Poor finish drops Gordon from second to sixth in Chase
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Jeff Gordon entered Kansas Speedway second in the standings, just six points off the leader's pace. He left an additional four spots and 114 points away from the title.
Saddled with fuel pump problems, Gordon finished 39th at Kansas Sunday, dropping to sixth in the standings, 120 points off leader Jeff Burton's pace in NASCAR's Chase For The Nextel Cup.
After a pair of third-place finishes in the opening Chase races, the Hendrick Motorsports driver had high expectations entering the race weekend. Now, he says, "We're in the same boat as the rest of those guys back there."
Still, the four-time champion understands his team is far from out of contention. That didn't lessen his frustration Sunday afternoon, though, as he found himself joining teammates Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson in the bottom half of the Chase.
"It is very disappointing," he said. "We know what those other guys feel like at Hendrick Motorsports. We are just going to have to fight really hard. We put [up] a great fight today."
Crew chief Steve Letarte said the engine department would find out what the problem was on Monday, and that the team would move on from there.
"You're not going to tell me I'm out until I'm mathematically out," he said.
Johnson says team just needs some luck
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Jimmie Johnson did everything he could to move up in the NASCAR Nextel Cup standings Sunday, but in the end, a pit road penalty cost him all the ground he'd gained.
Johnson led a race-high 105 laps in the Banquet 400, but he pitted late for fuel - a conservative move the Hendrick Motorsports team made because it is in championship contention - and was assessed a penalty NASCAR officials for speeding on pit road. That dropped him to a 14th-place finish and kept him eighth in the Chase For The Nextel Cup. Johnson is now 165 points behind leader Jeff Burton with seven races remaining in the title-determining segment of the season.
Johnson's problems started when Kasey Kahne spun in front of him as the two were entering pit road. He went back on the race track expecting a caution that didn't come and then returned to pit. At that point he was assessed the pass-through penalty, meaning he had to return to pit road and drive down it at pit-road speed before returning to the race once more.
"I definitely don't feel I was speeding on pit road, but the computer doesn't lie, so we'll just have to see what happens," Johnson said.
Johnson seemed somewhat frustrated by his lack of performance in the Chase. He's finished 13th, 39th and now 14th in the title-determining races.
"We've had the speed the last few weeks," he said. "I know our finishes haven't shown it. We just need some luck to come our way."