Jeff Gordon made one of the most memorable saves of the season on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway when he was spun in the middle of a pack with three laps to go – but didn’t hit anything.
Jeff Gordon In Disbelief After Amazing Save, Late Rally Result In Top-10 At Daytona International Speedway
Even more amazing? After his night looked like it was practically over, he rallied to finish sixth.
“I’ve got to go back and look at it,” he said of the save. “It was one of those things where I could feel it start to go around and I just stood on the gas and tried to keep it on the outside wall. And then there was a point where I could see I needed to lock the brakes and I locked the brakes up just hoping somebody wouldn’t hit me.
”I saw a bunch of cars just flashing by me and it started to straighten out in the banking and I just let off the brakes and straightened out and we kept going.
“I was like, ‘Boy that worked out alright.’ That’s usually luck more than anything else.”
After coming to pit road to fix some minor damage and getting four new tires, Gordon said he “miraculously” avoided wrecks on the last two restarts.
The plan was to push Jimmie Johnson, but Gordon realized Tony Stewart was lining up behind Johnson and figured those two would hook up.
Then Kyle Busch came on the radio and said, “Come on. Why don’t you push me?”
“At that time it was the green and we went,” Gordon said. “He makes great holes. He knows how to get momentum; he keeps momentum and he doesn’t back off the gas, so it certainly worked out for me.”
Added Gordon: “How we finished sixth is unbelievable.”
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