Toughest driver in garage may not be who you think (cont'd)

Nevertheless, he sucks it up and deals with it. He talks about his back when he's asked questions about it, but he doesn't complain. He'll strap in Sunday at Michigan International Speedway knowing that he could wind up in the same situation he was in Monday. Next week at Bristol, he'll slide into his car knowing full well that he's going to be in agony for 500 physical laps. Sure, he's securely in the Chase right now, and if he wanted Gordon could probably start the Bristol race and then turn the No. 24 over to a relief driver. But there's no absolutely indication that he will. He'll almost certainly do what he does every week -- set his jaw, hope for the best, and do his job even though it's going to hurt like hell.

That's tough. Damn tough.

Of course, drivers competing when they're hurt is nothing new. Ten years ago, Mark Martin broke his wrist, his kneecap, and one of his ribs in a practice crash before the summer event at Daytona, and was in the car the next night because he was in a championship race and he couldn't afford to give up the points. In 2006, Stewart started a race with a cracked shoulder blade he had suffered the week before. In perhaps the epitome of toughness -- or stubbornness, depending on your point of view -- Ricky Rudd used duct tape to hold his eyes open for a Daytona 500 qualifying race in 1984. Rudd's car had rolled seven times in an accident in the Busch Clash, and his face was so battered and swollen he could barely keep his eyes open on his own.

And yet, those were all injuries that eventually healed with time. Gordon's back, though, shows all the signs of being one of those chronic nuisances that he's just going to have to deal with. You hope not, of course. You hope he'll rest it during the offseason and come back in 2010 good as new. But he's had MRIs done on it, he said, and the doctors don't see anything obviously wrong. He's had one treatment to deal with the pain, but said at Indianapolis that the anti-inflammatory injection didn't do much good and he likely wouldn't have another. As recently as Pocono two weeks ago, though, he said his back felt better and the discomfort was at a level he could manage. Then came the big hit at Watkins Glen.

"You take three or four steps forward up to this point," he said, "and you take a hit like that and you take a couple of steps backward."

There's a lot of conversation right now about Gordon's back condition, especially among fans worried over whether it will force a premature end to his career. On that subject, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Gordon is a smart guy who has his priorities in line. One reason he dropped out of IROC and then-Busch competition so many years ago was because he didn't want to subject himself to unnecessary risk. He's never seemed the type of guy who's going to drive until he's 50. He's been his own man throughout his entire career, and he knows his limit, and when he reaches it he'll step out of the car and move into a management role with Hendrick Motorsports. Nobody is going to have to twist his arm.

Hopefully, that time is still a while off. Gordon says his back condition isn't causing him any permanent damage, and that it's all a matter of managing pain. Of course, that didn't make him feel any better as he climbed out of his crumpled race car in Watkins Glen. That knowledge won't ease the hurt at Bristol, or at Dover, or at Martinsville, or anywhere else where he's involved in a big crash. There are races where he's simply going to have to grit his teeth and suffer. There are accidents that will leave his back hurting worse than before. Pain is a part of his life right now. He doesn't know when, or if, it's going to end.

And yet, come Sunday afternoon, he'll be back in the car like he always is. No, he's not a big guy, or a fighter, or someone who tries to intimidate his opponents. But these days, Jeff Gordon is just the toughest driver in the garage.

The opinions expressed are those solely of the writer.