NASCAR Michigan 2014 recap: Restart mastery key to Jeff Gordon’s resurgence

Restarts have been the bane of Jeff Gordon’s existence in recent years. Just how many races he’s lost because of a less than stellar restart he doesn’t know, but he does know it’s been an issue that regularly frustrates him.

Among the overriding themes of 2014 is that this isn’t the Gordon of the past few years, a driver who hasn’t finished better than sixth in the championship. Instead, this is the Gordon of old, who en route to four championships in seven years was the epitome of excellence in late-race situations.

The notion that restarts are a glaring weakness of Gordon’s was further dispelled when he outhustled, outmaneuvered and simply out-drove Joey Logano to capture Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway.

Utilizing a bit of gamesmanship, Logano had gotten the better of Gordon on a couple of preceding restarts, to the point the veteran was venting about the 24-year-old racer.

“The 22 (Logano) is completely f***ing up the start,” Gordon radioed to his team following a restart with 21 laps to go. “He’s slowing down when we get into the (restart) box.”

Another opportunity came Gordon’s way when Kurt Busch bounced off the wall spewing debris around the track to set up the deciding restart with 17 laps left. Understanding the race would be decided here Gordon pounced, getting the jump on Logano.

“I had a bunch of good (restarts),” Logano said. “The last one wasn’t the greatest.”

Gordon held off Logano through Turns 1 and 2, and then went deep into Turn 3 to create some distance.

The victory was Gordon’s third of the year, and in the process he let it be known that his perceived weakness was much ado about nothing. Just as he did last month when Gordon got what he called the “restart of my life” to win the Brickyard 400.

“Right now I feel like I’m driving smart,” Gordon said. “But also when it comes down to the restarts, I’m confident in my car enough that I can put it in places I haven’t been able to put it in the past and be a little bit more aggressive when it matters.

“As a driver, especially somebody that’s been getting beat up over the years about restarts it’s pretty nice to have the last two wins come down to restarts.”

The resurgence has left those around Gordon impressed. Team owner Rick Hendrick credited Gordon’s smarts and a keen understanding of when to push and when to lay back.

“If someone gets in front of him or is trying to block him like they did today, instead of pushing the envelope like maybe he did in the early years, he’ll just back off and let them use their stuff up, then he’ll pass them,” Hendrick said. “You just don’t see him make any mistakes.”

Whether that manifests itself with a fifth championship is still to be decided, but by demonstrating that even a grizzled veteran with a case full of trophies can still hone his skills, Gordon has provided another invaluable lesson: Older doesn’t necessarily mean slower.

“I think all of his years of experience are paying off for him right now,” Hendrick said. “When you have the fastest car, everybody races you extremely hard. They know they got to get you on the restart. If they can do that, probably they can pull away.”