Gordon settles for another 2nd-place finish

Staff report

RICHMOND, VA.

Jeff Gordon crossed the finish line in silence, unsure of what to say after losing yet another race this season.

The four-time NASCAR champion remained winless on the season after Kyle Busch beat him with a late pass Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.

Crew chief Steve Letarte was the first to finally speak, breaking the silence with a brief pep talk to the deflated No. 24 crew.

“Good job guys, another good car,” Letarte said on the radio. “We’re going to get him one.”

Eventually, the law of averages is going to even out and Gordon is going to get to Victory Lane.

Until then, though, he’ll have to suffer through frustrating near-misses that have pushed Gordon’s losing streak to 39 races. His last win was at Texas last year, and he’s actually won just one of his last 87 races.

But he’s sure come close quite often. Saturday night was his eighth second-place finish since last year’s Texas victory.

“It’s a little disappointing we haven’t won some races yet,” Gordon said. “If we keep doing this, those will come. We’ve got to keep putting ourselves in position.”

Gordon has done a great job of doing that this year, which so far appears to be a resurgence after two sub-par seasons. He went down to the wire in an intense 2007 championship battle with teammate Jimmie Johnson, then followed it with a winless 2008. Although he finished third in last year’s final standings, he was clearly behind both Johnson and Mark Martin, the two Hendrick Motorsports drivers who beat him in the standings.

This year, Gordon has been the late leader in four races only to lose because of cautions and restarts.