To say that veteran driver Jeff Gordon has been plagued by exceptional bad luck this season is putting it mildly. He needed a little rain and some help from his teammate Jimmie Johnson, and maybe some birthday luck, but Gordon now finds himself holding one of the provisional championship wildcard slots and is in Chase contention once again.
In a rain-shortened Pennsylvania 400, the race had been relatively caution-free throughout the first half. A competition caution had been scheduled for lap 20, but the #18 MM’s Toyota of Kyle Busch developed a brake problem at lap 19 and wound up hitting the outside wall, bringing out the yellow flag early. Busch went to the garage disappointed, and although he was able to bring the car back out after some repairs, his day was ruined. Dale Earnhardt Jr also ended his day early when he lost the transmission in his Diet Mountain Dew / Amp Energy / National Guard #88 Chevrolet at lap 52, although he also was able to later return to the track and maintain his championship points lead. Junior, in true team-player style, arrived at the garage before his crew and proceeded to jump out and jack up the car in preparation for the transmission change. Sunday’s race was the first time this season that the #88 had not completed every racing lap.
The defining moment of the race at Pocono, however, was the restart on lap 91 after Kurt Busch’s crash. The teams all knew that rain was imminent, and the drivers were setting up to race each other like a green-white-checkered finish. At ‘big, crazy’ turn 1, the Lowe’s #48 Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson got loose thanks to a combination of Matt Kenseth racing him close and a low right rear tire. Johnson started to go around but saved it, bumping Kenseth who hit the wall and finally spun down into the field taking out the FedEx #11 Toyota of Denny Hamlin in the process. Jeff Gordon, Martin Truex Jr., Kasey Kahne and the two Stewart-Hass drivers, among others, drove through on the inside with the Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet taking the lead. Gordon said “I’ve never seen the seas part like it did going down to (turn) 1.”
NASCAR stopped the race due to rain while it was still under caution for the crash – fortunately for drivers like Kasey Kahne, who was running on a flat tire, and other drivers who were close on fuel. But Gordon was the main beneficiary, as NASCAR called the race and made it official when the storm intensified, giving the #24 the victory. The win completed an incredible week for Gordon – having celebrated his 41st birthday the day before, his crew chief Alan Gustafson’s birthday on race day, and receiving notice earlier in the week that he will be the only NASCAR driver ever to receive the Heisman Humanitarian award for his charitable work with children.
The post-race celebration was somewhat subdued, however, as the news came that ten fans had been struck by lightning soon after the race was called and that one had been killed. Condolences were shared on social media and Gordon summed it up, saying “that’s the thing that’s going to take away from the victory, is the fact that somebody was affected by that.” Tracks around the country will no doubt be reviewing their weather policies in the days and weeks to come.
Pictures courtesy of NASCAR Media.
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