It was a day to forget for Jeff Gordon at the reconfigured Phoenix Raceway. He battled handling issues in the first half of the race, and brake problems in the second half. Gordon finished off the pace in 32nd place, six laps down. It was Gordon’s fifth finish lower than 20th in the 9 Chase races. Gordon was mathematically eliminated from the title picture with the finish, though he was realistically eliminated several weeks ago.

Gordon started 23rd and moved to 18th in the opening 10 laps which were sandwiched around two early cautions. He moved to 15th by lap 25 and passed Jimmie Johnson for 14th before the competition caution on lap 40. He gained three spots on pit road and restarted 11th on lap 44. However, he faded to 14th on the restart and spent the bulk of the second run mired outside the top-10. A caution on lap 93 brought the leaders to pit road with Gordon exiting in 14th place. The restart provided an adventure as Gordon was shuffled back to 21st. He was running 19th when a green flag pit stop sequence began at the halfway point of the event.

A caution flag trapped Gordon a lap down on lap 160. Gordon came to pit road to fix a brake issue during the next caution flag on lap 167. After the pit stop, Gordon ran in 29th place. The next caution waved on lap 177 when Brian Vickers intentionally wrecked Matt Kenseth in turn three. Gordon’s brake problems continued when the race resumed and he went a second lap down on lap 212. An extended pit stop under caution on lap 220 focused on the brakes. It took just 20 laps for Gordon to lose a third lap to the leaders. He ran the rest of the event at least 10 miles per hour off the pace and finished 32nd — six laps down.

Road Ahead:   The 2011 NASCAR season concludes at Homestead-Miami Speedway — just one of two tracks on the NASCAR circuit where Gordon has not scored a victory in the Cup series.

 source: gordonline.com

Race Results
Driver Standings

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Phoenix Firestorm

Fuhgeddaboudit!

A beautiful sight!

Top view of the 24 car

Strapped in

Jeff Gordon finished 11th in the Kobalt Tools 500 on a day when he struggled with handling and traffic issues for the balance of the day. Gordon ran betwen 14th-16th for most of the day and salvaged 11th due to fuel mileage. Denny Hamlin dominated the race but needed a late race for fuel, thus handing the victory to Carl Edwards. Hamlin will take a 15 point lead over Jimmie Johnson to Homestead in the hopes of capturing his first NASCAR championship.

Gordon started 22nd and fell back on the outside line. He ran 26th when the first caution waved on lap 2 for Brendan Gaughan’s contact with the wall. He entered the top-20 with a pass on Dale Earnhardt Jr on lap 30. His lap times improved later in the run as he moved to 18th by lap 45. A caution for Brad Keselowski’s wall contact on lap 60 brought the field to pit road for the frist time. Gordon’s “new” pit crew made their first stop ever for the driver after coming over from the 48 team earlier in the week. Gordon gained a spot on pit road and restarted 16th on lap 65. Gordon gained positions in the first 10 laps of the green flag and ran 12th on lap 75. He took 11th from Matt Kenseth on lap 95 before a debris caution caused by Jamie McMurray throwing a water bottle on the track on lap 101. Gordon lost 5 spots on pit road and restarted 16th.

He made his way to 13th before tight handling caused him to fall back. He dropped to 16th on lap 126 when Mark Martin passed. Gordon came to pit road for a green flag stop on lap 171. A slow stop was hindered by the right front, and Gordon ran 16th after stops cycled through the field. He moved up two spots to 14th by lap 200 as the handling seemed to improve on the longer run. Robby Gordon’s spin with 90 laps to go brought out the caution and a round of pit stops. Gordon restarted in 14th place on lap 230, but lost two spots within a lap of the restart. Travis Kvapil’s spin on lap 233 brought out the fifth caution of the race. Gordon came to pit road for tires and restarted in the 15th position. He fell to 17th after Kevin Harvick shoved him up the track in turn 4. He ran 15th for the balance of the last 60 laps before late race pit stops for fuel began. Gordon had enough fuel to make it to the end and posted an 11th place finish — the high water mark of his day in the desert.

source: gordonline.com

Race Results
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[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Jeff-Gordon-2010-11-14-Kobalt-Tools-500k-Phoenix.mp3|titles=Jeff Gordon – 2010-11-14 – Kobalt Tools 500k – Phoenix] 
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