Gordon looking to end skid as fans continue to dispute his fall

CONCORD, N.C.

There was that March day in Martinsville... Jeff Gordon nearly won. That July night at Daytona before he was wrecked in the final laps. And that day out in Fontana, Calif., in February.

Other than that, there have been few races the sport's winningest active driver has come close to taking the checkered flag.

His last NASCAR Sprint Cup victory came a year ago at Lowe's Motor Speedway when gas prices averaged $2.75, the Dow Jones topped 14,000 and few had heard of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Gordon's 35-race winless streak entering Saturday night's race is the second-longest in his career. He went 42 races before he won his first Cup race.

Gordon's fall is related to his ability to drive the new car at the bigger tracks, although some fans suggest it's crew chief Steve Letarte's fault, or that Gordon hasn't been the same since his daughter's birth last year or even his crash at Las Vegas in March.

Car owner Rick Hendrick has already defended Letarte, as has Gordon. Jeff Burton finds all the conspiracy theories ridiculous.

"Jeff Gordon hasn't forgot how to win races, he hasn't forgot how to race," Burton says. "A lot of people are, 'Well, he had a kid.' It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life. You had a kid and you don't care anymore. Do you think if you have a kid you just wake up one morning and say well I don't care anymore?

"Competitive people don't work like that. Jeff Gordon didn't wake up the day his baby was born and look at the baby and say, 'Well, my life is all changed now, I don't need to race anymore.' It doesn't work like that."

Gordon clearly hasn't been comfortable in the new car at tracks more than one mile. Brad Keselowski, whose attempt to make his Cup debut ended when rain canceled qualifying Thursday, noted the reaction Gordon gave him when he told Gordon where he planned to debut.

"The first thing he asked me was, 'Why did you pick those two?' " Keselowski said. "And I said, 'What's wrong with Charlotte and Texas?'

"And he said, 'Man, those tracks are tough to get around.' That just goes back to how he's struggled at Texas and how that just doesn't fit his style."

Gordon, who has 81 career Cup victories, claims that "it's not the end of the world" if he doesn't win a race this year - which would be his first winless season since his rookie year in 1993.

One sign of Gordon's woes is that he's led only 312 laps. Typically, he's among the leaders in that category. This year, he ranks ninth. Kyle Busch, tops in that category, has led 1,300 more laps than Gordon.

"Any season that we've ever won, you're usually knocking on the door in several races, " Gordon says. "You're leading laps consistently, you're running in the top five and those wins come... This year, we have not put ourselves in the position to have those opportunities go our way more often."

Thus, he can count Martinsville, Daytona and Fontana among his best chances to win this season, a small list by his typical standards.

Gordon admits his winless streak could end next weekend at Martinsville, where he finished second to Denny Hamlin in the spring despite leading nearly one-fifth of that race.

"I don't think it's our only shot, " Gordon says, "but I think it's our best shot."