As is the case with racing at Talladega Superspeedway, one mistake by another driver can end a promising day in seconds. Jeff Gordon was taken out of contention on lap 136 when Brad Keselowski spun into his line. Gordon posted a 39th place finish — his worst finish since Michigan in June 2013.

Gordon started 11th and stayed on the inside line in the opening stages. He ran behind Danica Patrick and drafted with her into the top-5. On lap 8, Gordon moved to the middle and led the event with a drafting push from Carl Edwards. The first caution waved on lap 14 when Brad Keselowski made contact with Patrick and spun entering turn 1. Gordon came to pit road for two tires and restarted in 3rd place. However, Gordon was caught in the middle lane and dropped to 11th by lap 23. Ten laps later he worked his way back into the top-5 on the outside line. By lap 50, he ran in 8th place prior to a debris caution. Pit stops followed with Gordon opting for four tires. Problems on the pit road dropped Gordon to 22nd in the running order for the restart. He moved up to 12th by lap 58 as he locked into a draft behind Trevor Bayne. Gordon re-entered the top-10 on lap 60. However, as is normally the case at Talladega, Gordon slipped to 15th in a drafting line by lap 65.

On lap 75, Gordon dropped back in the draft to 33rd place. He fell to 39th on lap 78 as he stayed behind the lead pack. He stayed in the rear of the field and ran 40th on lap 85. A round of green flag pit stops came on lap 96 with Gordon opting for two tires. At the 100-lap mark, Gordon ran in 18th place in the draft. A debris caution slowed the field on lap 105. Gordon restarted 32nd after getting boxed in his pit stall. He remained in the rear of the field after the restart and was content to log laps at the tail end of the draft. On lap 130, Gordon locked into a draft behind Paul Menard and moved into the top-20. On lap 136, Gordon was caught up in a melee coming out of turn 4 when Keselowski triggered a multi-car crash. The #24 car sustained heavy damage on the front and right side.

Gordon brought the damaged car to pit road for repairs before heading to the garage. He returned to the event and finished in 39th place, which snapped his streak of 11 consecutive top-15 finishes. Gordon remains the NASCAR points leader by 3 points over Matt Kenseth.

Turning point
Gordon started moving from the rear with 60 laps to go, which put him in prime territory when Brad Keselowski spun up the track into his line.

JG’s comments
“Oh man, we had a great car. The car always looks really good. This car was super-fast. (watching replay). Yeah, that is not the best angle and that’s what I saw. I could see where the 2 came from the outside lane and came back down to the inside lane, or middle lane, then wiggled and got turned. I would like to see a different angle to see what turned him. Not exactly sure why he was driving the way he was driving to begin with but obviously he was trying to get his lap back and felt that was the way to do it. It was unfortunate what happened to him early, but more unfortunate what happened to many of us in that incident.”

DID YOU FEEL IT WAS AGGRESSIVE EARLY BY ANYBODY?
“Danica (Patrick) made a mistake early. I don’t think that was an aggressive move I think it was just a mistake that got the No. 2 (Brad Keselowski) turned (earlier in the race). She just misjudged him. Other than that I saw a fairly respectable race going on out there. We were battling up toward the front and everything was great. Our car was really good. Once we got shuffled to the outside lane and feel back it wasn’t worth it to me, we went to the back. We just felt like we were getting closer and closer to needing to get our way further to the front to get ready for that next pit stop. From that pit stop on it is on. You have to go for it. We got caught up in the wreck at that time.”

WHAT DID YOU SEE IN THAT ACCIDENT?
“Not much I just saw the No. 2 (Brad Keselowski) get turned. I had seen him for several laps driving over his head being pretty aggressive I guess trying to get his lap back. I knew he was laps down, but he wasn’t doing anybody any favors, nor himself. Then ultimately that was a wreck. I would like to see the video to know exactly what happened. Somebody might not have given him an inch there, but he was certainly taking probably more than he should have been in the situation he was in. I’m disappointed myself that we have all talked that we needed to get further to the front for that next pit stop. I don’t know if I had of waited a couple of more laps we might not have been in that one. We were making our way up there so I was pretty happy the progress we were making. Of course all it takes is one little incident like that and then you are in it.”

source: Jeff Gordon Online

Race Results [pdf] [html]
Driver Standings [pdf] [html] [jpg]

In-Car Audio

MP3 Download
Run Time: 30 minutes
File Size: 4.3mb
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Jeff-Gordon-2014-05-04-Aarons-499-Talladega.mp3]

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MP3 Download – with spotter chatter
Run Time: 61 minutes
File Size: 7mb
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Jeff-Gordon-2014-05-04-Aarons-499-Talladega-with-spotter-chatter.mp3]

Photos

April 25 – – Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson did their best to throw ice water on what many viewed as a simmering fued after the race at Texas Motor Speedway. Unfortunately, that ice water quickly heated back to a boil as the drivers found each other on the track at an inopportune time at Talladega Superspeedway. Gordon was forced onto the apron with 7 laps to go by Johnson, and was then swept up in a wreck. Gordon finished the event in 22nd place. “The 48 is testing my patience,” said Gordon, in reference to his teammate. “It takes a lot to make me mad and I am pissed right now.” At the front of the field, Kevin Harvick passed Jamie McMurray in the tri-oval on the final lap to win his 12th career race.

Gordon started 5th and stayed on the inside line at the outset. He fell back to 27th place by lap 5 and ran in a second draft behind the leaders. On lap 7, he radioed that the lead pack was beginning to get strung out, and he would try and re-join the fray. Two laps later he climbed to the 19th position in the lead draft. He climbed into the top-10 on lap 15 behind a draft from Jimmie Johnson. Gordon slipped back to 14th before the competition caution on lap 20. Gordon restarted 13th after taking four tires. On lap 26, he hooked up in a tight draft with Jeff Burton and moved to 8th place. He stayed behind Burton and moved up to 5th on lap 27, before the outside line powered past. Gordon dropped to 22nd on lap 33 after choosing the wrong drafting line. He remained in the second draft for the next 15 laps.

On lap 48, Gordon worked with Tony Stewart in the second draft back in 24th position. The pair worked out a drafting arrangement to move up in the running order. Gordon came to pit road for a green flag stop on lap 65. After the stops cycled through, he ran in 20th place on the low line before drafting back into the top-10. The caution waved on lap 76 when Michael Waltrip hit the wall off turn four. Denny Hamlin spun toward the infield grass in the chain reaction incident. Pit stops followed with Gordon opting for left side tires and exited pit road in 3rd place. He took the lead of the race on lap 80 and ran in a tight draft with Elliott Sadler. Two laps later, Sadler was pushed into the lead by Kurt Busch. The caution waved on lap 84 after Johnny Sauter was turned sideways in the tri-oval. He bounced off Busch and Waltrip, while collecting Matt Kenseth and Paul Menard in the melee.

On the restart, Gordon pushed David Reutimann to the top spot. On lap 90, Gordon jumped to the high side to take the lead. However, his time at the front was short lived as the middle line powered past and pushed him out of the top-10 within seconds. Ten laps later he was in danger of losing the draft after he fell to 30th. Regan Smith’s blown engine on lap 100 brought the caution and allowed Gordon to make up the distance. Gordon spent the next 25 laps running in 24th with Mark Martin. With 60 to go, he hooked up with Martin and moved to 15th. Three laps later, he got a drafting push from Johnson to move into the top-5. However, he was hung in the middle line and lost positions. He fell back to 30th and ran there until green flag pit stops with 42 laps to go. Gordon changed two tires and ran 15th after the stops. With 30 laps to go, he moved to the front of the field for a single lap, before dropping back in the draft. With 12 laps to go, Bobby Labonte spun on the backstretch to bring out the caution. Gordon opted for two tires on pit road and restarted in 17th place.

On the restart, Gordon worked with Mark Martin to move into the top-10. However, with 7 laps to go, Gordon moved low on the backstretch and was forced onto the apron by Jimmie Johnson’s late move. Gordon slipped back after cracking the throttle and was collected in a wreck on the frontstretch after Jeff Burton hit the wall and spun into Gordon’s path. The DuPont crew made repairs and Gordon received the free pass to get back on the lead lap due to a wreck involving Johnson. Gordon was distantly behind the final battle for the lead as Harvick won in a photo finish. Gordon dropped to 10th in the series points standings, and trails Johnson by 193.

source: gordonline.com

Race Results
Driver Standings

Audio

Jeff’s In Car Audio MP3
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Jeff-Gordon-2010-04-25-Aarons-499-Talladega.mp3|titles=Jeff Gordon – 2010-04-25 – Aarons 499 – Talladega]

JG Post Race Comments MP3
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Jeff-Gordon-2010-04-25-Aarons-499-Talladega-Post-Race.mp3|titles=Jeff Gordon – 2010-04-25 – Aarons 499 – Talladega – Post Race]

Jimmie Johnson Post Race Comments MP3 (apparently he didn’t know the havoc he caused because he mentions nothing about the block he put on the 24)
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Jimmie-Johnson-2010-04-25-Aarons-499-Talladega-Post-Race.mp3|titles=Jimmie Johnson – 2010-04-25 – Aarons 499 – Talladega – Post Race]

Photos