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Wednesday, Dec. 05, 2007

Even without title, Gordon riding high

Throughout the better part of his career, Ricky Bobby lived by the mantra of, "If you're not first, you're last."

It served Bobby well during much of his colorful career as he did just about anything in exchange for a victory or two.

Although Bobby never actually existed aside from him being in the bad excuse for a movie about racing called "Talladega Nights," the changing of his approach toward racing is very real, and Jeff Gordon is living proof of how a different way of going about one's business can pay dividends.

By all accounts, Gordon had a very good season this past year in the Nextel Cup Series. He won six times and appeared to have standing reservations near the front of the field every weekend. He won his 77th career race in April at Talladega, passing Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s career total in full view of some of The Intimidator's most rabid fans.

Yep, Gordon did just about everything that could be done this past season. Almost. Despite building a huge points lead through the first 26 races leading up to the Chase for the championship, Gordon finished the Chase in second, 77 behind teammate Jimmie Johnson, who drives a car Gordon co-owns.

Gordon fell short of winning the title, so on the surface, it would appear that the driver of the No. 24 car had a bad season.

That's simply not true; not this year anyway.

The Jeff Gordon of a few years ago may have been distraught over losing a title to, of all people, a Hendrick Motorsports teammate. He's the almighty Jeff Gordon, for goodness sake. He should at least be the best on his team, shouldn't he?

Odds are that he may have wanted to go to St. Simons Island with a lot of Georgia fans and destroy some property.

But that's the Gordon of old. Not the Gordon of now.

The Gordon of now is more relaxed and laid back, and it has shown since the start of last year. Gordon got married last year to his current wife, Ingrid. They gave birth to their first child, Ella, this past summer.

Last January when I spoke with Gordon for a few minutes, I couldn't help but notice how easygoing he seemed to be looking toward the season. There was not the sense of urgency that he just had to win championship No. 5.

He carried that approach with him into the season, and it showed with his best season in six years.

Gordon, the driver who spawned team's going after younger, less-experienced drivers instead of seasoned veterans who had logged numerous laps on the NASCAR circuit, is apparently starting a new trend, as Tony Stewart said last week that he plans to relax and get away from racing this winter, even if it means missing a Goodyear tire test later this month.

The fact is, Gordon doesn't appear to be going around feeling like the weight of needing to win is bearing down on his shoulders.

After seeing how well it worked for him this year, 2008 may very well be a long season for anyone cringing at the sight of the No. 24 in Victory Lane, especially fans of his new teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., at Talladega Superspeedway.