Jeff Gordon led NASCAR’s premier series by 276 points at this point last year, but now finds himself just 57 points away from losing a berth in the 12-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup, a 10-race playoff, which starts in three weeks.
The four-time champion cut a tire and crashed at Michigan International Speedway, dropping to ninth in the standings and into a scrap with at least six drivers for the final four Chase transfer spots.
“Just go all out; that’s all we can do,” Gordon said of the next three races. “We were just trying to ride along there and not make mistakes, and now a mistake is made.”
Momentum has eluded Gordon for the last 10 races, in which he’s only had three top-10 finishes. Gordon held a steady sixth in the standings for the last seven races but began to drop with a 29th at Watkins Glen before his 42nd at Michigan.
“This has definitely been a frustrating year,” Gordon said. “But it challenges our whole team to see what we’re made of, and I don’t see that as a bad thing.”
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