Jeff Gordon encouraged by top 10

Gordon rallied for a ninth-place finish after restarting at the tail of the field for the 34-lap run to the checkered flag, but was still kicking himself over the pit-road gaffe.

“You know, it’s one thing when you don’t feel you have the car underneath you or you’re just missing something, but when it’s on you — whether it’s a pit-crew guy, a crew chief or a driver — it hurts, you know,” Gordon said. “And that’s the way I feel right now. I feel pain because we had a golden opportunity right there and I ruined it for us.

“We’re going to get it all together. We’re going to start clicking. We just haven’t been clicking all at one time. As hard as everyone worked, gosh, I just hate it that I made that mistake.”

Gordon started fourth in the 43-car field, but uncharacteristically faded early on, sliding all the way back to 15th place by the time the race’s third caution flag flew on Lap 55. It wasn’t until after the halfway point that crew chief Alan Gustafson’s adjustments started to take, helping Gordon’s No. 24 move forward in the unseasonably cool conditions as the .526-mile track began to build up tire rubber.

“It was a struggle, let me tell you,” Gordon said. “You know, we had such a great starting position and a great pit stall that I was looking forward to getting up there and hopefully leading some laps, but man, they started the race and I just got so loose so quick, and I was afraid of that. I mentioned that before the race … when this place isn’t laying rubber, we seem to really struggle with wearing out the left-rear tire really bad. We’ve had this happen to us in the past when it’s cold like this, and it really bit us today.

“I’m so proud of Alan and everyone on this Axalta Chevrolet because they made some great adjustments to get the car where it needed to be. Finally, the rubber started getting down on the track a little bit and then we finally were able to start making some ground up.”

The ground came in bunches once the race wound toward a conclusion, with Gordon returning to the top-five shortly after the 300-lap mark. The outlook brightened as the sun dipped lower, with Gordon scooting past Matt Kenseth and into the lead for the first time all day at Lap 442.

But when the race’s final yellow flew with 40 laps left in the 500-lapper, Gordon was flagged for being too fast in Section 5, the last timing segment on Martinsville’s curved pit road and the one containing his pit stall.

“Oh my God, you’re kidding me,” Gordon radioed his crew once informed of the infraction. “Sorry, guys. That’s on me. I apologize.”

Though it wasn’t the tall, wooden timepiece he wanted, there potentially was some solace to be taken in scoring his third straight top-10 finish after a three-race stretch of uneven results to open the season. Matching his season’s best effort — ninth at Phoenix International Raceway — helped Gordon rise five spots to 17th in the Sprint Cup standings heading into an idle week for the series.

Gordon just missed qualifying for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup‘s Championship round last season. With the strides that he made in battling back Sunday, Gordon said he thinks returning the No. 24 to championship-level form may not be far away.

“At the start of the race, I was very concerned that we just missed it and didn’t have what it took,” Gordon said. “As we made adjustments and we really started becoming competitive, that’s when I started getting excited that we are as good as we were last year, as good as I feel like we can be. It’s been up and down this year, so we need these kind of performances.”

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