Jeff Gordon was thrilled to be a part of the first team to complete a 1-2-3 sweep of the Cup Series championship. But the finishing order? Not so much to his liking.

"I'm real happy we finished 1-2-3, but I want to be the champion," Gordon said.

“

I'm real happy we finished 1-2-3, but I want to be the champion.

”

-- JEFF GORDON

Gordon showed few weaknesses in 2009, and yet he still couldn't chase down teammates Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin in the final 10 races. Thanks to six consecutive top-10 finishes, including a win at Texas that snapped a 47-race winless streak, Gordon jumped out to a sizeable lead in the points after seven races.

However, even though he remained a picture of consistency for much of the summer, Gordon never found his way back to Victory Lane, finishing second at New Hampshire, Chicagoland and twice at Michigan. Still, he was second behind Tony Stewart before the points were reset after Richmond -- and seemed perfectly positioned to perhaps snap Johnson's championship streak at three when he put together five top-10 finishes in a row, including second-place efforts at Kansas and California.

But disaster struck at Talladega when he ran out of fuel, then was caught up in a last-lap pileup, finishing 20th and effectively ending his title hopes.

"I certainly didn't think we were going to run out right then but I guess I'm kind of glad we ran out when we did because we were at least able to get back out there and destroy our car," a frustrated Gordon said afterward.

Gordon finished out the year with a pair of top-10s, leaving him confident that his fifth title is still within reach.

"[We'll] work hard over the offseason and address our weaknesses so that we can battle for the championship in 2010," he said.

Off the snide at Texas

Didn't get much better than this

Texas Motor Speedway had been Gordon's personal bugaboo ever since he crashed on the first lap of the inaugural race in 1997. So to lead 105 laps and take advantage of Carl Edwards' pit road miscue on his way to the win -- his first since October of 2007 -- was a huge lift for Gordon and the team.

"If we can win at Texas, I feel like we can win anywhere," Gordon said.

Damage at Talladega

The disappointment still lingers

The final laps of the fall race at Talladega perhaps told the entire story of the 2009 championship. With Johnson struggling to even stay within sight of the lead draft for much of the day, Gordon and Martin were poised to make huge gains in the standings. Instead, they both were forced to pit for fuel following the Ryan Newman crash and then wrecked out of the race on the final restart, while Johnson somehow dodged disaster and wound up sixth.