Thu, Jul 03 2008
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Published May 15, 2008 11:01 pm - Jeff Gordon is 10th in the Sprint Cup points standings, good for a lot of drivers, but a letdown for a four-time series champion. Nascar: Gordon in a slump? By Christian Potts THE NORMAN TRANSCRIPT (NORMAN, Okla.) NORMAN, Okla. — To the dismay — or in perhaps more cases the delight — of race fans, 2008 hasn’t been a kind season for Jeff Gordon.
Still, it hasn’t been a total disaster. Gordon moved back into the coveted top 12 in points with last week’s third place effort at Darlington. It says a lot for your stature when 10th place in points and four top-five finishes in 11 starts is considered an off year. But when you’re a four-time series champion, expectations are higher. And rest assured, Gordon and his team aren’t happy with where things are. “It just shows you how competitive things are out there when a team as strong as ours is getting beat out there,” Gordon said to reporters this week in a teleconference previewing this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star Race. “But we know that we’ve got the ingredients and tools to get it back.” Gordon was part of Hendrick Motorsports’ dominant duo a year ago, along with series champion Jimmie Johnson. The two won 16 of the 36 races on the season in finishing 1-2 in the points standings. This year has been a different story. New teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been the team’s strongest hand, and Johnson did win at Phoenix last month but also has struggled at times. But former Hendrick teammate Kyle Busch leads the points race driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, and he and Carl Edwards have six of the series’ 11 victories this year. Gordon doesn’t shy away from talking about what’s going wrong for his team. “We’re not up to par this year with the competition, not with Gibbs or Roush,” he said. “The competition’s going to work and they’ve gotten ahead of us. We just don’t have that edge that we had last year and we’re working hard to get it back.” Since the beginning of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Gordon hasn’t benefited much from it. Twice he’s been the points leader after the 26-race “regular season,” only to be passed by a hot driver in the final 10 races when the points reset. This year, Gordon could be the guy that sneaks up on somebody. “This is what I love about the Chase, this is the flip side to what we’ve had in past years for our team anyway, where the chase has gotten the best of us, this year I hope it actually falls in favor with the type of season we’ve started out with. “Hopefully we can get ourselves solid in the top 12 and be the team to beat when it really counts which is those last 10 races.” Gordon’s push to keep coming back will wait a week to start, as this weekend’s All-Star Race is a non-points event. It’s designed to bring excitement to the crowds and has seen some wild racing over the years. 
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