Can he win again?
Has he lost a step?
Does Jeff Gordon still have the fire and passion he did when he was winning championships?
Yes, no and absolutely.
The three-time Daytona 500 winner broke a winless streak dating back to race 31 of 2007 on Thursday afternoon with a win in the day’s first Gatorade Duel at Daytona. He kissed his daughter in Victory Lane, leaving behind his first winless season since 1993, a season in which many wondered if the birth of his daughter made Gordon lose his desire to race.
It was only a qualifying race for a race and Gordon was already locked in, but the No. 24 team needed this.
“Any win’s exciting and meaningful to us right now,” Gordon said. “Right now because of the pressure that we felt from being winless last year, it’s important for us to gain some momentum, some confidence.”
Gordon will start third in Sunday’s Daytona 500 after winning the first of the twin 150-mile races, and Kyle Busch, who won the second Duel, will start beside him in fourth.
Scott Riggs, Tony Stewart, Jeremy Mayfield and A.J. Allmendinger made the Daytona 500 by finishing as the top two go-or-go-home drivers in each Duel. That means Bill Elliott, Travis Kvapil and Regan Smith qualify on their times from Sunday and Terry Labonte takes the past champion’s provisional.
“[It means] more than what you could ever imagine,” said Mayfield, with Allmendinger sitting next to him. “I know we were both smart enough to help each other along the way. You just can’t imagine the pressure that’s on a guy to do what we did today.”
Both Mayfield and Allmendinger were overcome with emotion upon making the race. Allmendinger had to put on his sunglasses to hide his tears.
Mayfield finished the race ninth for his self-owned team and Allmendinger finished 10th in the No. 44 Richard Petty Motorsports car.
Busch ended last season with no wins in the Chase after entering the Chase with eight.
But his drought didn’t compare to Gordon’s drought. The four-time champion came close to winning races all last season. And even though Thursday afternoon’s win doesn’t really count, he’ll take it.
“We’re doing the right things,” Gordon said. “Everybody’s patted one another on the back. They’re really excited about Sunday’s race. However you can get that is important.”
