November 2015 News - Jeff Gordon Online

November News

Jeff's Final Racing Chapter
FORD 400 - Homestead-Miami Speedway. Finish: 6th

Jeff Gordon concluded his NASCAR driving career with a 6th place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Gordon finished 3rd in the final points standings. Kyle Busch won the race and claimed his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship by finishing a spot ahead of Kevin Harvick.

Gordon started 5th and moved to 4th by lap 2. The first caution waved on lap 13 for pole sitter Denny Hamlin's gear problem, which forced him to pit for repairs. Pit stops followed with Gordon restarting in 7th place. He quickly moved into the top-5, and took 4th from Martin Truex on lap 21. One lap later he moved to 3rd with a move around Joey Logano. Kevin Harvick took a spot from Gordon on lap 25 to drop him to 4th. A competition caution slowed the field on lap 31. Pit stops followed with Gordon exiting in 3rd place. On the restart, Gordon dove low in turn 1 to take the race lead from Kyle Busch. A caution for Kasey Kahne's wall contact brought out the caution on lap 42. On the restart, Harvick used the outside line to his advantage to take the lead from Gordon. Busch took the runner-up spot from Gordon on lap 47. A caution for a wreck involving Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Aric Almirola, and Casey Mears slowed the field on lap 48. On the restart, Gordon struggled on the inside line and dropped to 8th on lap 55. He battled handling and slipped to 12th on lap 65, before taking 11th from Jamie McMurray on lap 70. Denny Hamlin, who regrouped from earlier issues, took a spot from Gordon on lap 85. Gordon came to pit road for a green flag stop on lap 92. A spring rubber was pulled from the left rear to improve the handling. He cycled through in 13th place on lap 95. He gained one spot over the next 25 laps and ran 12th on lap 120. Gordon took 11th from Ryan Newman on lap 126.

Gordon came to pit road for a green flag stop on lap 140 and cycled through in 12th. A debris caution slowed the field on lap 148. The lead laps cars pitted with Gordon restarting in 12th place. He used the outside line to his advantage and moved up to 9th on lap 156. However, he dropped a spot to Jimmie Johnson on lap 159. The next caution came on lap 167 for Josh Wise's wall contact. The leaders came to pit road with Gordon restarting 11th. He re-entered the top-10 with a pass on Ryan Blaney on lap 175. Gordon took 9th from Martin Truex on lap 186. He came to pit road for a green flag stop on lap 217 and inserted a spring rubber in the right rear. He cycled through in 11th place on lap 219. Gordon moved to 10th but ran distantly behind the leaders. A debris caution with 10 laps to go brought pit stops. Gordon restarted in 10th place with 7 laps to go. He got a great restart on the outside line and moved to 6th place with 6 to go where he finished the race.

JG's comments
"Who would have ever thought coming from Indiana as a sprint car driver that I could come south to North Carolina and race for people like Bill Davis and then get the opportunity to work with the greatest owner in the Cup Series that there's ever been, and that's Rick Hendrick. He's way more than a car owner to me. I'm so appreciative, it's been the most amazing experience. I'm a little disappointed, I'll be honest. I thought going into this race that we had something for them. When the sun went down, we missed a little something. We didn't quite have it when the track cooled down. We had to work on it. But I loved the effort and we showed what we're made of there at the end by climbing our way back to 6th. I'm proud of that. It's a happy day. I wanted that win, but we're still going to celebrate."

Desert Security
QUICKEN LOANS 500k - Phoenix International Raceway. Finish: 6th

After a nearly 7-hour delay for rain, the race began under the lights. Gordon started 11th and dropped a spot in the opening laps. He gained the spot back prior to the competition caution on lap 40. After restarting in 10th, he moved to 8th by lap 60. Gordon took 7th from Kyle Larson and closed in on 6th place. He came to pit road for a green flag stop on lap 121 and cycled through in 5th place. Gordon inherited the lead during a green flag pit sequence on lap 196. The caution waved for a crash involving Ricky Stenhouse and Joey Gase. Gordon came to pit road and exited in 6th place. Rain began falling once again and the red flag was displayed on lap 220. NASCAR called the race about 10 minutes later as the intensity of the rain increased. Gordon posted his 6th consecutive top-10 finish, which tied his season high.

JG's comments
"I'm excited about our chances and our opportunity (next week). Our team is fired up and have been working hard on that Homestead car ever since we won Martinsville. We know we've got some tough competitors to go up against, but I love Homestead. I love that race track. I think we showed that last year. I can't wait to get down there and get that car on track and start trying to tune it in for the race."

ON OFF-TRACK DISTRACTIONS
"I just tap into a 6-time champion Jimmie Johnson and I said, 'What do I need to go do?' He's been giving me some great advice on how to shut it off. It's been awhile for me. We're determined and focused as a team to go down there, stay focused, and do everything possible. You have to have good people around you to give you the time that you need. My wife and I have been having a lot of discussions about that. I'm looking forward to staying at the track, and a long way from everything else."

Useless But Important Information
AAA 500 - Texas Motor Speedway. Finish: 9th

With nothing on the line at Texas Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon drove the Axalta Chevrolet to a 9th place finish. With his victory at Martinsville the previous week, Gordon is already locked into the championship race at Homestead as one of four drivers to compete for the title.

Gordon started 18th and ran 14th when the first caution waved on lap 11 for Joey Logano's cut tire. Gordon stayed on the track and moved up to 8th. He dropped a few spots and ran 10th when the competition caution slowed the field on lap 25. Pit stops followed with Gordon restarting in 10th place. The next caution came on lap 35 for Kevin Harvick's cut tire. Gordon pitted and restarted in 22nd place. He moved up to 15th by lap 50, and ran 13th when the caution waved on lap 52 for Tony Stewart's spin. After pit stops, Gordo restarted in 10th. He slipped to 13th before gaining 4 spots on pit road during a caution period on lap 105. At the halfway point, Gordon ran in 8th place.

He ran 9th when the caution waved on lap 197 for Trevor Bayne's cut tire. On the restart, he gained two spots to run 7th by lap 210. Gordon came to pit road for a green flag stop on lap 251. He cycled through in 8th place. Gordon advanced to 6th prior to a green flag stop with 38 laps to go. Following stops he ran in 8th place, prior to a caution with 23 laps to go. Pit stops followed with Gordon restarting in 9th with 18 to go. He briefly fell to 10th before rallying back to take 9th at the finish. It was the first time since 2007 that Gordon posted top-10 finishes in both Texas races in the same season.

JG's comments
"We did what we do as a team. We fight really hard. We dig down deep and we find a way to claw our way into a top-10. We have to get a little bit more than that. We didn't have the short run speed. We figured some things out for the longer runs, but the short run speed was bothering us. I just couldn't get going. This is a tricky track for that because of those bumps. I think we learned a lot this weekend. I'm just glad we're still executing and performing as a team really strong. We just have to get the performance of the car a little bit better. Next week (in Phoenix) is about momentum. It's about continuing to execute and get some momentum going into Homestead. We're not going to learn a whole lot next week for Homestead. It's a completely different tire and completely different track. But it's still something we can get ourselves mentally prepared to go battle it out at Homestead."

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