NASCAR Dover 2014 recap: Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick showcase championship form in Round 1

If you need a microcosm of the 2014 NASCAR season and a blueprint for how the rest of the Chase for the Sprint Cup is likely to unfold, look no further than Sunday’s race at Dover International Speedway.

Just as they have been for the duration of the year, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski were the dominant players Sunday. The trio led 395 of 400 laps with Harvick the most pervasive, starting on the pole for a series-best seventh time and out front for a race-high 223 laps.

Harvick’s superiority, however, didn’t manifest itself into victory. A cut tire on Lap 252 ended his bid and he finished 13th, continuing a theme that has hounded him throughout the year. Despite leading more laps than anyone in 2014, Harvick has only two victories to show for his effort, with his last win coming in April.

For a driver with the nickname “The Closer,” Harvick has been anything but this season.

More often than not potential victories have escaped Harvick because of mistakes on pit road (gaffes by either crew or driver), mechanical failures or inability to be at his best in the final laps -- he has five runner-up finishes. Sunday’s effort was undone by a valve stem getting hit, the same problem that ended a strong Dover run in June.

“Just handing out early Christmas presents to people for winning races that we should be winning,” Harvick said. “It’s just crazy luck. It’s just unbelievable that it can happen.”

With Harvick attempting to overcome yet another malady, Keselowski and Gordon seized the opportunity, leading all but one lap (during green flag pit stops) in the remainder of the AAA 400. Eventually Keselowski, who owns a series-best five wins, gave way to Gordon, who cruised to victory by a four-second margin.

“Kevin (and that team) are extremely fast, but putting the whole race together, you can see that they have some things to work on there,” Gordon said. “But they figure that out, I don’t know anybody that can beat them. They’re just that fast. Every weekend they have been.

“I think Kevin definitely was the car to beat today. Even on long runs we could reel him in a little bit, but I don’t know if we could have passed him.”

As Dover mirrored Harvick’s season, it was also symbolic of Gordon’s.

While Harvick and Keselowski have shown more speed, the four-time Cup champion regularly puts himself in position to find success with unmatched consistency. No driver has more top-10s, a better average finish or more races finished on the lead lap than Gordon, who also led the points during the regular season.

Enjoying a renaissance, Gordon is a legit title contender for the first time since 2007. It’s such a rejuvenation that car owner Rick Hendrick couldn’t help but quip that his 42-year-old driver may have found the fountain of youth.

“When Jeff Gordon can see 10 laps to go, I’ll put money on him anywhere,” Hendrick said. “He’s a smarter race car driver I think than he was when he was in his late 20s, and he uses his head and he’s got all the talent in the world.

“I can remember back when he was winning 10 or 12 races a year, he didn’t get out of the car and jump on the roof and have as much fun in Victory Lane as he is right now. He’s really enjoying himself.”

Under NASCAR’s new playoff format the high level of performance exhibited by Harvick, Gordon and Keselowski makes them the three most obvious choices to advance to final round. Each entered the playoffs thinking championship and nothing thus far through one bracket has indicated otherwise.

“I think that we’re a team that is strong enough to win, but also good enough to be consistent and I think that’s what’s going to get you through to the next round,” Gordon said. “Ultimately, I think what it’s going to take to win this championship.

Said Harvick: “We can beat every car on the race track. We just need some good luck. If we have some good luck, we’ll win races and have a shot at the championship.”