Johnson, Gordon's heated battle doesn't damage team spirit
By Kenny Bruce - Assistant Managing Editor
Monday, June 30, 2008
- TEXT SIZE: Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size Reset Text Size
- 4 Comments. Leave a Comment
- Digg This
- Add to Del.icio.us
- RSS Feeds
Jim McIsaac / Getty Images
Latest Headlines
- Petty CEO declines comment on merger report
- Richard Childress receives 2008 NASCAR Home Depot Humanitarian Award
- NASCAR photographer T. Taylor Warren recipient of 2008 Myers Brothers Award
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins Most Popular Driver Award for sixth consecutive season
- Bob Bahre wins 2008 Buddy Shuman Award
LOUDON, N.H. - It’s the type of close, tight racing that can bring fans to their feet. And the kind that can bring owners to their knees.
With 75 laps remaining in the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sunday, Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon were side by side, racing for second place and a shot at race leader Tony Stewart. But as is often the case on flat race tracks, there was contact between the two. Johnson took the position while Gordon lost second, then third to Denny Hamlin and had Clint Bowyer bearing down on his bumper for fourth.
Johnson and Gordon were still second and fourth, respectively, when the day’s sixth caution appeared after teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. was rear-ended while attempting to enter pit road. But when a half dozen drivers behind the lead pack didn’t pit, the two lost track position and any shot at the win.
“I was obviously blocking him because my car was better earlier in the race on the longer runs,” Gordon said after his 11th-place finish. “I wanted to try and hold him off for a few laps until my tires came in.
“His car earlier had been good and then kind of faded. I felt like I needed to do that. They made some good adjustments on his car. He was better than us at that point. It was probably frustrating him a little bit that I was racing him that hard but … I was convinced I was going to go race with [Stewart for the lead]. It was just hard racing.”
Chad Knaus, Johnson’s crew chief, said it was track position that felled the defending series champion rather than any contact on the track. Still, the ninth-place finish was the team’s eighth this year and the third in the last four races.
“We were pretty well done when that caution came out shortly after everyone pitted there with 80 to go or whatever it was,” he said. “And then those 10 guys pitted, if it would have went green the rest of the way they would have beat us.
“Right there we wouldn’t have been able to pass 10 cars with 20 laps anyhow. It’s just hard; we had a really good car. ... We’ve had great cars the last six to eight weeks but there is always just something weird that happens to take us out of it. It's kind of frustrating, but part of it.”
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Jeff Gordon
Comments
4 responses to "Johnson, Gordon's heated battle doesn't damage team spirit"
Dr. Spaceman said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 12:26 PMIt's good to see the 2 champions and teammates can race hard like that and be fine with it after the race. Other drivers would have thrown a tantrum and wrecked someone under caution.
Report as AbuseReport Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse ReportTimothy Ritchie said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 5:03 PMGordon is part owner of the 48 car.I would expect my driver to race me hard too!
Report as AbuseReport Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse ReportJeanie Herring said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 4:16 PMI would expect it too. That's what racing is all about. These two are friends and rivals, that makes for a good race. Genie
Report as AbuseReport Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse ReportJeanie Herring said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 4:16 PMI would expect it too. That's what racing is all about. These two are friends and rivals, that makes for a good race. Genie
Report as AbuseReport Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse Report