NASCAR: The Stars Are Aligning For Jeff Gordon In 2015
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Coming into the 2015 NASCAR season the hopes for Jeff Gordon and the No. 24 team were through the roof. To be honest, there was no reason for expectations not to be high. Gordon was coming off of a resurgent year in 2014 where he won four races and if not for some bad luck late in the Chase he might have made a run at the title. The hopes for Gordon and the No. 24 team only flew higher when he landed on the pole for the Daytona 500 and looked fast throughout the week at Daytona.
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Unfortunately, things did not go as planned for Gordon this season.
Through the first 26 races Gordon and the No. 24 team were plagued by inconsistency and bad luck. The first three races of the season were highlighted by wrecks that didn’t allow Gordon to finish better than 18th. Pit crew miscues and pit road penalties took away chances to win a couple of times over the next seven-race span. In the 14 races after the Chase Gordon and the No. 24 team continued to be up and down with eight finishes of 15th or worse. Despite the inconsistency of the team, Gordon was able to run well in the final race before the Chase where he earned a 7th-place finish at Richmond which secured his spot in the playoffs for the last time in his career.
Heading into the 2015 Chase there were many questions about Gordon and rightfully so. Six races later everything seems to be falling perfectly for Gordon and his team as they prepare to begin the third round of the Chase and fight for a spot in the finale at Homestead-Miami.
- Richmond (before Chase) – 7th
- Chicagoland – 14th
- New Hampshire – 7th
- Dover – 12th
- Charlotte – 8th
- Kansas – 10th
- Talladega – 3rd
Interestingly enough, Gordon’s 14th-place finish at Chicagoland was probably the best car that he had in the Chase prior to this past weekend in Talladega, a bad restart late doomed his efforts in that event. Since Richmond everything has been hitting for Gordon and his team. The No. 24 team has done away with the errors and questionable strategic decisions that doomed them throughout the regular season and at various times in the Chase they have shown the speed that has alluded them for much of 2015.
Another thing that has worked out for Gordon is the fact the he is the last HMS car left in the Chase.
It would be naïve to believe that Team Hendrick isn’t going to sink every resource they have into Gordon and his team over the next four races. With everything that Gordon has done for that team and everything that he means to that team, sending him off with a championship would be the only suitable ending. While winning a championship has always been the priority of the No. 24 team, HMS had two other drivers vying for the same goal at one point. That point has come and gone with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson no longer in the Chase. I’m not suggesting that HMS cars will be pulling over for Gordon but I am suggesting that all of the extra team focus for the next month will be on Gordon.
Aside from the newly found consistency and being the last HMS car in the Chase, Gordon is also flying completely under the radar.
Gordon entered the Chase with no fanfare and it has mostly remained that way. All of the attention has been on his teammates and their struggles along with drivers like Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick. While the focus has been elsewhere Gordon has put himself in the perfect position to pounce. Many will say that Gordon is trying to take the approach that Ryan Newman took in 2014. If that’s the case Gordon fans should be thrilled. Gordon not only has better equipment than Newman did in 2014 but he also has the ability and is a threat to win every weekend. Gordon might be on the Newman plan but he is in a far better position to cash in and turn it into a title.
Entering Martinsville the NASCAR storylines are all over the board and most of them have nothing to do with Gordon. Fans in Gordon Nation should be okay with this because while everyone else is looking elsewhere, Gordon is lining himself up to finally complete the drive for five.