For those who might think that Jeff Gordon’s splendid 2014 run in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series might have tempted him to reconsider his decision to retire from full-time competition, think again.
In fact, Gordon’s top-notch performance on the track only reinforced his decision to bow out of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
“A couple of years ago, when I wasn’t as competitive as I wanted to be, I wanted to end it right then,” Gordon said on Thursday at the Charlotte Convention Center during the Hendrick Motorsports stop on the Charlotte Motor Speedway NASCAR Media Tour. “I was like, ‘God, this is no fun.’
“I got into racing because I loved it, and I was competitive and enjoying it. Because of that, I just found myself being frustrated a lot (when he wasn’t winning). But this is what I think is so interesting: a lot of people say, ‘Well, I can’t believe he did it, because of the year that he had last year.’
“Last year actually solidified it for me, because it told me and showed me I’ve still got it. When you’re part of a great team, you’ve got a great crew chief like Alan Gustafson, and they work hard and you work hard at it, it means you can be late in your career and still go out there and get it done and be competitive.
“So, if anything, it only motivated me to be that much better this year and really truly go out on top.”
Gordon and team owner Rick Hendrick may have a slightly different idea of what going out on top might be. Hendrick suggested that Gordon needed to win 14 races and a championship.
Why 14? Because that would top by one victory Gordon’s high-water mark of 13 wins set during his 1998 championship season. With 14 victories, Gordon also would move past David Pearson to second on the all-time list. Pearson currently has 105 Sprint Cup wins, second only to Richard Petty’s 200. Gordon has 92.
Even if Pearson’s number is out of reach, one record Gordon is likely to set is a new iron-man mark for the Cup series. The 43-year-old driver raced for the first time in the 1992 season finale at Atlanta and hasn’t missed an event since.
Gordon’s consecutive race streak reached 761 last year, and if it continues, he will match Ricky Rudd’s record 788 consecutive starts Sept. 20 at Chicagoland Speedway and break it the following week in the Chase race at New Hampshire.
Gordon, however, craves nothing more than a fifth title. He revealed Thursday that, having made his decision to retire during the summer, the late-race incident with Brad Keselowski at Texas Motor Speedway that cost him a chance to win was particularly galling.
A week later at Phoenix, Gordon failed to advance to the final round of the Chase by a single point.
“The ultimate would be the championship,” Gordon said. “There was definitely some urgency, knowing this decision was coming, that made what happened at Texas, that much more… and, yeah, what happened at Texas was Texas, but then knowing after Phoenix that we didn’t make it in was very disappointing because I knew this could possibly be my last opportunity.
“But I think we’re going to have another one. I think this year is an opportunity for us.”
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