NASCAR standings 2014: Runner-up finish gives Jeff Gordon points lead

Jeff Gordon finds himself in a unique position, one he hasn’t experienced in nearly five years. The four-time Sprint Cup champion is now atop the series standings, holding a four-point lead over Matt Kenseth after seven of 26 regular season races.

That Gordon is the points leader comes as a result of a runner-up finish Monday at Texas Motor Speedway. He finished second to Joey Logano, who with fresher tires charged by Gordon as the two raced under the white flag.

“I’m sure Joey was going to go wherever I didn’t,” Gordon said. “Probably would have been a little bit better off on the top. Then he crossed over and got into the back of me pretty good. At that point I was just thinking, I just want to finish. Looked out my mirror, those guys were racing hard behind me. A great second-place finish for me.”

Leading a race-high 108 laps, Logano had the strongest car for much of the afternoon, and was seemingly headed to Victory Lane when a caution for debris waved with two laps to go. But following subsequent pit stops it was Gordon, sixth before pitting, who was in the lead thanks to a decision by crew chief Alan Gustafson to go with just two tires.

Having struggled on restarts in recent seasons, the onus then fell on Gordon to get a good jump, which he did, but it still wasn’t enough. Logano was just too fast for Gordon to fend off and quickly pulled away.

“Some of it’s in the car, some of it’s in the setup, but most of it’s on me,” Gordon said. “Today on that particular one, it was just all about not spinning the tires too much. So I tried to carry a little bit more speed to the line because I knew that those guys had an advantage with the newer tires. Got a pretty good start.”

Although pleased with his runner-up finish and being ranked No. 1 in points, Gordon couldn’t help himself from lamenting what might have been. Under a format where winning is all encompassing and all but ensures a driver a Chase for the Sprint Cup berth, consistency no longer carries the same importance as in years past.

It’s a fact Gordon, winless on the year, is quite aware of despite his standing heading into Saturday’s race at Darlington Raceway.

“The pressure’s always there to win,” Gordon said. “You always want to win. Winning benefits you whether it’s this points system or any other points system. Winning is the ultimate. That’s what we are all out there to do.

“Every race that goes by that there’s a different winner, the pressure gets more intense. You just got to go look at that next opportunity and try to put yourself in that position to go win it.”

Sprint Cup standings