TALLADEGA, Ala. – Comparatively speaking, Jeff Gordon’s third-place finish at Talladega was uneventful, but despite advancing comfortably into the Eliminator Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Gordon did have one major regret at the end of the race.
“I hate it that I didn’t have Dale Jr in front of me on that last restart,” Gordon said. “I got kind of excited about pushing him there at the end and get both him and me in the next round.”
But race winner Joey Logano made an astute choice before the final restart, electing to take the green from the outside lane in front of Gordon, rather than in front of Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski on the bottom. Gordon and Earnhardt had worked effectively together throughout the afternoon, and Logano’s choice ultimately gave him enough of an edge to win by inches when NASCAR called the final caution.
“That was pretty smart of the Penske guys to split themselves up,” Gordon acknowledged. “I had too much on the line, so all I could do and get a good restart and not lose spots. We were still in jeopardy, too. I thought maybe we could push Joey a little bit and then go to the middle and go three-wide and try to find a way to help Junior.
“But we just could never get a chance to see it unfortunately (because a wreck ended the last restart almost as soon as it began). I had a lot of fun out there. It’s fun having a race car that strong. I’m so proud of this race team. They never quit, they never give up, and I can’t believe we’re going to round three. I said all along that if we got to round three, we have an excellent shot to get to Homestead.”
Now Gordon has a chance to prove it.
Source: Reid Spencer/NASCAR Wire Service
