Dominant Gordon a thing of the past

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Ryan McGee / FOXSports.com Posted: 4 hours ago

NASCAR Images managing editor Ryan McGee gets you ready for Daytona Speedweeks — which begin Feb. 8 on SPEED — by counting down his top 20 drivers. Check out McGee's reasoning for picking Jeff Gordon as his No. 4 driver this season. TOP 20 DRIVER COUNTDOWN 20. Ricky Rudd 19. Juan Pablo Montoya 18. Scott Riggs 17. Bobby Labonte 16. Casey Mears 15. Clint Bowyer 14. Dale Jarrett 13. Greg Biffle 12. Denny Hamlin 11. Kyle Busch 10. Jeff Burton 9. Kurt Busch/Ryan Newman 8. Kasey Kahne 7. Jimmie Johnson 6. Carl Edwards 5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Sign up now and create your free fantasy team and league. Watch the Daytona 500 on FOX, February 18 at 2 p.m. ET. More NASCAR 2006 Rewind 2 wins, 2 pole, 14 top fives, 18 top tens, 6th in points Remember when we were all openly speculating about when — not if — Gordon would join Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt as seven-time Cup champs? In our defense, it seemed a safe assumption when at the age of 29 he was already had four Cups and 58 race trophies sitting on his mantle. But something happened on the way to immortality. It's called reality. "I think we have seen a real revolution in this sport over the last five or six years," says the man who now owns 75 victories, only one behind Dale Earnhardt on the all-time list. "More teams are competing for race wins and more teams are competing for championships. It is so much more difficult to win races now than it has ever been in our sport." His 2006 numbers prove that theory to be more than correct. The last time Gordon posted just two victories in a season was back in 1994, his second year on the circuit. There was, however, a marked improvement over 2005, when he was embarrassed by missing the Chase and fumbled his way through a sloppy split with crew chief Robbie Loomis. With old buddy Steve Letarte at the helm, trips to Victory Lane decreased, but the No. 24 Chevy upped its tally of top 10s, laps led, races led, average finish, and nearly doubled its top fives over '05. Why He Will Finish 4th Jeff Gordon and his wife Ingrid Vandebosch are expecting a child, adding to the many things Gordon will have on his plate this season. (Evan Agostini / Getty Images) Welcome to Drive For Five VI. Gordon isn't getting any younger while everyone around him is. "I used to be a young gun," says the driver formerly known as Wonder Boy with a laugh. "Remember that?" During its heyday, the Dupont team beat its rivals into submission by taking a car that was already pretty good and fine-tuning it into a world beater. These days, those kind of magical in-race adjustments are the exception as opposed to the rule. Since the Aeropush Era began right around Y2K, Gordon has had trouble massaging his Chevys in traffic. As long he's up front, he's wicked fast. Once he's stuck behind someone else, his cars get stuck in the mud. The good news? He seemed to be grasping the handling during last season's second half. The bad news? The Car of Tomorrow is an entirely different animal, which means Gordon and Letarte need to step their reaction skills up even more during the coming season and beyond. There is also another change coming that Gordon will have to react to — fatherhood. Wife/supermodel Ingrid Vandebosch is expecting this summer and as any new parent will tell, he has no idea what's about to hit him. Having a little one at home affects everything you do ... especially at 180 mph. So other than figuring out a new car, cutting back on DNFs, adding to a legendary legacy, and becoming a dad, there's not much to worry about for Gordon in 2007. The All-Telling, All-Knowing Stat: 16

That's how many DNFs Gordon posted over the last two seasons, nine in '05 and seven last year. For a mere mortal, those would simply be bad seasons. For a racing superhuman like Gordon, it is downright devastating. Over the previous five seasons, 2000-04, Gordon posted 16 total and an average of 2.6 per year.
Fantasy Lock: Martinsville

Of all the drivers in the paddock, Gordon is the one guy you can plug into your fantasy lineup pretty much any week and you'd be just fine. After all, he's won on 19 of the 22 tracks on the schedule. But your best bet is still the world's fastest paperclip in southern Virginia. Since 1995 he's finished outside of the top 10 only three times in 24 races. After 28 starts at The 'Ville, he owns personal bests in top fives (16), top 10s (22), and average finish (7.5) and has never posted a DNF in 28 tries.



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