Jeff Gordon said when he got to Kansas that leading the points was fine, but everyone would need a win to make the 2014 Chase. Saturday night Gordon got that win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway for his first victory since October of last year. The key to the win came on the final round of green flag pit stops with 32 laps to go. Gordon’s crew got him out .02 seconds ahead of Kevin Harvick and that’s just about the margin Gordon beat Harvick to the checkered flag.
“It was great to see the groove widen out and get a top groove going and a bottom groove and a middle groove. It was a lot of fun racing out there,” Gordon said in Victory Lane. “Kevin (Harvick) was really strong. I felt like there were times that if I could get in front of him I thought we could keep him behind us and we had to prove that there at the end. I almost didn’t do it. Luckily we got to the start/finish line ahead of him, but congratulations to him. “
Harvick had started from the pole and led the most laps (119) but fell back during the midpoint of the 267-lap affair. He was able to rally back but the final stop was the difference as Harvick later admitted that he had run out of gas as he was coming into his pit stall.
“I was paying attention to the fuel pressure gauge instead of the pit road speed light. I lost some time there, “Harvick said. “I found a groove that worked really well there at the end. I slipped with about eight or nine laps to go. Just was able to make the ground back up, but not get by.” MORE>>>
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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