June 7 – – The momentum that Jeff Gordon and the DuPont team had in the early spring from several near-wins has become a thing of the past as Gordon has struggled over the last three races. Gordon posted a 32nd place finish at Pocono Raceway after battling loose handling issues for the majority of the event. A late race fuel gamble backfired and Gordon fell through the field after restarting in 6th with 29 laps to go, before being collected in a last lap crash.
A heavy rainstorm delayed the start by nearly 2 hours, and Gordon took the green flag under sunny skies just after 3pm/eastern time. He started 10th and moved up to 7th by the end of lap 2. On lap 6, he moved to the inside of Dale Earnhardt Jr and took 6th at the entrance to turn one. Gordon moved into the top-5 after passing Tony Stewart on lap 10. A competition caution on lap 15 brought the field to pit road with Gordon holding the 5th spot through the stops. After the restart he took 4th from Matt Kenseth on lap 22. He held 4th through a green flag pit stop sequence on lap 50. Gordon’s car was too loose on the long green flag run and crew chief Steve Letarte opted to drop the track bar during a green flag pit stop on lap 77. On lap 84, Gordon lost two spots to Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne while battling a loose handling car. Jimmie Johnson went by on lap 85 to send Gordon back to 7th, and Jeff Gordon sent Gordon to 8th on lap 92.
The second caution waved on lap 97 for debris. Gordon came to pit road for adjustments and departed in 8th place. He moved into 7th on the restart on lap 101, but fell to 10th after AJ Allmendinger, Greg Biffle, and Kasey Kahne passed within a two lap stretch on laps 104-105. Joey Logano took the 10th spot one lap later as Gordon’s fall through the field continued. Gordon later passed Biffle to re-enter the top-10. However, he dropped out of the top-10 on lap 121 when Earnhardt Jr went by on the frontstretch. Gordon pitted under the green flag on lap 132 for adjustments and ran 13th after the cycle of pit stops. A debris caution on lap 154 brought the leaders to pit road. A slow stop sent Gordon back to 17th place for the restart on lap 158. A caution for Casey Mears’ spin followed the restart and Gordon came down pit road to top off the fuel. Crew chief Steve Letarte told Gordon that he was 2 laps short, but some caution laps might help him stretch it to the end. Keyword: Might.
Gordon restarted in 24th position with 35 laps to go. On the restart, David Ragan moved up the track in turn one and clipped Jamie McMurray to bring out the caution. Most of the lead lap cars came to pit road, while Gordon remained out to gain track position. He restarted in 6th place with 29 laps to go. He lost positions to Matt Kenseth and Regan Smith, before Denny Hamlin passed to send Gordon back to 9th with 26 to go. A debris caution slowed the field and set up another restart. Gordon opted to stay on the track and lost positions on the restart. He dropped to 17th with 20 laps to go as his hopes for a solid finish began evaporating in a hurry. With 15 laps to go, he backslid to 21st place. With 2 to go, he was running 23rd when Joey Logano spun in turn three to set up a green/white/checkered finish. Gordon came to pit road for tires. Gordon restarted 26th and was collected in a major wreck on the final lap after drilling Kasey Kahne’s wrecked car. Gordon posted his worst finish at Pocono since a 34th place effort in 2006 — notable for the heavy wall contact he made after spinning into the turn one wall. His understated comment after the wreck was that it just hadn’t been his day. He exited the car under his own power and quickly headed east.
source: gordonline.com
Audio
MP3 Download
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Jeff-Gordon-2010-06-06-Gillette-Fusion-ProGlide-500-Pocono.mp3|titles=Jeff Gordon – 2010-06-06 – Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 – Pocono]
BONUS AUDIO:
Joey Logano’s post race comments directed towards Kevin Harvick. He goes on to say that Kevin’s wife wears the firesuit in the family!
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Joey-Logano-2010-06-06-Gillette-Fusion-ProGlide-500-Pocono-Post-Race-Comments-on-Harvick-Incident.mp3|titles=Joey Logano – 2010-06-06 – Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 – Pocono – Post Race Comments on Harvick Incident]
MP3 Download
Leave a Reply