Jeff Gordon: Giving an inch on last lap at Daytona and Talladega easier said than done
Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon has one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory at Chicagoland Speedway.
// LaDon George, NASCAR Scene
JOLIET, Ill. – Jeff Gordon chalks up the last-lap wrecks involving leaders at the Sprint Cup Series’ two most recent restrictor-plate races to one thing: Drivers don’t think clearly when going for the win on the last lap.
“As a race-car driver, I think that that’s the one thing that separates us from the average person,” Gordon said Thursday at Chicagoland Speedway, site of Saturday night’s LifeLock.com 400. “You become so hungry for that victory in that moment and you don’t really think rationally. You don’t think, ‘Well, I’m going to put a block here and then I’m going to do it once and then if that doesn’t work, I’m just going to give it up.’”
Gordon addressed the issue of last-lap accidents after contact between frontrunners Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch last Saturday at Daytona sent Busch crashing hard and collecting several others on the final lap. The wreck started when Busch moved up to block the charging Stewart and Stewart’s car hooked the right rear quarter panel of Busch’s machine.
There was also a late wreck among leaders at Talladega in the spring when Carl Edwards’ car went airborne and into the catch fence after contact with Brad Keselowski in the trioval on the last lap.
Like at Daytona, that accident started when the leader tried to block the second-place driver’s attempt to pass while racing toward the checkered flag. The wreck at Talladega occurred close to the yellow line that drivers are not allowed to race under. The wreck at Daytona occurred well above the yellow line.
“Is the yellow-line rule a good thing? It probably is,” said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. “We’d be driving through the grass if we weren’t doing that and that’s not a good thing either. I think that some responsibility lies upon us competitors to make some better judgment calls when it comes down to that finish.
“I mean, these are not air bags that we’re driving around there. These are fast, expensive race cars and you’ve got to think a little bit about that when you’re closing in on the finish, especially at these restrictor-plate tracks.”
Gordon just hopes the lessons of the last two restrictor-plate races will be remembered when the series returns to Talladega in the fall – but he can’t guarantee that they will.
“I know how blind and stubborn I’m going to be if I’m in that situation,” the four-time champion said. “I’m hoping that some of those other situations come into the back of my mind and help me make a little bit better choice. I’ve kind of got some things up my sleeve if I get in that position that I think might help me win the race and not be in the fence.”
Does Gordon think that others might also be able to think more clearly going forward at Daytona and Talladega?
“Oh, I’m not saying I’m going to think clearly,” he said. “I’m hoping. There’s been plenty of cases where I haven’t. We’re race-car drivers, we’re not necessarily going to be thinking clearly on the white-flag lap at Daytona and Talladega.”
