| | | | | |  | | CIA Stock Photo | After loosing a lap early Gordon rallied to post his first top-10 finish in four races. | | | | GOOD ENOUGH | Gordon pleased with ninth-place Richmond finish | |
| | SceneDaily Staff In most seasons, a ninth-place finish wouldn’t satisfy Jeff Gordon.
On Saturday night it was enough for the Hendrick Motorsports driver to leave Richmond International Raceway fairly happy.
After being forced to start at the back because of a race day engine starter change and losing a lap early, Gordon rallied to post his first top-10 finish in four races.
“That was a great battle; it was a great fight," said the four-time Cup champion, who moved up one spot to 13th in the series standings. "It showed what we’re made of.
“To come home with a top-10 was good. We didn’t make a lot of gains in the points, but we didn’t lose anything. It was good momentum for our team. We needed this run.”
The turning point for Gordon came on lap 139 when Chip Ganassi Racing’s Juan Pablo Montoya spun off Turn 2 with a flat left-front tire.
Just before Montoya spun, Gordon passed Michael Waltrip Racing’s Michael McDowell to become the highest running car one lap down.
So when the caution flag flew for Montoya’s accident, Gordon inherited the free pass and rejoined the lead lap.
Gordon, who had lost a lap to leader Denny Hamlin on lap 45, barely missed earning the free pass on two earlier occasions.
“We went down a lap so early and I was giving it everything I had and the leaders just drove by me like I was standing still,” Gordon said. “And we just weren’t getting the cautions at the right time and then I just got by the No. 44 [of David Reutimann] and the No. 00 [of McDowell] and the caution came out and I was like 'Man, that’s the first good thing that’s gone our way in a while.'”
Once Gordon got back on the lead lap, he quickly began moving toward the front. He eventually moved into the top five before fading late as he struggled with the handling of his Chevrolet.
“I had my hands full,” said Gordon, who had trouble all weekend adapting to the tire Goodyear brought, which was different than the tire used in this race last season. “You just try to match yourself up against the competition. We started out and we were loose in and tight in the middle and loose off, and that’s a hard thing to fix. But we got it freed up in the middle and that’s when our car got better.
“And we made some moves and got to the front. A lot of guys were struggling with handling tonight. There at the end we weren’t as good as we needed to be but we were an eighth- or ninth-place car.”
| | Posted May 05, 2008 , 4:29 pm EST
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