2012 Review:
Arguably, no driver did as magnificent a job of facing terrible luck and still making a decent season out of it as Jeff Gordon.
He started off the year with a blown engine at Daytona. At Bristol contact with teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr cut down his left rear tire, causing a wreck and taking him out of the race.
The race that best summed up Gordon's season was the spring event at Martinsville, where he led a race-high 329 laps. Despite not having the lead late, he had managed to track down Jimmie Johnson and take the lead with five laps to go when a late caution caused by David Reutimann led to a green-white-checkered finish.
On the ensuing restart, Gordon was bonsai'd by Clint Bowyer. The two, along with Jimmie Johnson, ended up spinning out together, taking a chance for a victory — which, notably, would have been Rick Hendrick's 200th win as a car went at the time — away from Gordon.
That race was basically Gordon's season in a nutshell: fast cars, terrible luck. By the 14th race of the season (Pocono) Gordon had yet to crack the top 20 in the points standings.
However, he began to turn things around, scoring nine top-ten finishes over the next 12 races, including a miracle second place finish at Richmond which locked him into the Chase by one point over Kyle Busch.
However, a blown tire at Chicago ruined Gordon's championship aspirations right from the get go of the Chase.
His year would end with him wrecking Clint Bowyer on purpose for contact made a few laps earlier at Phoenix and a win on fuel mileage at Homestead. Opposite ends of the spectrum, indeed.
2013 Preview
Surely Gordon won't be snake bit as often as last season, right? It'll be his third year working with Alan Gustafson , whom he's won five races with, and his 21st full season, all of which have spent racing for Hendrick Motorsports.
Gordon has won on all types of race tracks — Kentucky being the only remaining course on the Sprint Cup circuit where he hasn't visited victory lane — and HMS equipment is at the best it's ever been.
The only question is whether or not the veteran driver has another championship run in him. If last season's amazing pre-Chase stretch is any indication, then he's definitely got another run left in the tank.
But only if luck decides to jump on his side....
2013 Prediction
It won't be a championship year, just because I think there are race teams out there that are better than the No.24 is at the moment.
That said, expect plenty of noise form Jeff Gordon. Not of the rivalry sort — regardless of them refusing to kiss and make up, I don't expect either Gordon or Bowyer to have any problems with each other this season.
No, I expect Gordon to lead a ton of laps and win some races, especially at places where he excels such as short tracks and road courses.
Sure, his bid at a fifth championship will come up short, but it'll be a fun ride along the way.
J-Mac's 2013 Top 12 So Far:
7. Jeff Gordon
8. Tony Stewart
9. Denny Hamlin
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
11. Greg Biffle
12. Carl Edwards
No comments:
Post a Comment