	Led
Daytona	13	14
Fontana	2	64
Las Vegas	6	17
Atlanta	2	47

• Store: Jeff Gordon

"There at the end, I'd put it in gear just as they dropped the left side and we gave up just a blink of any eye, but at least we weren't spinning the rear tires and going off the jack or missing lug nuts. It could have been a lot worse. The guys adapted well and we didn't panic."

In fact, stellar work in the pits put Gordon in front on Lap 205, and he went on to lead the next 47 circuits. That is, until Busch started taking big chunks out of Gordon's lead with every lap, eliminating Gordon's 4-second advantage in less than a dozen laps. Still, Gordon stayed in contention, and when debris created a green-white-checkered finish, it set up one last chance.

Gordon was lined up third, behind Busch and Carl Edwards, who opted for two tires. And at the time, he thought his chances were good.

"Certainly, I would have liked to have beaten [Busch] out of the pit road, but even there in third, I thought we had a shot at him," Gordon said. "I was pretty sure we were going to get by [Edwards]."

But on the restart, Busch blocked Gordon's run on the high side, taking away much of his momentum. And then Gordon was unable to dispose of Edwards in a timely fashion, which let Busch build an insurmountable advantage.

"On the restart, I had a run on the 2 and he saw me coming and we about got in the fence there going into [Turn] 1, so I checked up behind him and we started making up momentum on the 99," Gordon said. "We got by him but I didn't quite clear him.

"I drove too deep into [Turn] 3, trying to get to the outside of the 2 and when I did, the 2 drifted up, made me wash out and the 99 got back underneath me. Once that happened, I needed to be clear of the 99 to have any shot at the 2. And so we kind of had to settle for second."

Still, Gordon could see nothing but positives, even though the next chance for victory will have to wait until Bristol, at the earliest.

"It was a great day for us, though," Gordon said. "Just driving to the front, battling up front, leading laps, battling for the lead at times. We lost a little something there in the long runs there, middle of the way on and those guys were a little bit stronger than us. But on the restarts, we were real strong.

"Of course, I want to win, and we've been close. But I'm not going to say we're frustrated. We're pretty happy, the way we've been running."