Rare slip-up costs J. Gordon at Watkins Glen

August 12, 2002

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. AP reported that in the past five years, Jeff Gordon has established himself as the king of NASCAR's two road courses with a Winston Cup-record seven wins, including four in five years at Watkins Glen International.

Despite starting 23rd Sunday, Gordon was in the top-10 as the race neared the halfway point. Then, coming off the final turn at the top of the front straightaway, he slid into the grass along the fence for about 100 yards before regaining control.

After that, he was never a factor and finished 22nd.

"We got behind on Friday," Gordon said. "Starting 23rd didn't do us any favors, but we drove up through there, got it to sixth or seventh, was pretty happy, and then it all kind of fell apart from there. It's definitely disappointing because this is a place we run real well at."

The showing, Gordon's third-worst in a dozen starts at the track, dropped him to fifth in the points standings, two points behind race-winner Tony Stewart. But with Sterling Marlin's 30th-place showing, Gordon moved closer to the top and trails Marlin by 106 points.

But the winless streak for the defending Winston Cup champion reached 30 races.

"I want to win races. I want to perform up to where we're capable of," Gordon said. "I'm not losing my confidence and I don't think the team is. It's just disappointing that we didn't make the right calls. You can't fix it now. We just go to the next race."