NASCAR Cup Series

Gordon plays it safe after pit mistake

Published Sep. 26, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Jeff Gordon had all the swagger of a title contender at New Hampshire Motor Speedway — even if his hopes for a win in the Sylvania 300 were deflated at the end.

Gordon, one of the favorites entering NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup this year, made a solid recovery Sunday with a fourth-place finish. That came after he started the playoffs with a 24th-place finish last week at Chicagoland Speedway. Gordon plummeted to 24th in the points standings, 25 points behind then-leader Kevin Harvick.

But Gordon had the dominant car this week. He led the race three different times and held the point for an event-best 78 laps. When the race ended, however, Gordon had to settle for fourth.

Fuel mileage came into play for the No. 24 Chevrolet twice throughout the race. Gordon mentioned a light coming on just before he made his last pit stop. During his final service, the tank was shorted, so the fact he ran low on fuel had nothing to do with the car’s fuel consumption or what a master conserver Gordon was behind the wheel.

Gordon’s final pit stop came on Lap 230, one lap after race winner Tony Stewart, whose engines come from Hendrick Motorsports. Once the cars cycled around from the last fuel stop of the day, Gordon remained in the top five throughout the race.

Then came the dreaded words from crew chief Alan Gustafson: back it down, back it down.

In the closing laps, the strategy changed from racing to conserving and maintaining top-five track position.

“I’m just glad we finished fourth,” Gordon said. “It is tough conditions to race in. I don’t think that we wanted to see back-to-back fuel mileage races like this, but it is kind of the name of the game these days. I don’t know, somehow we misjudged how far we could go on that second-to-the-last run and we ran out (on the last pit stop). We weren’t even . . . we didn’t feel like we were even close to running out.

“So it just shows you how important every little detail (is). I ran a little bit fast that run because we were out front in clean air, and the DuPont Chevrolet was just driving unbelievable. We were just setting the pace so it is unfortunate that that happened. There at the end, (I) conserved fuel. It is something that we need to be better at. We did it and we made it and we finished fourth, so we’ll take that.”

Gordon remained ever gracious during his postrace interviews, despite a dozen pressure-packed laps when the goal was nursing the No. 24 around the racetrack rather than putting the pedal down. With only 10 races to decide the title, Gordon could not afford another race such as the Chase opener at Chicagoland.

Although Gordon was let loose a half lap before the checkered flag, finishing fourth and moving up to fifth in the points standings. It was a tough consolation prize — third-place Greg Biffle limped across the finish line barely ahead of the No. 24 Chevrolet.

Gustafson could only offer an apology and a promise to right the issue.

“Man, I’m really sorry Jeff,” Gustafson said over the radio. “We got screwed up here on that pit stop. You deserved to win that race, buddy. Heck of a points day, P4. We got to get this thing sewed up, guys. We know what it took. You deserved to win that race. We’ll get it right.

“We’re fifth in points, so it was a good day. I know that sucks, man. Damn, I hate that. I know that was hard to do.”

Gordon is sharp enough to realize the challenge that lies ahead with eight races remaining in the Chase. Stewart has won two Cup titles since Gordon last sat at the champion’s table in 2001. And, now, Stewart is racing against Gordon with Hendrick chassis and horsepower.

With Stewart returning to Victory Lane, Gordon picked up only two points for his fourth-place finish and now trails the No. 14 team by 23 points.

“It is frustrating for everybody on this team,” Gordon said. “None of us want to put ourselves in that position. We’re making great horsepower, but we’re not getting good fuel mileage. But Tony has figured out a way to do it, so you have to give those guys credit. They have the same engines we have, and we have got to do a better job at it. I’ve got to a better job at it.

“We made some gains in points but not necessarily overall to the leader. But another great run by Tony Stewart. Those guys, we knew they would be tough here. I don’t know if we expected them to be quite as tough as they were last week at Chicago. But, he’s on a roll now. We have eight more to put together.”