The career accomplishments of Jeff Gordon have been well documented and don’t need to be revisited here and now. This is clearly one of the greatest drivers to ever strap in to a racecar.

He was the absolute model of consistency last season with a modern era record 30 top 10 finishes to go with six victories. Only Jimmie Johnson’s incredible run to close the chase kept Jeff from claiming his fifth Cup Series title.

So what is going on this season?

Jeff hasn’t been the slightest threat to win a race since early on in the year. The best car he has had so far in 2008 was probably the one he destroyed in that scary crash into the inside wall at Las Vegas. He was battling Matt Kenseth for second in the closing laps when that wreck happened. But even if he’d gotten by Kenseth, he was not going to run down eventual winner Carl Edwards.

That was a point Jeff himself made after a third place run at Darlington. While happy with a much-needed top five, he was clearly frustrated that his cars are still a long way from being winning cars.

He managed to get another top five finish in the Coca-Cola 600 with a car that hardly sniffed the top ten all night. In fact, he fell a lap down once and was about to be lapped again, when he caught a caution. He spent the majority of the night running near the bottom of the top 20.

It was because the car wasn’t very good that Gordon and Crew Chief Steve Letarte opted to give up a seventh place running position to come in and top off the fuel tank just before the green flag waved with just over 60 laps to go. That stop dropped them to 23rd but ultimately led to the fourth place finish, as they were able to stay on track while just about everybody else had to come in for a splash before the race ended.

 Darrell Waltrip even commented late in the event, waiting to see if the strategy would payoff, that he couldn’t remember Jeff Gordon getting very good fuel mileage in the past.

But how often has the 24 team had to resort to such tactics to try to steal a good finish?

Usually Gordon is running up front with a strong car and would not be in a position where he would give up a spot in the top ten late in the race to come in for an extra splash for fuel.

Desperate times call for desperate measures I guess, and the 24 team is now in the position of having to get creative with fuel strategy to try to get a decent finish.

I had stated earlier this season amidst all the hubbub surrounding Gordon and Jimmie Johnson not having won yet that their fans need not worry. These teams were too strong to continue to struggle. But I’m really starting to wonder now. At least about Gordon’s team. Johnson did have a car capable of running at the front – if not winning the race – at Lowe’s until the engine let go. But Jeff’s struggles continue. Especially on the mile and a half tracks that make up so much of the schedule.

This is a championship caliber team and they will get things figured out with the new car. But will they be able to do it quickly enough to keep Gordon in chase contention this year?

You’re not going to be able to finish fourth with a 15th place car too many times.

By Sam Atwell

The #42 Texaco/Havoline, Chip Ganassi Racing Team has just named another crew chief for the driver Juan Pablo Montoya.  What in the world are they thinking?  This is not just a crew chief change, but also the third crew chief change in the last month.  Donnie Wingo was the crew chief that helped Montoya adjust to stock car racing and did a pretty good job working with a guy who had very limited (virtually no) experience in a stock car.  In 2007, under the guidance of Wingo the #42 team picked up a win, an average starting position of 21.7 and an average finish of 22.7.   Granted, Montoya is a championship quality driver in open wheel and is very talented, but some of that credit has to go to Donnie Wingo.   So four races ago the team management decides to shake things up and move Jimmie Elledge to the top of the pit box for Montoya.   In Elledge’s first race, Montoya finished second at Talladega.  Wow what a great start!  The team then goes on to a 32nd place in Richmond, 23rd place finish in Darlington and a 14th in the Sprint All Star Race, not stellar, but passable.  So after four races the team management decides that they need to shake things up again and name another new crew chief. 

In a sport where the relationship between the driver and the crew chief is so important how can they make these kinds of changes and expect things to get better?  Look at some of the most successful team in NASCAR racing.  Tony Stewart and Greg Zipadelli, Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus and to a lesser extent Jeff Gordon and Steve Letarte all have enjoyed great success with their crew chiefs.  Each of these drivers, and many others, credit the crew chief as the key to the success that they have enjoyed.  The “chemistry” between them is another key to the success they have seen.  If there is a chance for Chip Ganassi to build success in NASCAR, it is with Juan Montoya!  I have not been a fan of Montoya, but in this case, I think he is not being given all the tools to win.  To see how important the driver/crew chief relationship is all you have to do is look at Matt Kenseth.  He lost his long time crew chief this season and look at the results. 

Give Montoya a crew chief and let him have the time to work with him.  Give them time to build a relationship, give them time to learn how to communicate what the car needs, just give them some time.  If they do, they just might see some success with the #42 team.

By Steve Parker 

One of my least favorite things in sports is fan voting. Even though I’m a fan, I think fans – for the most part – always vote with their hearts and not their heads. But I guess that’s what you’d expect from a fan, which of course is short for fanatic.

But come on, we’ve seen it so many times. Guys voted into baseball’s All Star Game that haven’t even played for long stretches due to injury. It just becomes a popularity contest based on career stats and reputation and often has nothing to do with the actual performance of the athlete in that given season.

It’s happened with NASCAR’s All Star event as well. Remember a few years ago when Martin Truex, Jr. was voted into the All Star Race and wasn’t even a full-time competitor in the Cup Series?! He clearly benefited from the fact that he drove for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the (at the time) Busch Series.

This is why it was so refreshing to see what happened with the All Star fan voting this time around. Kasey Kahne was one of only two drivers in the top 16 in points who was not already in the All Star lineup. Unlike the other driver – David Ragan – Kahne has won in the Cup Series and has been in the chase in the past. Of the drivers on the fan ballot, he was clearly the choice and the fans smartly voted him in as opposed to say, Robby Gordon whose sponsor tried their best to get him in with an ad campaign.

Kahne proved deserving as he went out and won the million dollar event.

So congrats to Kahne, his team and especially the fans who got this one right.