Jeff Gordon Leads NASCAR Sprint Cup Points After Second Place Finish at Richmond
Jeff Gordon leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in points after finishing in second place behind Joey Logano in yesterday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway. That’s not new. He took the lead early in the season and hasn’t looked back. Jeff Gordon does not, however, lead the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in wins. In fact, he hasn’t taken a single checkered flag all year long. What he has done is consistently finish races – and consistently finish them close to the front of the pack.
In a related story in the Inquistr, Danica Patrick, who was concerned about her lack of experience with short tracks like Richmond, managed not to crash.
Jeff Gordon almost won at the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond, but for now he only leads in the points. He led for 173 laps before falling back to third right before the seventh caution as the race slipped under 20 rounds remaining. His lead in the points in the Sprint Cup Series has lasted a bit longer.
According to an interview on motorsport.com, NASCAR Sprint Cup point leader Jeff Gordon had this to say after another close-but-no-cigar second place finish at Richmond:
“It’s frustrating to not win, but also each time we run this good, it builds more confidence and momentum that we’re going to get that win soon…as good as we’re running, I definitely feel like we can win races just about anywhere that we go, and if we continue to perform like this, we are going to win. That’s how you win.”
A UPI report quotes Jeff Gordon saying this about his team, Joey Logano and yesterday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond:
Joey was in the right place there,” Gordon said. “He had a good short run car and we were battling it out. And Matt was making his car really super-wide, which you’ve got to do to try to win, and we were just battling hard.
“It was a great battle. Overall, I’m very happy with the results of this race team and the effort. I’m having so much fun. The pit stops were amazing tonight, we are leading the points and it’s just a matter of time before this team wins.”
NASCAR fans know better than to expect Jeff Gordon to be satisfied with leading the Sprint Cup Series points. He’ll take it, but we’re talking about a highly competitive NASCAR driver who is accustomed to seeing his share of checkered flags. While he isn’t in panic mode – and has absolutely no need to be – you can bet that Jeff Gordon will be looking for his first win every single race – starting with next week’s race at Talladega – until he’s in the winner’s circle.
Joey Logano has won two so far: yesterday’s Toyota Owners 400 and the Duck Commander 500, but he’s way back in sixth place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings. Joey Logano joins Kevin Harvick as the only NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers to have two wins this year.
So, how exactly does Jeff Gordon lead the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series without having any wins yet in the 2014 season? He does it by finishing all nine of his races this season, seven of them in the top 10 and four of them in the top five. Matt Kenseth (336 points, 0 wins), Carl Edwards (313 points, 1 win), Kyle Busch (310 points, 1 win) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (309 points, 1 win) round out the top five chasing Jeff Gordon (341 points, 0 wins).
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