Quote from PMD9409 :

Stewart just hit the button at the right time. I can't see anybody else pulling off a feat like that.

Kenseth nor Johnson will score outside the top 10 the next few races unless something catastrophic happens to one of them, so Gordon is fighting for 3rd essentially with Kyle and Kevin. IMO, he shouldn't even be in the championship, especially after turn two at Pocono, but that's a whole different topic that we will act like was never brought up.

Just because you can't see it happening doesn't mean it can't. Crazy things that no one ever saw coming have happened in the past, and there's nothing stopping it from happening again.

On a serious note: Yeah, I realize that it's not "realistic" to think Gordon, or anyone else in the top 5 other than Kenseth or Johnson will have a shot at it come Homestead. But you have to consider what this guy has done in the past, if he could just get this decade-old Monkey off his back he could be back to where he was in the 90's and early 2000's.

Quote from PMD9409 :

Yep, and you're just another blind 24 fanboy like they all are.

You act as if he has no shot of doing remotely well in Cup anymore. There are some fans that are much more "blind" than those of Gordon. I've just never understood why Gordon fans are perceived as this outcast group following without a cause, it's not like we're any different than other fan groups.

Oh, wait, we are... They don't have one of the greatest drivers of all time to root for.

I guess all the people who give Gordon/his fans a hard time are all of the leftover Gordon boo-er's from the 90's. Who are most likely still jealous because he continues to perform better than whoever their favorite driver is.

JG24 just needs a lot of luck, and maybe some blackmagic. No but seriously without really bad finishes in the kenseth and JJ I don't see him winning it

Quote from Mustangman759 :

JG24 just needs a lot of luck, and maybe some blackmagic. No but seriously without really bad finishes in the kenseth and JJ I don't see him winning it

Yeah, I agree 100%. I was just having some fun with that post.

The working up for you guys is just too easy.

But really though, Gordon "in the 90s" is still not what is needed these days. You can win all you want all season, but any bad result in the final 10 races and you might as well count yourself out. Gordon was good at winning races and pulling out a huge gap to second in the championship and then just trying to hold on to it. In 1997, he wouldn't have his championship for example under this points system (heck he nearly threw it away in the old points system), nor would he in 1995. In 2001 he won the championship by over 300 points, yet only had 6 top 10s in the final 10 races. In 2004 and 2007, he would have won the championship if it wasn't for the new points system.

I'm not hating on the guy, I've actually liked him a bit since he got older, but I'll be honest when saying he needs more than a golden horseshoe to win this one. The dude's never had to come from behind, and with Jimmie and Matt being the two he has to surpass... wake up!

Almost every race you want has them saying how Gordon has a good long run car. I think he has benefited alot from the Gen6 as most runs go long greenflag. But looks at Dover where we had a short sprint, he could've won it if he was up there a bit earlier.

Quote from PMD9409 :

The working up for you guys is just too easy.

But really though, Gordon "in the 90s" is still not what is needed these days. You can win all you want all season, but any bad result in the final 10 races and you might as well count yourself out. Gordon was good at winning races and pulling out a huge gap to second in the championship and then just trying to hold on to it. In 1997, he wouldn't have his championship for example under this points system (heck he nearly threw it away in the old points system), nor would he in 1995. In 2001 he won the championship by over 300 points, yet only had 6 top 10s in the final 10 races. In 2004 and 2007, he would have won the championship if it wasn't for the new points system.

I'm not hating on the guy, I've actually liked him a bit since he got older, but I'll be honest when saying he needs more than a golden horseshoe to win this one. The dude's never had to come from behind, and with Jimmie and Matt being the two he has to surpass... wake up!

Definitely, it's two separate eras, the way you won championships then was completely different from how you can do it now. Like I stated, I don't think it's realistic to believe he can do it this year, I was just having some fun. But people have come back from a bad finish to still be in major contention, it's really rare though. Which is why it's not reasonable to count on it happening under most circumstances.

Yep, Ole' Jeff would have been 6-time (or maybe more, who knows) if the chase wouldn't have come in. And he's never had to come from behind to win a championship because no one could keep up with him in his prime. XD


BEWARE: I will take any opportunity I see to make a joke about Gordon's success.

I'm not afraid to set you back to reality.

And keep up with Jeff? Psh, more like keep up with Ray Evernham.

Quote from PMD9409 :

I'm not afraid to set you back to reality.

And keep up with Jeff? Psh, more like keep up with Ray Evernham.

Just like people are having to keep up with Chad Knaus now.

Quote from PMD9409 :

I'm not afraid to set you back to reality.

And keep up with Jeff? Psh, more like keep up with Ray Evernham.

So that explains why Evernham's own race team was so successful

Quote from Bmxtwins :

So that explains why Evernham's own race team was so successful

Haha!

He wasn't the crew chief for any of his cars though. :/ Plus, just because you're successful at one position doesn't mean you'll do great at anything else. Now I'm not saying it was all Evernham, or that I think that way. But that one fact does little to prove otherwise.

Doesn't mean he couldn't build more T-Rex like cars

he wasnt even the guy who made it

Of course not, it was called Rex for a reason. Ray was the one that found the holes in the rulebook and told Rex what to build essentially. Hendrick pushed for an engineering department that other teams fell short on, and with Ray telling them what parts of the car to design and what to aim for, it led them to unparalleled cars on the track. The T-Rex car is what led NASCAR to make a much tighter rulebook, essentially making things more "spec" than ever before, and that's why you couldn't build anymore of those type cars (Ray tried with the Dodges at Daytona and NASCAR penalized them).

Ray had his own share in a team yes, but was not a crew chief nor did he have the engineering department that matched what he had at Hendrick. To say Evernham wasn't a vital part of Gordon's career is more of an insult to Gordon than it is to Evernham. It would also be like already mentioned Knaus with Jimmie Rustler Johnson.

Those two crew chiefs are probably two of the best we will ever see in the sport, turning their above average talent of drivers into legends. You can't be a true Gordon fan if you can't appreciate what Evernham did for him, simple as that.

Quote from PMD9409 :

Of course not, it was called Rex for a reason. Ray was the one that found the holes in the rulebook and told Rex what to build essentially. Hendrick pushed for an engineering department that other teams fell short on, and with Ray telling them what parts of the car to design and what to aim for, it led them to unparalleled cars on the track. The T-Rex car is what led NASCAR to make a much tighter rulebook, essentially making things more "spec" than ever before, and that's why you couldn't build anymore of those type cars (Ray tried with the Dodges at Daytona and NASCAR penalized them).

Ray had his own share in a team yes, but was not a crew chief nor did he have the engineering department that matched what he had at Hendrick. To say Evernham wasn't a vital part of Gordon's career is more of an insult to Gordon than it is to Evernham. It would also be like already mentioned Knaus with Jimmie Rustler Johnson.

Those two crew chiefs are probably two of the best we will ever see in the sport, turning their above average talent of drivers into legends. You can't be a true Gordon fan if you can't appreciate what Evernham did for him, simple as that.

We have a winner.

Quote from PMD9409 :

Of course not, it was called Rex for a reason. Ray was the one that found the holes in the rulebook and told Rex what to build essentially. Hendrick pushed for an engineering department that other teams fell short on, and with Ray telling them what parts of the car to design and what to aim for, it led them to unparalleled cars on the track. The T-Rex car is what led NASCAR to make a much tighter rulebook, essentially making things more "spec" than ever before, and that's why you couldn't build anymore of those type cars (Ray tried with the Dodges at Daytona and NASCAR penalized them).

Ray had his own share in a team yes, but was not a crew chief nor did he have the engineering department that matched what he had at Hendrick. To say Evernham wasn't a vital part of Gordon's career is more of an insult to Gordon than it is to Evernham. It would also be like already mentioned Knaus with Jimmie Rustler Johnson.

Those two crew chiefs are probably two of the best we will ever see in the sport, turning their above average talent of drivers into legends. You can't be a true Gordon fan if you can't appreciate what Evernham did for him, simple as that.

I'm not hating on Evernham, but Jeff is still great without him now. Is he as good, no. But he is still my guy either way.

Omfg no one likes you Ty
but good win

Will you guys stop spamming this ****ing thread with your pointless love letters. ****

Ladies and gentlemen we have our first ty dillon fan, blue flame

But how good would Ray have been at....say.......JGR in the 90s or Yarboroughs team? IMO it was a case of right place, right time and he landed on his feet. Look at what happened with his team (Okay he was banging one of his drivers and Mayfield got ran out of the team due to that) though

That's why I mentioned Hendrick being one of the first with a true engineering department which Evernham utilized highly. Outside of Bill (super late in career) and Kasey (super early in career), his own team didn't exactly have top drivers.

....and then there were two

Kenseth gets the drive though penalty, might've just killed all the fun.

Nooo



That probably just sealed the championship... hope he can make it up, he's got some diggin to do.

Quote from Rappa Z :

Kenseth gets the drive though penalty, might've just killed all the fun.

Quote from Cornys :

....and then there were two

...and then there was almost one. Checkin up to me a epic chase fight still!
Also P.K. Doing an epic job tonight, would love to see him break a top 20 debut in the 30, seriously great drive so far.