SHOW #387 – We hear from Jeff Gordon, plus two Top 10 lists, News of the Week, our Fantasy Racing finishing order, and a bunch more, wow we talk a lot about not much. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Toby Christie
( Roughly 48:00 mins)
Jeff Gordon
Championship 4 Preview: Jeff Gordon wants to be more than just a sentimental favorite
on
Nov. 19, 2015
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
HOLLYWOOD, Fla.—If the four men on the dais at the Diplomat Resort & Spa had been a vocal group, rather than the four Championship Round drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Jeff Gordon provided a ready name for the ensemble.
“He’s the favorite,” Gordon said, pointing at reigning series champion Kevin Harvick. “We’re the sentimentals. That’s all there is.”
The “we” in this case referred to Gordon, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., all of whom will be attempting to dethrone the champion when Kevin Harvick & the Sentimentals race for the title in the Ford EcoBoost 400 on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET on NBC).
LISTEN: THE FINAL LAP WEEKLY – HOMESTEAD MIAMI SPEEDWAY PREVIEW
Each of the “Sentimentals” has a story. Busch made the Chase after breaking his right leg and left foot in the Feb. 21 NASCAR XFINITY Series opener at Daytona, an injury that sidelined him for the first 11 Sprint Cup races of the season.
Truex drives for a single-car organization, Denver, Colorado-based Furniture Row Racing, and before this year has never been a contender for the title in NASCAR’s premier series.
But if there is a true sentimental favorite in Sunday’s decisive race, that honor goes to Gordon, hands down.
The Ecoboost 400 will be Gordon’s final race in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, the seat he has occupied for an iron-man record 796 consecutive events dating to the 1992 season finale.
The prospect of Gordon leaving the driver’s seat for the FOX Sports broadcast booth at season’s end already has conjured images of other rare athletes who have retired while at the pinnacle of their respective sports.
It’s a short list. Super Bowl champs John Elway and Jerome Bettis come to mind. So do Rocky Marciano, who retired as undefeated heavyweight boxing champion in 1956, and Byron Nelson, who left full-time competitive golf at age 34 after accumulating enough money to buy the Texas ranch he had always wanted.
Arguably, a Gordon championship would be a bigger story than those of his predecessors, because of the name-recognition he has earned as an ambassador for NASCAR racing for more than two decades.
But don’t think for a minute that Gordon will be satisfied simply to make the Championship Round and race for the title. Sentimental favorite or not, he wants to win it.
“If I could have scripted this thing in January or February, I don’t think I could have scripted it quite the way it’s going,” Gordon said on Thursday during Championship 4 Media Day at the Diplomat. “I never dreamed that we could have an opportunity to be battling for the championship in my final race.
“Is there pressure? I mean, I feel like there’s always pressure. By winning that race in Martinsville (Nov. 1) and putting us in this elite group, I mean, that right there just was an incredible moment and something I’ll never forget. And knowing that we were just going to come down here and be a part of that four, that right there in itself is a win.”
Clearly, though, Gordon hopes there’s another, more significant win on the horizon. And those who might discount his chances should remember that Hendrick Motorsports cars won all three of the races in the Chase’s Eliminator Round, which concluded last Sunday at Phoenix.
“If you don’t think that our team is working extremely hard and very focused and determined to be a real factor in this thing on Sunday, then you’re mistaken,” Gordon said. “And so that part certainly puts pressure on.
“I mean, I think, yeah, there’s a ton of pressure taken off all of us because we’re just a part of it, and we know that we can’t be worse than fourth when this thing is all over. But at the same time, there’s definitely pressure because we all want it. We all want it really badly.”
Gordon is 44, far older than the prime for athletes in most other major sports. In his retirement, he’ll have more opportunity to enjoy time with wife Ingrid, daughter Ella and son Leo. But Gordon also realizes that, because of his family, a championship this season might well be the most important accomplishment of his career.
“This one is so much different because (of) my final year, my final race, Ingrid and the kids,” Gordon said. “Kids motivate you in a whole new way, and no matter what, we’re going to go out and be happy and celebrate.
“But to do it as a champion, oh, my gosh, I just can’t imagine anything that would be more emotional and more exciting and more gratifying than to look at my wife in the eyes and see that reaction from her when that race is over—if we win it.”
The Final Lap Weekly NASCAR Podcast #383 – Jeff Gordon Media Center / Texas Preview
onSHOW #383 – Jeff Gordon Martinsville Media Center – Plus we recap Martinsville including Kenseth Vs. Logano (hint: one isn’t racing this weekend) driver reaction via Twitter, point standings shake up, and a full Texas preview. It’s a packed show, have a listen. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Toby Christie
( Roughly 48:00 mins)
Video: Jeff Gordon Wins Martinsville, Locked into Homestead finale
onGordon celebrates Martinsville win after Kenseth wipes out Logano
onNov. 1, 2015
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Yes, Jeff Gordon celebrated his 93rd career victory in the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Yes, Gordon will compete for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Yes, there were tears of joy in Victory Lane for Gordon, who’s at the tail end of his final season in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
But Sunday’s race at Martinsville had so much more — most notably, “Matt Kenseth’s Revenge.”
Long before Gordon held off Jamie McMurray in a two-lap run to the finish as darkness consumed the .526-mile short track, Kenseth ended polesitter Joey Logano’s remarkable run in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup by pile-driving Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford, which was leading the race at the time, into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 454 of 500.
Kenseth’s car was crippled at that point, the victim of a Lap 435 wreck that also involved the No. 2 Ford of Logano’s teammate, Brad Keselowski.
But when Kenseth clipped the left rear quarter panel of Logano’s Ford and slammed him into the SAFER barrier, it was retaliation for Kansas two weeks earlier, when Logano knocked Kenseth out of the way—and effectively out of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup—in the closing laps of the second race of the Contender Round.
Kenseth failed to advance to the Eliminator Round, which started at Martinsville on Sunday. And now Logano likewise is in dire jeopardy of seeing his dream season end before the Championship Round.
“I think what happened at Kansas is a completely different deal,” Logano said after a visit to the infield care center. “We were racing for the win, and he blocks you a few times, and then we raced hard and he blocked me the last time and we spun out. That’s what happened there.
“Here it was just a complete coward move, especially for a championship race car driver and race team. Just a complete coward. I don’t have anything else to say. It’s a chicken-you-know-what move to completely take out the leader when your race is over.”
Logano, who was bidding for his fourth straight victory, finished 37th and is eighth in the Chase standings, 28 points behind Kevin Harvick in fourth, the last transfer position into the Championship Round.
It was clear from Kenseth’s post-accident comments that the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota felt it was important to assert himself.
“You never like to be in these situations,” Kenseth said. “They really stink, to be honest with you, but sometimes you get put in these spots, and you’ve got to try to keep respect in the garage area. You can’t get yourself ran over.
“You can’t get in the Chase next year and get ran over for the same reason. Like I said, hate the way it ended. Wish we were out there celebrating or having a shot for the win like we did before we got wrecked, so a disappointing day.”
NASCAR called Kenseth, crew chief Jason Ratcliff and team owner Joe Gibbs to the sanctioning body’s transporter after the race. Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, said the incident will be reviewed and subsequent action, if any, will be announced later this week.
None of the Kenseth-Logano drama, however, could mute the elation of Gordon, the first driver to clinch a spot in the Championship Round at Homestead.
“Yeah, baby, yeah—we go to Homestead!” Gordon screamed after crossing the finish line .335 seconds ahead of McMurray. “That was huge! That was huge! Boys, I love you guys.
“That’s what I was talking about. We just keep digging and fighting…”
A few minutes later, in Victory Lane, Gordon couldn’t resist a joke.
“It was a joke. I’m coming back next year!” Gordon quipped about his impending retirement. “This is the sweetest, most amazing feeling. I am so proud of this team. You want to talk about holding back emotions; right now man, wow, we’re going to Homestead! I can’t believe it.”
Kyle Busch had a fight on his hands, too, after spinning in Turn 2 on Lap 171 and damaging the front suspension of his No. 18 Toyota during contact with the No. 3 Chevrolet of Austin Dillon. But Busch rallied to come home fifth and is tied with sixth-place finisher Martin Truex Jr. for second in the Chase standings.
Denny Hamlin recovered from two pit road speeding penalties to run third on Sunday, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ryan Newman and Harvick and were seventh and eighth, respectively.
Keselowski and Kurt Busch, victims of the same wreck that ended Kenseth’s strong run, finished 32nd and 34th, respectively, and are approaching must-win status at the next two races in the Eliminator Round, at Texas and Phoenix.
Notes: Before the wrecks that ruined their chances, the Team Penske cars were dominant. Logano led a race-high 207 laps. Keselowski led 143 laps, and at one juncture had built a lead of 8.9 seconds before Kyle Fowler smacked the Turn 3 wall to cause the 12th of 18 cautions. … The victory was Gordon’s first of the season and his ninth at Martinsville, breaking a tie with teammate Jimmie Johnson for most among active drivers.
The Final Lap Weekly 