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 Gordon had entered the pits as the leader under the 16th and final
caution of the race and was fourth off pit road, but the news was
much worse than that.
NASCAR had flagged Gordon for speeding in Sector 5, the stretch of
pit road immediately before his stall. With his chances for a
victory dashed, Gordon restarted from the rear of the field on Lap
467 of 500.
"Oh, my gosh, I'm so disappointed in myself," Gordon said after the
race. "I know I was pushing the limit. I didn't think I had done
anything different than I had all day long when I was behind other
guys, so we've got to look at that. I'm very, very disappointed. I
felt like we finally got the car, got ourselves in a position to win
that race.
"It was a struggle. We were really battling with tire wear and the
car getting really loose. I thought Denny (Hamlin) had the best car,
but I thought with our track position there at the end, we had a
shot at it. Oh, my gosh, I'm so disappointed. I don't even know what
to say right now. Of course, then the car is the absolute best it
had been all day when I drove up from the back."
Indeed, Gordon put forth a yeoman effort in the closing laps,
driving from the rear to a ninth-place finish before Hamlin took the
checkered flag.
Never give up
Martin Truex Jr. finished sixth in Sunday's race, posting his sixth
straight top 10 to start the season, but the performance of the No.
78 Furniture Row Racing team was anything but routine.
In the first tire run of the afternoon, Truex lost the power
steering in his Chevrolet because of a fluid leak and plummeted
through the field. But the crew fixed the problem with multiple pit
stops, and Truex regained his track position by staying out on old
tires for a restart on Lap 101.
From there, it was a matter of staying in touch with the lead cars
and avoiding a myriad of incidents that produced 16 cautions.
"I can't believe after losing the power steering the first run we
finished sixth," Truex said. "It was not fun to drive for a little
while there, but they did a great job getting fluid back in it and
fixing the leak and everything. Just fought all day, just like we
always do--fought, fought, fought."
Of all his finishes this year, the run at Martinsville was perhaps
most gratifying.
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"It's awesome," Truex said. "I can't say enough about the team.
Again, to battle like we did today... We showed we never give up. We
haven't all year long. We haven't given up on each other since I
started here. It feels good to have another good run at one of my
worst race tracks. Just can't believe we were able to stay on the
lead lap, fix the power steering and all that and drive back through
there. It was a hell of an effort."
Mixed feelings for Kenseth
With 30 laps left in Sunday's STP 500, Matt Kenseth surged into the
lead past Tony Stewart, who was driving on old tires.
But Kenseth couldn't hold the position. He lost the top spot to race
winner and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin on Lap 473 and
later gave way to the Team Penske Fords of runner-up Brad Keselowski
and third-place Joey Logano.
Nevertheless, a fourth-place run at a track that had given him fits
until he joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013 and leaned heavily on
Hamlin's expertise provided some consolation for the 2003 premier
series champion.
"In the long run, and at the end of the race, I thought we had the
best car--me and Denny," Kenseth said. "Then, on that last restart
(Lap 467), the recent set of tires just didn't agree with it. We
didn't have any grip and couldn't go anywhere. Just kind of hanging
on, which is unfortunate.
"It's hard to be disappointed with a fourth at Martinsville. Really
happy that Denny is in Victory Lane. He's one of the biggest reasons
I can actually run in the top 10. Good for him, and a great
teammate--glad for him."
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