Jeff Gordon is a four-time NASCAR Cup Series champ, with his most recent title coming in 2001.

Gordon's last win came in October of 2007 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Though it has been 46 races since that victory, his next triumph may come at Texas, a track that Gordon has yet to win at in his illustrious career.

There is no doubt that 2009 has been the rebirth of a career that many had casted as over after a lackluster 2008 which produced a winless season and a seventh-place finish in the championship standings.

For an average driver, that would be considered a success. But Gordon is not average, and that is motivation to not only win a few races, but to add another championship.

At Texas, Gordon has been close. In April of 2007, he was leading with 20 laps to go, until he hit the wall and ended his shot at winning.

In another race in April of 2004, he was leading in the waning stages of the 500-miler until his No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet dealt with an electrical failure that saw the four-time Cup champ go from the lead to third place.

Last fall, he came home in second place to race winner Carl Edwards, albeit the finish was on fuel mileage. Regardless, a top-five finish is a top-five finish.

On Sunday, the finish may be different. The No. 24 team has led laps in all but one race this year, and Gordon has not finished worse than 13th in six races.  

He has led 289 laps only six races into the season, and is on pace to lead over 1,000 laps. That projection will far exceed his 2008 total of 447 laps led.

His 2009 stats include an average finish of 5.2, and an average starting position of 10.7. The Vallejo, CA, native also leads the series with the most top 10 finishes (five) and  most top-fives (four).

Last season, Gordon struggled on intermediate tracks like Texas. In this very same race in 2008, he finished 43rd, which tied his worst career finish at any track, including this very same facility back in 1999. 

After watching him struggle at Texas, there were some murmurs about what was going on in the 24 camp. It was clear that No. 24 team was off in performance in 2008.

The team went to work and tested, with Gordon remarking how he had never in his career tested more than he did in 2008. The struggles continued late into the summer, even though they secured a spot in the Chase, hardly looking like championship material.

Throughout the Chase, fans watched as the team slowly showed signs of improvement. Gordon backed it up with finishes inside the top 10 in seven of the 10 races.

Coming into 2009, the expectations were there, but critics were not considering him to be a serious title threat.

Well, here we are six races into the young season, and he is leading the points and is a weekly contender for the win thus far.

If you watch this team on the track, they appear to have a different look, whether it is their "us against the world" mentality or a motivation in having something to prove to themselves, to the media, or to the fans.

Winning at Texas wouldn't just be any victory. It would be at a track that Gordon has yet to conquer, and a facility that has teased Gordon from reaching Victory Lane. A win on Sunday would be the true exclamation point that the No. 24 is back as a force to be reckoned with like in their glory days of the late 1990s.

As expected, this race came down to the same players many expected: Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, and Jeff Gordon. Where do these guys stack up on this week's winners and losers at Martinsville Speedway?

 

Winners

Jimmie Johnson

Everyone was wondering, what was going on with Jimmie Johnson? Apparently all they needed was to come to Martinsville and that set them straight.  They struggled early with the handling of the car, but they used early cautions to work on the car and slowly made their way to the front.

Johnson's bold move to take the lead from Denny Hamlin nearly took them both out, but great drivers know car control. Johnson took the lead for good, and gave Hendricks Motorsports their 18th victory at the paperclip track.

Points: Fourth

 

Denny Hamlin

Once again, Denny Hamlin led the most laps, but couldn't close the deal.  He looked like the one to beat until Johnson said otherwise.

Hamlin, who has said he is tired of not winning, has been outshined by teammate Kyle Busch, but it was Hamlin who was the star of Joe Gibbs Racing this weekend.

Points: Fifth

 

Tony Stewart

Many questioned whether Tony Stewart could take an organization that struggled to stay in the top 35 last year, make them contenders weekly.

Boy, were we wrong. Stewart might not have led a lap, but he did stay in contention all day long. A strong third-place finish backs up that organization battle cry that they will be a contender.

Points: Seventh

 

Jeff Gordon

No, he didn't win this week but once again he led laps and was up front all day long. The team fell behind on adjustments and struggled with lap traffic. Another top five finish for this team allowed them to pad the point lead.

Although it will mean nothing come September if they don't have any wins. This team will get wins, they like Hamlin need to close the deal.

Points: First

 

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Well finally he is on my winners list. This team didn't look good early on, but they came down pit road made some adjustments throughout the race made their way into the top 10.

This was probably the best race we have seen this team run in a long time. We will have to wait until Texas to see if the meeting they had this past week has changed anything.

Points: 16th

 

A.J. Allmendinger

A.J. Allmendinger has no sponsorship after May. He managed to qualify for the first five races this season on time. Only Tony Stewart did that, today Allmendinger ran within the top 15 for most of the day.

He stayed on the lead lap, and had good pit stops. A strong ninth place finish just might make Allmendinger the sleeper for not only a win this year but to make the Chase, if they can find sponsors.

Points: 15th

 

Losers

Roush Fenway Racing

They must be glad to see Texas next week. In the last two weeks they have led zero laps and only Jamie McMurray had a top 10 finish. They will definitely have to get to work on their short track program before we head to Richmond in May.

Since Matt Kenseth's back-to-back wins early on, this organization has looked mediocre at best even with drivers in the top 12.

Points: Carl Edwards-Eighth, Jamie McMurray-22nd, David Ragan-29th, Greg Biffle-23rd, and Matt Kenseth-12th

 

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch has never denied how much he struggles at Martinsville and Sunday was no different. The team could never get a handle on the car and after spinning out and taking Scott Speed with him (he did accept responsibility for the incident) he never rebounded finished two laps down.

A 24th-place finish has Busch happy to leave Virginia and head for Texas.

Points: Sixth

 

Aric Almirola

He started 37th and finished 37th. This team has shown no improvement. For an organization searching for sponsorship they are not giving potential sponsors a lot to hope for.

Sunday they struggled with handling and tire issues, four of them to be exact. With no top 20 finishes this year this team is stumbling out of the gates.

On top of that, he will have to qualify on speed coming to Texas. This team needs a turnaround if they hope to even qualify for races.

Points: 36th

 

Scott Speed

Joey Logano is not the only rookie this season. Scott Speed carries high expectations himself this season. There are talks of the US F1 team wanting Speed to move from Cup to F1 in 2010. Speed and Red Bull Racing has yet to comment.

They have bigger things to focus on in 2009, Speed is struggling at the track, a 39th on Sunday did not help, and he did lead the race but was caught up in Kyle Busch spin out and had tire issues.

Now they are sitting on the outside looking in on the standings. They need to turn this ship around or RBR needs to contemplate a driver change to get them out of the cellar.

Points: 38th

 

Final Lap...

There are a couple drivers who nearly made the list. Marcos Ambrose followed his strong run at Bristol with a 14th-place finish. Ryan Newman had a strong run coming home sixth; if this team can string together some good finishes they could make the chase.

On the other hand, Casey Mears looked good early on but faded to come home 21st. Kurt Busch also struggled somewhat today with a 18th-place finish.

This was the first race this season where qualifying was rained out and so were practices. We saw somewhat the effect it had on some drivers throughout the race.

In Texas, we should see the usual suspects (Edwards, Busch, and Johnson), but don't be surprised to see Gordon, Kevin Harvick and even Kurt Busch up front.

Next, on to the Lone Star State...

With all the talk of how Bristol can be cruel to even the leader of the race, it seemed like it was pretty tame out there on Sunday, even though some were fighting for their spot next Sunday at Martinsville. Here are the winners and losers from this weekends race.

Winners

Kyle Busch

Three weeks in a row the white flag was paced by a Busch brother. Not to be out done by his older brother Kurt who dominated at Atlanta, Kyle Busch led 415 of 503 laps on Sunday to collect his second win of the season.

Points: Fourth

Jimmie Johnson

In pre-race Jimmie Johnson said he considers not winning at Bristol Motor Speedway at any point in his career to be a personal failure. So, Johnson delivered, posting a third place finish, his best career race at Bristol.

Points: Ninth

Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon is always the groomsmen, never the groom. This team has to be wondering when all the positioning themselves for wins will start to pay off.

Sunday Gordon struggled all day with the handling of his race car. Still, he came home with a fourth place finish. It's only a matter of time until this team pulls out a victory, and Martinsville could be just the place.

Points: First

Marcos Ambrose

To be honest when I saw him sitting in second, I didn't think it would last long. Boy was I wrong. He ran with the leaders all day long, and finished 10th, even though he had been running on seven cylinders. To say this outing was a surprise is an understatement. The question now is will this be a one week wonder or will we see him run well at Martinsville?

Points: 24th

Bubble Boys

There were  a lot of them coming into Sunday and two of them delivered.

Mark Martin

He has had no luck so far in 2009. Blown engines and tire issues had set back this team coming into Sunday's event. Martin was in need of a good run to avoid having to time this way into Martinsville. All he did was go out and win the pole and finish sixth in a very uneventful day at Bristol. Remember, its one race at a time.

Points: 31st

Ryan Newman

Ryan Newman has always been a great qualifier in the Sprint Cup series, though he has seen his share of tough luck as well. Friday he won the outside pole next to Martin and ran within the top 10 all day long. Newman brought home his best finish this year, ending the race in seventh. The off week gave this team exactly what they needed.

Points: 27th

Losers

Carl Edwards

He was a favorite coming into this event, but struggled all weekend with his car and was never even a contender.  Edwards was racing in the back of the pack for most of the day and struggled to stay on the lead lap. A 15th place finish was far from the results they were looking for.

Points:Fifth

Joey Logano

It's a tough year to be rookie in the Sprint Cup series. Racing is only in its second year of the current car and teams are still figuring out the changes.  On top of that you throw in the testing ban that has all but eliminated seat time for drivers.

Joey Logano needed seat time, he needed to run laps, and he needed to learn the tracks. If the testing ban has hurt anyone it has been the rookies.

The much talked about Logano has struggled every week. His best finish was 13th place at Las Vegas. Sunday marked the first time Logano had ever raced at Bristol and it showed. They struggled to stay on the lead lap and ended up with a blown engine.

They were already on the bubble coming in now going into Martinsville, while they are guaranteed a spot, they can't afford any mistakes.

Points: 34th

Brian Vickers

After nearly winning at Atlanta two weeks ago, Vickers had momentum going into the off week, but what a difference two weeks can make. This team was never even a factor, they qualified 27th only to finish in 29th. The last thing this team needed was an off week.

Points: 14th

Final lap...

With all the talk of Bristol being such a scary place for drivers the race wasn't all that impressive. Many drivers complained of not being able to complete a pass on a driver.

We saw some three wide racing from time to time but really the race was not as good as many had predicted or hoped.

Now that we have raced on every type of track, besides a road course, the contenders have worked their way to the top.

The top 12 is starting to take form and we could see a change in a few drivers leaving and entering the top 12, but historically they're not many changes.

On to Martinsville....

 

 

 

 

 

In NASCAR upsets can happen every race and every season.

An upset can mean different things. It could mean a driver pulls out a win that nobody even expected, like Casey Mears at the Coca Cola 600 in 2007.

It could mean winning the pole, when nobody expected it, like David Ruetimann did at Homestead in 2008.

It could mean a finish that leaves you wondering " how did they do that?" like Regan Smith's almost victory at Talledega  last fall.

Coming into to 2009 all the "experts" had picked and listed who they thought would win the championship this year.

The list included three time and defending cup champ Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch who dominated the regular season in 2008 only to struggle in the Chase.

Carl Edwards who came so close to pulling off a huge upset in 2008 coming into 2009 riding a wave of momentum after finishing second to Johnson in the standings.

Even Mark Martin was on the list, and Kevin Harvick. But surprisingly one driver was missing from some list and was an afterthought on others; Jeff Gordon.

After going 0-36 in 2008, many had decided that his career was over, that he was getting soft, his talent had all but disappeared and that being a father had pulled his attention away from racing.

Gordon will  be the first to tell you he had alot of sleepless nights last year and it wasn't because he was winless for the first time since his rookie season, it was because his young daughter Ella-Sophia  wasn't sleeping through the night herself.

Fast forward to 2009. Gordon has a swagger about him that we haven't seen since 2001, which was his last championship. His confidence comes from getting good night sleep and his teams hard work in the offseason to get him comfortable in the new car.

So far he is the only driver to finish in the top 15 in every race, the only driver to lead a lap in every race and currently sits atop the points standings for the first time in over a year.

When you watch Gordon on the track, there is definitely something different about this team. In 2007, yes they were contenders, and yes they won races but it wasn't because they were always up front.

They  usually took advantage of another drivers mistake whether it be on pit road or on the track, the 24 team was always there. So yeah they won but they werent' always running well enough to win.

This year this team has been up front in every race. Gordon has been doing something that he struggled with even in 2007, coming through the pack.

Gordon hasn't always been able to navigate traffic even on his best days but so far, he has been able to make 215 quality passes that fourth best in the series.

While they haven't been to victory lane so far, this team has been the best  team by far this season. They know that if they postion themselves for wins, the wins will come and so far that working.

You shouldn't be to surprised that this team has gotten to work after last year and worked not only on the car but team chemistry as well.

Gordon sounds different on the in-car radio, he is able to tell crew chief Steve LeTarte what he needs in the car so they can find a way to pull out a win. That alone is something we didn't see much last year if not at all.

Being the underdog is something Gordon is used to, he wasn't suppose to win one championship let alone four.

He knows that all he has to do is make sure he is there each race when it counts and come Richmond in the fall be in position to not only make the chase but be leading it when it counts. 

It is still early in the season and anything can happen, but so far Gordon is proving he will be a contender this year.

Before the season began he might not have been on many lists to win the championship this year.

Gordon is hoping to pull of an upset of his own this season.

That's win the championship.

Four races into the 2009 season, and the cream has begun to rise to the top.

Here's a rundown of this week's Losers and Winners at the Kobalt Tools 500.

Winners

Kurt Busch

The field got Busch whacked the last two weeks. This time it was older brother Kurt Busch who bested not only his younger brother Kyle (see losers) who was three laps down, but the entire field. He ran a near perfect race.

His victory lap, don't knock it till you try it. Busch got the last laugh on the field on Sunday, scoring his first victory since rains shorten New Hampshire last summer.

Points: Third

Jeff Gordon

Yes, he is on my list again, until he has a bad race or proves otherwise he will come in second, again. After a caution caught them on the tail end of the lead lap they ran hard to avoid going down one lap and a Bobby Labonte spin allowed Gordon to stay on the lead lap and battle back to take the lead just after midway.

This team has been the most consistent team so far. Even without a win so far this team has been challenging for the win each week and look for that to continue in Bristol.

Points: First

Carl Edwards

This time last year Edwards had already won two races, he looked like the guy to beat early last season.

Fast forward to 2009. Edwards has had a slow start-no wins and just one top five and that came Sunday.

Atlanta breathed life into this team when they needed it. A strong third finish doesn't tell the whole story they were on the lead lap all day but struggled in the pits and with keeping up with the track at times.

But this team still has the same core guys from last year's run and they will get it together.

Points: Fourth

Brian Vickers

If it wasn't for a late race caution for Robby Gordon, Brian Vickers might have caught Kurt Busch late for the lead. Instead caution flew and Vickers had to settle for a fifth-place finish on Sunday.

This team should make the chase this season. With a strong leader on the pit box and in the car, making a run for a title this year should be well within their reach.

Points: 11th

Losers

Jimmy Watts

This name nobody will recognize-but if you saw the race on Sunday you'll know what I am talking about. He was the gasman for Marcose Ambrose that ran out onto the infield grass chasing after a loose tire.

If NASCAR had seen the runaway tire making its way to the track, they would have thrown a caution, so the result would have been the same.

In that moment he caused a caution, putting nearly the entire field one to two laps down and leaving only nine cars on the lead lap. He changed the entire race not even 100 laps into the day.

We could say he didn't know better, but it should be common sense. Would you run out onto the interstate or freeway with cars whizzing by at 60-70 MPH? I wouldn't think so.

Kyle Busch

Yes, it is one bad race. But this team was not very good all weekend. They seem to be really struggling with the setups for this team. Yes, they won last week, but they weren't the best car last week they got themselves into position to win late.

But Sunday this team didn't look like the same team. They struggled with the tires and track conditions, fell a lap down early, and ended up three laps back when it was all said and done.

They will be fine come Bristol, but you have to wonder this team doesn't have the same dominance they had early last year. Have they done something different-or has the rest of the field caught up?

Points: Seventh

Mark Martin

With all the hype coming into this season, he has failed to live up to it. Winning the pole this weekend I thought would be what they needed. But all that speed in practice failed to equate to the race and they were never a factor.

A late-race spin turned what looked to be a good finish into 31st-place finish and keeps them on the bubble heading into Bristol.

They need to finish well at Bristol to bolster their spot in the standings. Otherwise, this team will be racing its way in at Martinsville.

Points: 34th

Final Lap...

Well we have hit the first off week of the season and now we can begin to see who the real players are.

With the final race on last years old point standings coming up at Bristol look to see some desperate teams try anything to get themselves into position to be in the top 35.

It was a real disappointment to see how empty the stands were for this race. After strong attendance at Las Vegas and a surprising attendance showing at California, many thought Atlanta would have been pretty full.

But the poor economy is to blame for the poor showing on Sunday. Expect more showings like this at more tracks this season if we don't see a turnaround soon.

A heads up to AJ Allmendinger, who has qualified for every race this year despite running a limited schedule and searching for sponsorship. He sits 20th in the points, with one race to go, before the cut off of last years points.

Enjoy the off week!!!