NASCAR: For Jeff Gordon, This Isn’t Just Another Win

Jeff Gordon was finally able to seal the deal at Martinsville with his first victory of the season, one that clinched his spot in the Championship race at Homestead. He started the race in 5th place and was consistently running in the top 5 for most of the day. With a late wreck taking out Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski plus Matt Kenseth’s “accidental” contact with Joey Logano, it opened the door for the now 9-time winner at Martinsville to seal the deal.

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There was no victory burnout due to the conditions of low light, but the celebration afterwards made up for it. Taking in the scene on hand, Gordon climbed out of his car in front of the crowd on the front stretch and pumped his fists a few times before grabbing the checkered flag and embracing his crew members on the track.

You could say that this win was just like any other in Gordon’s career, but his excitement proved that to be incorrect. He was overjoyed in all of his interviews and you could tell that there was so much relief on his side, knowing that he had finally gotten a win.

For Gordon, there may only be a few other wins in his career that amount to this one. Certainly his first win at Charlotte was special as well as his wins during his Championship days back in the late 90’s and early 00’s. His record-breaking fifth win at Indy was also an emotional moment, however, there are so many different things to pull from this win at Martinsville that will surely be remembered by him and his fans.

First, he finally got the elusive win that the had been searching for all season long. Whether it was his 87 laps led at Daytona to start the season, his penalty at Martinsville earlier in the year, gaining the pole and leading laps at Talladega in the spring or leading near the end of Chicago, he just never could put together a full race that ended in a win. The relief that was shown by him and his team proved that they finally got the monkey off of their back and they are ready to go win another Championship.

Second, the fact that he will actually be in contention for the Championship is shocking to a lot of fans and experts. Just about everyone counted Gordon out starting at Chicago because of the average season he had put together so far. His solid finishes in the first two rounds helped him advance and his strategy of waiting instead of forcing the issue helped him stay out of trouble when other drivers would get impatient.

Third, he is doing all of this in his final season in an attempt to go out on top and win his first Championship under the current format. Though this year has been full of surprises and gifts for Gordon, he has stayed focused on his mission and repeatedly stated that it probably wouldn’t hit him until his final race at Homestead.

The fact that he was able to pull off such an incredible victory in one of his final races puts him in a great position to end his career with bang. With 93 wins (so far), Gordon was able to show again why he is one of the greatest drivers to ever be a part of NASCAR.

Next: Chase Standings After Martinsville

Now, the season comes down to just one race for Gordon. He will have the opportunity to fine-tune his car in the upcoming weeks and take a few chances knowing that he is locked into that last race.

With a driver of his caliber on the track at Homestead, he could very well go out and win the Championship. Just like this past weekend, you can never count Jeff Gordon out of a race.