Jeff Gordon had 93 Cup Series wins
Denny Hamlin is up to 59 and counting…
One thing about race car drivers, and it’s the same theme across the board, is that they hold onto the defeats way more than their triumphs as illustrated by the four-time Cup Series champion on Sunday night at Kansas Speedway.
“I can’t remember many of the ones I won, but I can tell you all the ones I lost,” Gordon said.
This was in response to a question in the post-race press conference after a Chase Elliott victory about how much Gordon can relate to Hamlin trying to chase those marquee late-career numbers.
There was empathy even in the face of pride that it worked out in their favor this weekend.
“Those decisions haunt you, mis-shifts and bad choices on restarts and whatever it might be, especially if it was on your watch or in your hands,” Gordon said.
Elliott’s victory was the byproduct of various things that happened to Hamlin. The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 swept both stages and was pulling away late when his car lost power steering. And yet, Hamlin was still holding onto the lead with 14 laps left when a tire carcass slowed the race.
Hamlin lost four spots on pit road due to a mistake by a substitute jack man only on his No. 11 car due to a penalty after the Bristol Night Race that led to suspensions over a loose wheel.
Even after that, Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell got to mixing it up on the restart and Elliott only won after Hamlin sent it deep into the final corner and left Elliott a lane to drive by everyone.
So while Gordon can relate, because he’s been there, he also suspects from his own experience there will be more chances for his cars at Hendrick Motorsports to have to battle Hamlin for wins.
“I don’t know what was going to happen there if Denny wrapped the bottom instead of kind of using Bubba up but I still think Chase had a great shot at it because of the new tires and the run he had going into (Turn) 3. “
Yeah, Denny’s having a great year. He signed a new contract. I don’t think he’s done winning. But when you have the opportunity — he’s probably more disappointed that the cautions came out when he had the lead and wanted to see it finish out that way. But the way he’s running right now and the way that team is, I think he’s going to get some more opportunities.”
