After replacing two members of the pit crew on the #24 team this week, it was a miscue on pit road that cost Jeff Gordon at Michigan International Speedway. Gordon was running in the top-15 when he pitted on lap 88. However, the jack came down before the left front lug nuts were tightened. A second pit stop put Gordon a lap down. Heavy rain came on lap 138 which shortened the race.

Under overcast skies, Gordon started 6th and used the outside line to his advantage to move up to 4th on the opening lap. The first caution came on lap 11 for rain, which resulted in a red flag. After a one-hour track drying delay, the field rolled off pit road shortly before 2:30pm/eastern. However, as the field circled the track under caution, the rain once again picked up and brought a second red flag condition. After 45 minutes of track drying, the cars rolled off pit road. The green flag waved on lap 28. Gordon held the 4th spot on the restart and ran there at the lap 40 competition caution. Pit stops followed with Gordon opting for two tires. However, with the first stall entering pit road, Gordon was held up by traffic and exited pit road in 13th place. Rain once again picked up and the red flag was displayed for the third time. The restart came at lap 49 and the field ran just 3 laps before a caution for Kyle Busch's crash coming off turn 4. Gordon slipped to 15th on the inside line. He dropped to 18th after the restart, but worked his way up to 16th by lap 70. He entered the top-15 on lap 75 with a move around Clint Bowyer. Gordon came to pit road for a green flag stop on lap 88. However, Gordon needed to come back to pit road just a lap later to tighten lug nuts on the left front. He cycled through in 38th place, one lap down.

At the halfway point, he ran in 31st place, one lap down. Gordon passed drivers who were a lap down and ran 28th on lap 115. A caution for debris slowed the field on lap 125 with Gordon in 18th place, one lap down. He came to pit road for tires and restarted in 26th place. He moved into the free pass position on lap 131 in 19th place. However, one lap later Ryan Newman went by to put Gordon in 20th place. Rain on lap 137 resulted in a red flag with Gordon in 21st place.

JG's comments
"We have not had the best of days. Our car was pretty good, but we had an issue on that green flag stop and went down a lap. Things didn’t go very well on that restart. We needed this thing to go all the way."

Jeff Gordon finished 14th at Pocono Raceway after a mid-race caution flag essentially killed his strategy. Gordon had lost track position on a restart and stayed on the track during a caution period. He took the race lead on lap 92, but a caution on lap 94 brought him to pit road and put him back in traffic after most of the lead lap cars stayed out. Gordon posted his fourth consecutive top-15 finish and sits 10th in NASCAR total points.

Gordon started 4th and moved to 2nd on the opening lap by using the outside line to his advantage. Martin Truex passed on lap 5 to send Gordon back to 3rd. Three laps later, Kevin Harvick took a spot. Gordon eventually ran down Carl Edwards to take 3rd on lap 21. He came to pit road for a green flag stop on lap 28 and cycled through in 3rd place. NASCAR waved the first caution on lap 49 for debris. Pit stops followed with Gordon exiting in 6th place after a few drivers opted for two fresh tires. On the restart, Gordon went high in turn 1 and dropped outside the top-10. He fell as low as 14th before regrouping to move back into 11th place on lap 61. He re-entered the top-10 by passing Ryan Newman on lap 62. The second caution came on lap 69 for Ricky Stenhouse's crash. Gordon came to pit road for tires and restarted in 13th place after several drivers stayed out. Gordon lost a couple of spots on the restart after Kasey Kahne dove to the inside heading into turn 1. He regrouped and took 15th from Brad Keselowski on lap 82. The next caution came on lap 87 for Jimmie Johnson's cut tire. Gordon stayed on the track and restarted in 2nd place on lap 91.

Gordon moved to the race lead on lap 92 after the restart. Two laps later, the caution waved for Alex Bowman's spin in turn 3. Gordon came to pit road for tires and restarted in 25th place. At the 100-lap mark, he ran in 20th place. Gordon gained one spot in the next 20 laps and ran 19th when the caution waved for Sam Hornish's cut tire and crash on lap 121. Pit stops followed with Gordon restarting in 19th place on lap 125. Brett Moffitt's spin on lap 129 brought out the caution. Gordon came to pit road for tires and restarted in 20th place. Just two laps after the restart, the caution came again for Danica Patrick's crash in turn 1. Gordon restarted in 19th place with 21 laps to go. One lap after the restart, AJ Allmendinger wrecked Ryan Newman in turn 1 to bring out a caution. He restarted in 21st place with 16 laps to go. He gained 5 spots within the next 3 laps and ran in 16th place with 12 to go. Three laps later, he took 15th place from Clint Bowyer. Gordon advanced to 14th with a move around Casey Mears with 4 to go.