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| Jeff Gordon and team celebrating win #85 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, 9/6/11, his last win. |
The start of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season has been far away from stellar for the team of four time champion driver, Jeff Gordon.
40, 8 , 12, 35, 26, 14, 4, 21, 23, and 33
No, those are not the winning numbers to this week’s Mega Millions jackpot. They’re the finishes that the 24 team has produced so far this season.
For a driver that is use to success, saying this season has been a struggle at this point is perhaps the biggest understatement in NASCAR right now.
The dust and smoke has cleared from the season opening Daytona 500, but for Gordon, his season truly starts tonight at Darlington Raceway.
After 10 races into the 2012 season, Gordon is mirrored 23rd in the points standings, the lowest of his career 10 races into the season. He’s 146 points behind the points leader, Greg Biffle and 70 points back of 10th place Clint Bowyer.
People are saying that the 24 team is in trouble of making the Chase with only 16 races left until the cut off point, but I believe there is plenty of time to make up these points. It starts tonight.
When NASCAR changed the Chase format prior to the start of the 2011 season, they created 2 wildcard spots for drivers with the most wins that were not in the top 10. Unfortunate for Gordon, his team is not in contention for a wildcard spot yet, but the 24 team knows they are capable of winning at any track.
The finishing position doesn’t make up for how well the team has run this year.
With strong performances at Bristol, Fontana, Martinsville, Texas (his only top 5 finish), and Talladega, crew chief Alan Gustafson has given Gordon everything he needs to succeed on raceday. Putting it all together for 500 miles is what Gordon hopes to accomplish in tonight’s race.
It is fair to say that Darlington Raceway is the place that Gordon built, figuratively. In 31 starts, he has claimed 7 victories, including 4 straight Southern 500’s, and an average finish of 11.1.
A track known as being “too tough to tame,” Darlington has been a place where Gordon has been able to come to and put his team in contention to not only win, but to have a good finish, something they must have tonight if they truly believe they can make the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup.
As stated earlier, there are 16 races left before the Chase begins. If Gordon and his team are going to be a threat at this year’s championship, they should wipe the slate clean and believe that their season starts tonight with the running of the prestigious Southern 500.
The prestige isn’t as high as the Daytona 500, but if this team can put together a solid finish, it could give them the momentum they desperately need to get their season going back in a positive direction.
In NASCAR, you can never predict what will happen, but I can guarantee you that if the 24 team doesn’t step it up tonight, their Chase chances are looking as good as a same sex couple’s chance of saying “I do” in North Carolina… unfortunately pretty bleak .
For Gordon, being able to say “I did” after tonight’s race will suffice for all his fans, regardless of how they vote.
The views expressed were those of the writer. Follow me and send your comments to Twitter: @Dontae_Allen . I welcome all feedback.
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