One year after wild ending, veteran in completely different position
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Jeff Gordon says he doesn't believe in karma by its strictest definition.
But as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to Richmond International Raceway this week for the regular-season finale, he has some definite ideas about the success he's had since NASCAR Chairman Brian France granted him a 13th entry position into last year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field following a controversial Richmond finish that NASCAR ruled unfairly bumped Gordon from the initial 12-driver postseason field.
It's a vastly different scenario this weekend for Gordon. Instead of showing up at Richmond still needing to race his way into the Chase field, he's already clinched a Chase berth this year thanks to a three-win performance. The biggest stress Gordon has on the weekend is trying to become the series' first four-time winner and earn more bonus points to start his championship bid.
"I think life has a way of balancing itself out, I do believe in that,'' said Gordon, who leads the Sprint Cup driver standings entering Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 400. "I believe you get back in life what you put into it, that when you treat people right, they treat you right. When you do good things, good things are going to happen. When you do bad things, then bad things are going to happen.
"I think you could take the last couple years and look at those instances, whether it be the one with me and (Clint) Bowyer (at Phoenix), that was a bad judgment call on my part and in many ways I paid the price for that.
"And then you could look at how we've handled that situation ever since and I think yeah, you could say that I believe handling those situations the right way and learning from them you get the rewards of that as well."
However, Gordon continued, "Most of what's happening for us this year is we're committed, we're working hard and working in the right direction and we've got a good team."
"Good" might be an understatement.
Gordon took the championship lead April 7 following the Texas Motor Speedway race and has held the point for 17 of the 19 weeks since, only twice dropping to a second-place ranking.
He started out the year scoring seven top-10s in the first 10 races. He won the 11th race at Kansas, which started a roll of six more top-10s in the following seven races in the No. 24 AARP Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet.
This summer, the 43-year old four-time NASCAR champ collected a historic fifth win in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, won the pole at the Watkins Glen road course and then the next week won at Michigan from the pole position.
While Gordon made the most of the 10-race Chase in 2013, scoring his only win of the season at Martinsville among five top-10s, he thinks while that effort was probably buoyed by high emotion of his surreal Chase circumstances, this year's results are the product of something else.
Preparation and horsepower trump good karma as far as Gordon is concerned.
"It's simply about this year,'' Gordon said. "Ever since the Gen-6 car came along, I feel like we've been more competitive. And the new ride height rules and spoiler rules, I feel like (crew chief) Alan (Gustafson) and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports went to work to figure that out as soon as possible to see how we're going to set the cars up and benefit from those changes.
"I think they did their homework really well and it's paying off for us this year."
So much so that Gordon concedes it feels a bit like his 2001 championship season -- the most recent of his four titles.
"Back in the late 1990s we were winning a lot of races,'' Gordon explained. "Back in '98 it was like it was set on autopilot. We were winning races we should have won, winning races we shouldn't have won. That year there is no comparing.
"That's the only year I've ever had when I'd pull into Victory Lane on that ninth or 10th win and I was like, 'I almost feel bad we won another one, this is crazy.' "
"But I got over it real quick,'' he added, laughing. "I'd say in 2001, the competition was tougher, the team was really clicking, cars were good and that reminds me more what we have now.
"And in some ways we're even better."
Gordon is especially enthused about the depth of the team's potential. While some of his competitors have put together trophy-winning days, they have also had a lot more weekends to forget. Gordon's No. 24 team has proven it can win races and capitalize on securing good points days in between trips to Victory Lane.
With a new Chase format that includes three elimination rounds in the 10-race championship stretch, Gordon is confident his team's all-around strength could be the difference.
"I mainly just look at how good our team is performing not only in winning races but we're also very consistent,'' Gordon said. "And you know to be successful in this new format, either one of those can get you through to the next round. I think we have the ability to win which will get us through and I think we have the ability to be strong and consistent and get through with points as well.
"Most of all I think of the strength of our team and how much we believe in one another and how we're working together, just how we're clicking. It's been a great season, just with the new format, and in the Chase it only matters what we do in those final 10 races.''
Then he added with a laugh, "Talk to me after that."
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