Posted on by Zack Albert

Penske Racing driver drops from Nationwide lead after procedural miscue

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — A bad day for Sam Hornish Jr. turned worse in a hurry Saturday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a race track near and dear to his heart. Instead of another Brickyard memory to savor, his emotions swung to the other end of the pendulum.

Hornish dropped from first to fourth in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship fight after a lackluster 34th-place finish in the second annual Indiana 250, making his most recent turn atop the series standings a mere six-day stay. His misfortune allowed Austin Dillon, Regan Smith and Elliott Sadler — in that order — to pass him in the season-long hunt.

Hornish slowed with overheating issues in the 62nd (of 100) lap, the result of infield grass — kicked up onto the racing surface on a dicey restart a few laps earlier — choking off the airflow into his No. 12 Ford’s grille and causing his water temperatures to soar near 300 degrees. He lost two laps in the pits while his usually stalwart Penske Racing team worked on the problem, but a procedural breakdown during the stop only compounded the issue.

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“We didn’t get enough cool water back into it trying not to lose the laps, then we melted it down because our procedure failed us on that one, I guess.” Hornish said of the telltale misstep. “I don’t know exactly what we were supposed to do.”

Without enough water, the powerplant expired after just two more laps, leaving Hornish coasting back to the garage with just his second DNF (did not finish) of the season and bringing out the second of the race’s four caution periods.

As the still hot-to-touch engine hissed under the open hood, a particularly downbeat Hornish debriefed with his crew, trying to attain some level of assurance that things will be different in the series’ next race, next Saturday night’s U.S. Cellular 250 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Iowa Speedway.

“We got new wording for ourselves on what we need to do and when we need to do it, and we’ll go back to the drawing board and make sure we have the proper procedure from now on,” Hornish said. “It’s super unfortunate and not how we wanted our day to go, that’s for sure.”

The subpar performance snapped a string of five straight top-10 finishes, a streak that helped push him into the points lead last Sunday after his second-place run at Chicagoland Speedway. While he now has three series rivals ahead of him in the standings, Hornish can take some measure of comfort in the fact that the margin from first to fourth is a scant 14 points, and that the Nationwide points race has been an ever-fluctuating picture.

When asked if he’d ever been in a title pursuit as manic as this season’s, Hornish said, “not like this one’s been so far.” But after a significant pause, Hornish’s lament over lost ground returned.

“Man, it’s frustrating when you have a day like today,” he said. “We had a pretty good car and we need to make sure we’re looking at all the things that are going to bite us because it’s things like this, like knowing ahead of time what we need to do, that makes all the difference in the world. Yeah, we might’ve ended up 18th today, but it sure would’ve been a lot better than 33rd or wherever we’re going to end up.”

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Earnhardt Jr. says he learned from his father the importance of Indy

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SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he knew how much competing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway meant to his father, even if the two didn’t have deep conversations about the matter.
 
“… I remember how excited he was and everybody else was about that specific tire test,” Earnhardt Jr. said of a Goodyear tire test that took place nearly two full years before the inaugural 1994 Brickyard 400.
 
“And I remember the mental and literal race to be the first guy on the race track once they got here. My dad and Rusty (Wallace) sort of were elbow-to-elbow trying to be the first guy to be on the track. For my father, for some reason, that was historic in its own right.”

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The elder Earnhardt had already won five of his seven championships in NASCAR’s Cup Series when a handful of teams arrived at the world-famous 2.5-mile facility for the first time. Along with Earnhardt (Richard Childress Racing) and Wallace (Penske Racing), other drivers participating in that test included Kyle Petty (SABCO), Darrell Waltrip (Dar-Wal Racing), Ernie Irvan (Morgan-McClure Motorsports), Bill Elliott (Junior Johnson & Associates), Mark Martin (Roush Racing), Davey Allison (Robert Yates Racing) and Ricky Rudd (Hendrick Motorsports).
 
Although raised on the dirt tracks of the south, Earnhardt had become a savvy businessman on his way to the top, and he understood the importance of NASCAR’s Indy arrival perhaps more than anyone.
 
Earnhardt Jr. said he knew it was a big deal as well.
 
“I guess the first thing that raced through my mind was, ‘What would the racing be like? What kind of race would we see?’ ” he said. “ ‘What kind of style of racing would we see when the cars went around such a big track with no banking and all the corners being 90 degrees; what would the cars do and how would the drivers be able to compete with each other?’
 
“It turned out to be quite a thrill and a lot of fun to watch the first race. … I felt like the door was always closed to stock cars racing here. I felt like that was just one thing that would never happen; that IndyCar and open wheel would be too protective or that the history and tradition of this place would never be broken. But it was awesome that we got the opportunity to come here.”
 
Sunday’s Crown Royal presents the Samuel Deeds 400 at the Brickyard (ESPN, 1 p.m.) will mark the 20th time NASCAR’s Cup Series has competed at Indy. Two decades after the first race, it’s an event that still ranks high in the eyes of the competitors.
 
“I think it’s the history of the race track — everyone wants to win here, and it’s about the trophy — who has won here, how hard it is to win here and the history of the track and race itself,” said Jeff Gordon, a four-time Cup champion and four-time winner of the race.
 
“I can’t believe it’s been 20 years since we won here in 1994. That certainly says a lot about how fast things can go by. To me, that inaugural race really set the precedent for how impressive this facility is and how prestigious the race was the first year and always will be.”
 
Honing his skills in open-wheel sprint-car series in the surrounding area, Gordon said it was common for all young hopefuls to talk and dream of one day competing on the “big track.”
 
“When you’re racing locally nearby here, it doesn’t matter your name or what kind of car you drive,” he said. “Your goal is to race here in May. Everybody that I raced with every weekend would talk about, ‘Oh, I have a chance at a ride with this team or that team.’ Whatever it was, it was always the buzz. Your goal … was to win enough races to get the opportunity to go race in the Indianapolis 500.”
 
When those doors failed to open for Gordon (“I realized very early and quickly that the chances of me … getting a top ride was very slim,” he said), it became much easier to look elsewhere.
 
With his stock-car career on the fast track, Gordon said he was pleased to learn that NASCAR would test at Indy, but disappointed because he had yet to begin his Cup career.
 
“It looked like so much fun that day, the way they were swapping positions,” he said. “It was an exhibition but looked like a fun exhibition that I wanted to be a part of. I was thrilled to be a part of it in 1994 when it actually happened. It was a dream come true to win that race.”
 
Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson are the most successful Cup drivers at Indy, with four wins each. Five drivers in the inaugural race are back once again for the 20th running — Gordon, Martin, Bobby Labonte, Jeff Burton and Joe Nemechek.

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Lucky fan partner also takes home $100,000

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — For Brian Vickers, the third time really was the charm.
 
Vickers didn’t win Saturday’s Indiana 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but his fourth-place finish did net the Joe Gibbs Racing driver the final $100,000 bonus in the Nationwide Series Dash 4 Cash program.
 
Making his third appearance in the program, Vickers was the highest-finishing driver among the four eligible for the Indy bonus.
 
Austin Dillon (12th), Elliott Sadler (13th) and Sam Hornish Jr. (34th) were also eligible for the award.
 
Race fan Pam Nabors collected a $100,000 bonus for being paired with Vickers for the program’s final race of the 2013 season.
 
“We had a lot of adversity to overcome today and unfortunately we were on the race track hitting the splitter all day. It probably cost us a shot at the win,” Vickers said. “… It was still a great day. To get the $100,000 with Nationwide’s Dash 4 Cash and get the family here $100,000 too — that’s huge and that’s special."

"To get the $100,000 with Nationwide’s Dash 4 Cash and get the family here $100,000 too — that’s huge and that’s special."

— Brian Vickers

Vickers’ Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch won the race, scoring his 59th career victory and the eighth of the season. Vickers said he felt his team had a car capable of competing with Busch, but late changes to the setup the previous day proved to be his undoing.
 
“We made some changes last night and that kind of got us,” he said. "It snuck in there and got us. We were awesome (Friday) in practice and we probably got greedy trying to get more out of it. Between practice and the race, it might have cost us, but still a great top-five. Good points day for us.”
 
Although he led only once, for three laps, Vickers was in the top 10 practically all day and a good portion of that was spent in the top five. Only three spots separated he and Dillon on a restart with 12 laps to go in the 100-lap race. A mix of drivers on new and old tires, however, made for a mad scramble and when the yellow reappeared only two laps later, Vickers had gained four spots and was inside the top-five. He was able to maintain his position through the final six-lap run.
 
"Obviously a good points day and a great day for Pam,” Vickers said. “Very excited about that … it’s a phenomenal program for the sport, the series, the drivers and the fans.”
 
“I’ll never have a chance to win $100,000 in my life again, I don’t believe,” said Nabors, a resident of Santa Cruz, Calif. “It’s just fantastic. I couldn’t stop crying. Now I have, and it still doesn’t feel real.”
 
Dillon, a two-time winner of the Dash 4 Cash this year (at New Hampshire and Chicago), jumped from third to first in points after the cars of Hornish Jr. and Regan Smith (1-2 in the points heading into the event) suffered engine issues.
 
Smith remains second, while Hornish fell from first to fourth.
 
Sadler won the program’s first bonus this year at Daytona.
 
“We have to always … step back and look at the big picture,” Vickers said. “… If we don’t have problems, we usually have a top-five or top-three. If you keep doing that, usually the wins will come. …
 
“The guys we were racing had some problems. We don’t wish that for them at the end of the race, but we’ll take it. We’ve had our fair share of them this year.”

 

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Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Busch takes stall closest to exit for Indiana 250

Kyle Busch claimed the first pit stall going into Turn 1 as his for the Indiana 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Nationwide Series race pole-sitter also broke the track’s qualifying record for the series. He’ll share the front row with Sam Hornish Jr., who took the spot just behind Busch’s on pit road. The No. 6 of Trevor Bayne will pit after the last exit, with Elliott Sadler on the other side of the gap. Parker Kligerman and Brian Vickers will bookend the middle exit. See where your favorite driver will stop using the graphic above.

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Pole-sitter Ryan Newman takes first pick

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After grabbing the pole position away from Jimmie Johnson, final qualifer Ryan Newman also nabbed the pit stall closest to the exit on pit road. Second-place starter Johnson took the pit stall before the second garage exit, just before the start/finish line. Second row lead Carl Edwards claimed his stall as the one just before the final pit road exit, with fourth-place Denny Hamlin sitting on the other side. Tony Stewart, who qualified for the last top-five starting position, will make stops just across from Johnson. See where other drivers will pit using the above graphic.

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Follow Nationwide qualifying from Indy, 12:05 p.m. ET on July 27

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Hornish yearns for another special moment at Brickyard, only this time in Nationwide

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Not unsurprisingly, the girls wanted to see pictures of their dad. Sam Hornish Jr. was with his two young daughters picking up his parking pass at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway office, which was adorned with photos of more recent Indianapolis 500 champions. So Hornish brought them to the track’s museum, and showed them the Borg-Warner Trophy that features his face as the 2006 winner of the event.

"They got a kick out of that," he said. "I ranked second to Bob Sweikert’s pink No. 6 car that he ran in 1955, though. Having two little girls, they like pink."

Such is life for Hornish, an unassuming NASCAR Nationwide Series driver whose past successes here all come rushing back whenever he enters the Brickyard. As winner of one of the most memorable Indy 500s in history — he slipped past Marco Andretti just before the finish line — Hornish is well-remembered in this part of the world, even though his open-wheel days are behind him.

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"Maybe a vintage race or something," he said when asked if he’d ever go back. Still, when fans here hand him photos to sign, they’re often from his early days in IndyCars or the day he won the 500.

All of which offers an interesting contrast to this weekend, when Hornish’s mission is to win the second annual Nationwide race at the famed 2.5-mile track. A victory in that event won’t get the image of his face on a trophy in the Indianapolis museum, or likely have fans clamoring for autographs in years hence. The Indy 500 took care of all that. And yet, it’s still a race at the Brickyard, and the drivers who live for this place do so regardless of what series they’re competing in, and Hornish will burn to win Saturday just like he did that day in May seven years ago.

"If they had a footrace around the place, anyone would want to win it," he said Friday. "That is why I think you always see how seriously the Cup guys take it, and Nationwide, and everybody. Everybody wants to come to Indianapolis. Anyone that tells you they didn’t dream of racing at Indianapolis growing up, no matter what they are in now as far as a racing forum, they either didn’t know about the Indy 500 because they lived under a rock, or they are lying to you. Look at what it means to a guy like Tony Stewart. Look at what Kurt Busch did this year giving himself the opportunity to come test a (open-wheel) car and see if it is something he wants to do. Whatever your pinnacle is, running at Indianapolis is definitely right up there for everybody."

No wonder, then, Hornish still seems a bit peeved about how the inaugural Nationwide event at Indianapolis turned out last year, when he finished second to Penske Racing teammate — and Sprint Cup Series regular — Brad Keselowski. No wonder he noticed the giant photo of Keselowski kissing the bricks that now hangs at team headquarters. No wonder he realizes what any Indianapolis victory means to car owner Roger Penske. No wonder he still gets butterflies before the event just like he did before another, more famous race he once competed in here.

"This means a lot to me. I was disappointed, very disappointed after the race last year when we finished second," Hornish said. "Everyone said I should be really happy, but I said, ‘You guys don’t understand what it means to me, and I know you should understand what it means for Roger.’ … It being the inaugural race here last year, it would have been awesome to win. I love coming here. There is a ton of prestige, and I still get the same butterflies when I walk outside for driver introductions and things like that."

Saturday, there’s more on the line than just a race victory — Hornish is battling Elliott Sadler, Austin Dillon and Brian Vickers for the $100,000 bonus under Nationwide’s Dash 4 Cash program, and last weekend at Chicagoland he overtook Regan Smith for the series lead, which Hornish now holds by seven points. In his bid for a first NASCAR championship, Indianapolis looms as a perfect opportunity for Hornish to try and build some separation.

And in truth, he seems not to really mind that he’s competing at the Brickyard this weekend, and not three months ago. Hornish watches the Indy 500 on television, and embraces the idea of one day coming back as a fan. In his past life, a poor Month of May would leave Hornish brooding over it until he came back the next year. Now he feels the pressure at Indianapolis for three days, not three weeks. He’s even trying to maintain some sense of perspective, despite the locale.

"As much as I want to win here and would love to collect the bonus for Nationwide, the thing we need to continue to maintain and focus on is the fact that we are trying to win a championship this year," he said. "Race wins are great, but at the end of the day we have to be smart and do all the things necessary to give ourselves the best opportunity to win the championship."

And then in the next breath Hornish is talking about last year’s Indianapolis 500, and how Takuma Sato crashed his car on the final lap in a last-ditch effort to catch eventual winner Dario Franchitti. Many people couldn’t comprehend why Sato wasn’t willing to settle for second place. Hornish understood perfectly. "That is exactly what I would have done, given the opportunity," he said. "You have to drive it in there and try."

Which just might provide a glimpse into Hornish’s mindset for Saturday’s event. It may be a Nationwide Series race, but it’s still Indianapolis, after all.

 

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Thrilling Mudsummer Classic has created a buzz around the sport heading into Super Weekend

INDIANAPOLIS — Because he was in New York doing some media appearances, Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t get the chance to watch Wednesday night’s Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway. So he avoided anyone who might spoil the outcome for him, and set his DVR to record NASCAR’s first national race on dirt in over 42 years.

Then he got home, and realized the recording had cut off after an hour and half. “Some kind of communication error,” Earnhardt said Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “It was disappointing, to say the least.”

But not the event itself, which was action-packed from beginning to end, and earned rave reviews despite taking place on a surface that NASCAR had not competed on in four decades. Sprint Cup Series drivers took notice, and at the Brickyard faced inevitable questions about whether the sport’s premier circuit should one day return to the dirt as well.

“I would love to see a Cup race at Eldora. Yes. I think that would be awesome,” said four-time series champion Jeff Gordon. “I don’t know. You don’t know until you get out there and try. Those guys looked like they were having a lot of fun. I think I’d rather have Kyle Larson drive my car, because he was awesome. He was unbelievable. But I love Eldora, I love the dirt. I enjoyed racing the dirt late model there, so I would love to see what a Cup car could do.”

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Larson, a budding Nationwide Series star who like Gordon started out on dirt, was the talk of the event before finishing third. Gordon is no stranger to Eldora — like many other top NASCAR drivers, he’s participated in the Prelude to the Dream, a charity dirt late model event track owner Tony Stewart has hosted at the facility. That’s always seemed about as close as the sport’s premier series would get to ever competing on anything beside asphalt or concrete.

What about now, in the wake of a sold-out Eldora truck race that saw Larson and Ryan Newman leaning on each other over the final laps?

“Why not?” asked Clint Bowyer, another Sprint Cup star who started on dirt. “You know what I mean? Again, if the fans liked it and it was well-received and people enjoyed it, then why not. This is a fan-driven sport, and it always has been, and we’ve always been able to deliver to the fans greater than most other sports and continue that. That’s my opinion on it. It’s all about the fans. These tracks didn’t build as big as they are not having that fan base and not being able to deliver to fans. Whatever it takes. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter as long as they’re happy so I’ve got a place to make a living and have a lot of fun doing it.”

First things first. Stewart and NASCAR’s Steve O’Donnell, the circuit’s senior vice president for race operations, have indicated that the Truck Series event at Eldora could go on beyond this season. But there are no immediate indications that the sanctioning body is ready to move in the same direction with the Nationwide or Sprint Cup circuits.

Still — guys can dream, right?

“Everywhere I’ve gone this week, I’ve had people who are huge NASCAR fans and people who aren’t big NASCAR fans at all who watched it, and they were blown away,” Gordon said. “They did not expect it to go the way that it did. And I thought, why not have more races on a dirt track? I don’t think you’ll ever see a Cup race there, at least while I’m driving. But I’d vote for it. I think it would be very cool to do.”

“The Trucks are such a neat choice because of the side force that they create, with the way the bodies are on the trucks. I’m not sure how the Nationwide cars or even the Cup cars would run there,” Earnhardt added. “But I think it would be fun for the series to have a couple of dirt races, to be honest. I know Eldora is the perfect place to have this all tested out, and it seems to have been really awesome for the fans and something they really enjoyed, so I expect it’s something we could see more of. We just have to see what NASCAR wants to do.”

No question, the rare weeknight night national-series event provided a boost to NASCAR heading into one of its biggest Sprint Cup weekends of the season. “Proud of NASCAR for taking a chance with that, and I believe that many great things came out of it,” Bowyer said. “I think it opened some eyes to some options with this sport. Not just talking dirt racing, but I thought the Wednesday night deal was a different appeal that I liked, and kind of gave us a chance to showcase our sport to maybe a different crowd.”

Earnhardt’s recording cut off before the main event, so he didn’t get a chance to see Austin Dillon hold off Newman and Larson for the victory. But he saw enough to recognize that Wednesday night at Eldora was something special for NASCAR, despite all the unknowns going in.

“I really thought that was extraordinary, for the race track, for the series, for the sport. What a risky, gutsy call to go do that,” he said. “I thought it was just extraordinary that NASCAR was willing to make the leap, and that Tony was there at the right place at the right time with the perfect race track and a historical place to run it. It’s awesome that it came together so well. And I thought the race was fun to watch. I really enjoyed what I saw. I think it would be fun to run there if they ever did an exhibition or something. I don’t know about a full-on event. But maybe we end up doing that one day. What I saw was entertaining, and exciting, and something that I hope I see more of from a viewer’s standpoint.”

 

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Drivers debate whether annual race at Indy should be a night event

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — At heart, Jeff Gordon is an Indianapolis purist. Growing up in a town just outside the city and racing sprint cars at the local short track, the four-time NASCAR champion was one of many who yearned to compete in the 500. Even now, with four stock-car victories at the Brickyard to his credit, he doesn’t view himself in the same class as someone like his boyhood hero Rick Mears.

"It’s just a different race," he said Friday of the Indianapolis 500, "and it should be held to a different standard."

But NASCAR’s annual event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which Sunday will be contested for the 20th time, hasn’t so much fallen in line with tradition as it has broken from it. When stock cars first arrived here in 1994, they were the first vehicles besides the open-wheel machines to run here in decades. The creation of the "Super Weekend" last year brought Grand-Am and Nationwide Series cars to the big track.

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Now, NASCAR at Indianapolis could be on the brink of another revolutionary change — lights that would at least open the possibility to the Sprint Cup Series running around this 2.5-mile oval at night.

At least, that’s the vision shown earlier this year to Indiana state legislators, who in February viewed a presentation from speedway officials that included a rendering of stock cars competing on the famed track at night. In April, the state legislature approved creation of a special taxation district that would raise enough funds to provide the speedway with a $100 million loan, $20 million of which would be used for a lighting system, and the rest for other improvements such as new video boards. Gov. Mike Pence signed the bill in May.

Although no noticeable changes are expected until 2015 at the earliest, the idea of lights for NASCAR at the Brickyard now seems more a possibility than ever. "Boy, you’re going to need nuclear power to light this place," Clint Bowyer said. "You’re going to have to shut down downtown to have enough power to light this track. It’s huge."

"That would be something," agreed former Indy 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr. "It’s a lot of area to light up, and I don’t know exactly how it would all pan out, but I guarantee you it would probably make for a better Sprint Cup race here. Just because generally when we come here, it’s so hot. The sun is beating down on the track, it makes everything slick. And having that opportunity, a lot of times when you run these night races you get cooler temperatures and more grip on the car, more downforce, all that good stuff. The more of that you get, the more competitive the races seem to be."

That would certainly be a side benefit of an improvement project designed to make 104-year-old Indianapolis more competitive with newer tracks in the region, which were built with more spectator comforts in mind. Gordon, who was raised in nearby Pittsboro, Ind., and broke out as a racer at the track locals still call Indianapolis Raceway Park, is all for the idea of lights at the Brickyard — with one caveat.

"I think it would be awesome to race here at night," he said. "This goes back to the history about the Indy 500 and the history of racing here. Yes, there’s tradition with the Brickyard 400, but it’s not the tradition of the Indy 500. I would never want to see the Indy 500 run under the lights. But the Brickyard 400 beaks traditions. It always has, by being the first stock-car race to ever happen here. … So why not change it up? This race has had some different scenarios in the days that it’s run here, so why not let’s have a night race? I think that would be awesome."

As would be the effort to light the 2.5-mile facility. Hornish remembers flying over the city several years ago and seeing the area around the speedway all lit up — save for the dark outline of the track. "You can see the perfect outline of just utter blackness where the speedway’s at," he said. "… To think of how much it would take to light this place up, it’s a big undertaking."

Indianapolis has become less resistant to change over time, beginning 20 years ago with an inaugural NASCAR race many thought would remain a fantasy. "I felt like the door was always closed to stock cars racing here. I felt like that was one thing that would never happen," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. Now, after one major renovation project and the addition of still more racing circuits to the Brickyard, lights seem just the natural next step in the evolution.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the idea of night racing at Indianapolis isn’t polarizing, even within the garage of a NASCAR series that started ushering in all that change 20 years ago.

"It’s always been a day race," Bowyer said of an event that began as the Brickyard 400. "I don’t see why it shouldn’t be. Grip level would be really well in a night race. I think, at least in a day race on Sunday, you slip and slide around quite a bit here and create some exciting racing. So I’m happy with a day race here."

 

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Jeff Gordon must take advantage of his strong history at Indy to get back into Chase race

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Jeff Gordon has a problem with the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup — currently, he’s not in it.
 
But Gordon also has a solution, and it doesn’t necessarily involve winning a race before the Chase field is set after the Sept. 7 event at Richmond.
 
Gordon is tied for 11th in the series standings right now, and that’s not quite good enough to make the 10-race Chase. The top-10 drivers in points after 26 races qualify automatically, along with the two Wild Card drivers from positions 11-20 with the most victories.

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Gordon has no wins this year. Martin Truex Jr., tied with Gordon for 11th, has one victory. So does Tony Stewart, who is 13th in points. That makes Truex and Stewart the provisional Wild Cards and leaves Gordon on the outside looking in.
 
Gordon, however, would be in a better position if he could stop taking a step back for every two forward. After running third at Dover and 12th at Pocono, Gordon was wiped out in an early crash at Michigan and finished 39th.
 
A week later, he was second at Sonoma and followed that with an eight-place result at New Hampshire, only to crash out of the July 6 race at Daytona in 34th place. Throughout his up-and-down season, Gordon has maintained a flirtation with the top 10, but it has been a tumultuous, uncomfortable love affair.
 
On the other hand, it’s nothing a string of strong finishes can’t cure, and Gordon doesn’t feel he can afford a cautious approach to the seven races that remain before the Chase field is set.
 
"That’s the beauty of where I’m at in points," Gordon said Friday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s Crown Royal presents the Samuel Deeds 400 at the Brickyard. "I don’t have to dial back anything. We’re in full-on aggressive mode. Do we have to win? No. But do we have to put seven really good races together? Yes. In order to put good races together, I’m talking top fives. You look at the guys we’re racing against, and they can easily do that.
 
"We have to push and not pull back. I don’t know of a time where I went into a race — maybe I go back to the 1997 championship — where we were really the whole time thinking about points. Every time I’ve thought about points, it’s cost us more positions than we’ve gained."
 
That’s the attitude the four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion and four-time Brickyard winner plans to bring to Sunday’s race.
 
"That’s what we’re going to do this weekend, and that’s what we’re going to do every weekend."

 

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