Gordon's bid for All-Star history takes different spin (cont'd)

"That's the All-Star event. That's just a bunch of guys racing really, really hard," Gordon said. "I heard three-wide [from his spotter] right at the last second. And I was already wide open, pulling it down as much as I could. I felt like Kyle probably could have given me a little bit more room and we might have been all right -- but I think he was a little bit surprised the 39 [car of Newman] was on the outside of him, too."

Gordon admitted that he was surprised by the instant threat Busch posed on the restart with 10 to go.

"I think I got a bad restart -- and Kyle obviously got one heck of a restart. I don't even know where he came from," Gordon said. "We just didn't get a very good restart. Kyle got on the outside of us -- and I didn't even know at first that the 39 made it three-wide on the outside. I just ran out of room. It was really nobody's fault."

With no points and so much cash on the line, Gordon knew as well as anyone -- probably better than most -- that the new (well, new from the previous year) format had the potential to produce wild racing at the end. Some previous formats also had included a version of the 10-lap shootout at the finish, and Gordon was a previous winner of the event in 1995, '97 and 2001.

"That's All-Star racing. Everybody is going for it. There's a lot at stake -- a lot of pride, a lot of money, and we're all trying to put on a great show for the fans," Gordon said.

"I'm proud of our race team. We were doing awesome and had a great race car."

That is, until the premature end of his night.

"I'm just glad it wasn't worse than that. I was pretty nervous, sliding across the track like that," Gordon said. "I'm just glad nobody got into me. You know, it was a great night for us -- up to that point."

Gordon admitted he was rattled a little by the double-file restart with 10 to go.

"They changed the restart rule this year, I think. I don't know. They change the rule every year [for the All-Star Race]," Gordon said. "They had the flagman starting the race, and that was a distinct disadvantage for the guys on the front row. I was more worried about Matt Kenseth [who was on the outside of Gordon on the restart]. I wasn't even thinking about Kyle Busch or anybody else."

Gordon said he was pleased overall with how his car performed, giving him hope that it will translate into success in the upcoming Coca-Cola 600.

"Our car was really strong. And I think we can make it even better with some practice," Gordon said. "I'm looking forward to what we can do to make it better for next week. Really, I was happy with everything. I was happy with everything but how it ended for us."

Joe Menzer is the author of "The Great American Gamble: How the 1979 Daytona 500 Gave Birth to a NASCAR Nation." Click here to purchase.