CONCORD, North Carolina – The way five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon described his No. 24 3M Chevrolet early in Sunday’s postponed Bank of America 500, you would have thought a top-10 finish was anything but impossible.
But, a decisive attitude and the ability to capitalize on some breaks paid dividends for the Hendrick Motorsports driver with a solid ninth place finish in his last Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway start.
And while Gordon’s 46th visit to the track that he won his first Sprint Cup race in 1994, some 21 years ago didn’t produce his 93rd career win, it did deliver his 15th top-10 finish of the season and in a solid position in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
There was cause for immediate concern from the 24 camp after Gordon qualified a distant 22nd on Thursday night and when the fourth race of NASCAR’s playoff system was postponed for inclement weather, it allowed more time for crew chief Alan Gustafson and his team to prepare for round four of the 10-race Chase.
Heavy complaining from Gordon immediately from the drop of the green flag voiced concern among Gordon Nation, as well from atop the pit box.
Slowly, but surely, as the 500-mile race clicked off laps, the No. 24 3M Chevrolet showed signs of life and when push to came to shove, Gordon claimed eighth, his fourth top-10 in the last five races at Charlotte.
“It certainly was,” added Gordon. “I’m really proud of this 3M Chevrolet team,” said Gordon. “We didn’t even start the race off very good, let alone starting 22nd didn’t help us out. But they made some incredible adjustments and our pit crew was rock solid on pit road. I’m so appreciative of that.
“So, overall, it was a great team effort. Everybody wants to be sitting there where the No. 22 (race winner Joey Logano) is. That’s a great place to be; especially with Talladega looming, but I couldn’t be happier with the entire effort that we put out there today. Alan (Gustafson) made some great adjustments to get us back in this thing. I’m real happy with eighth.”
With his performance on Sunday afternoon, Gordon enters next Sunday’s Kanas Lottery 400 in a solid spot in the Chase standings. Unofficially, Gordon sits seventh in the standings, two spots behind sixth and 34 points ahead of the cutoff spot occupied by Matt Kenseth.
While there’s a sense of comfort for Gordon knowing he made some group on others in the Chase, there’s an ensemble of Chase fighters who finished directly ahead of him.
“The problem is you’ve got six of the guys we’re racing in the championship right there ahead of us. But we didn’t lose much to them and I thought it (eighth) was a really strong effort.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
