The wreck in February that could have derailed his career. “When he came back, not only was he driven and just inspired by it, but you can tell he was racing smarter, with more patience, just being more deliberate, and I think he just – between having a baby, the thing that happened to him at Daytona, the time with his wife, and other things, maybe Joe Gibbs, I don’t know, family, friends, I think that time, he had a lot of time to think about a lot of things, and I don’t know what he did, but he came out of it even better than he was before, and I think he showed it right away when he came back that there was a pretty good chance he was destined to win this championship”.
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“When you can deal with a professional athlete and you can go 23 years and you don’t need a lawyer, you can take a handshake and we’ve never had a disagreement… he’s a rare commodity”, said team owner Rick Hendrick.
And on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Gordon’s career ended with considerably more fanfare and attention than it had begun.
Penske Racing teammates were the cars to beat for much of the race; Logano led 72 laps early before fading.
Early on, all four championship contenders ran in or near the top five. On the restart Busch was able to grab the lead and hold off Harvick for his fifth win of 2105, the 34th of his career, and his first NASCAR Sprint Cup title. Nine laps after the sold-out crowd roared in appreciation, Gordon was passed by another finalist, Kevin Harvick. Unfortunately for Gordon, the love he had felt on pit road during the build-up to the green flag soon swiftly dissipated when it came to the race itself, the #24 being stripped of its Hendrick Motorsports team mates one-by one over the first half of the race: Kasey Kahne crashed out on lap 41 and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was tipped into the wall six laps later by Michael Waltrip Racing’s Clint Bowyer in the last outing for the MWR squad, with Casey Mears, Aric Almirola, Sam Hornish Jr. and David Ragan also all caught up in the incident.
“We just never really could get the auto to react to what we wanted”, Truex said. Did you know: The season title will be decided by finishing order among Gordon, Harvick, Busch and Truex….
Kyle Busch used a favorable caution flag with 16 laps to go. Truex was not a factor in the finish, telling his crew chief at one point with 33 laps to go, “It’s frustrating, man. We’re awful”.
“Nothing bigger in sports has ever happened to me”, the 74-year-old Gibbs said. Driver Marco Andretti noted after the tests that the NASCAR lap record at the Phoenix mile is 25.1 seconds but the IndyCar lap record set by Arie Luyendyk in 1996 is 19.068 seconds, an average of 183.599 miles per hour.
“We were just struggling all night, to be honest with you”, Harvick said. The championship also means that he and brother Kurt will join Terry and Bobby Labonte as the second pair of siblings to win titles in NASCAR’s top division. Man, I don’t think I got hit, I think I just got a really good restart and then just got going.
QUOTE OF THE DAY, No. 2: “I don’t know if you could have ever scripted it any better. I’m not sure what we were missing, but we were missing something”.
“It’s hard to explain that but just when everybody is just so happy for you and respectful to you, I just thought the whole thing was unreal”.
Although he missed 11 races, Busch was granted a waiver from NASCAR, making him eligible as long as he won a race and finished the regular season within the top 30 in points. But doesn’t it make his title more impressive with him qualifying for the Chase – using the same criteria that every other driver had – in 11 fewer races?
While it is Busch’s night, it is also a special moment for #24 and we hope Gordon enjoys retirement.
“Congratulations to Kyle Busch”, said Gordon. He was put on probation in 2008 for bumping Carl Edwards during a cool-down lap.
Gordon, himself, though appeared more upbeat.
That transformation earned Busch a long-awaited championship – and a long hug from his hero with celebratory confetti scattered all around.
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“I’m a little disappointed we weren’t more of a threat in the championship”, said Gordon, a four-time champion who last won it all in 2001.
