2014 Driver Reviews: No. 6 Jeff Gordon

After doing exit interviews for Sprint Cup Series drivers in 2013, we’re turning the tables. We want the drivers to sell themselves. So here are the resumés for all full-time Sprint Cup Series drivers in 2014. Then, at the end, we’ll provide a summation of the driver’s season in 150 words or less.

Name: Jeff Gordon

NASCAR Experience: 22 full seasons in the Sprint Cup Series. 92 wins.

Most recent team: Hendrick Motorsports

Most recent season finish: 6th

2014 accomplishments: Four wins, 14 top fives (the most since 2009) and 23 top 10s (the most since 2009, too).

Most memorable moment: Well, in the postive category, we’ll go with the win at Indianapolis.

And do you really need to see what happened at Texas again?

Strengths: Not restarts.

2015 goals: Title No. 5 and see if 100 wins is a realistic achievement in 2016.

FTM’s Take: The ubiquity of the fight at Texas and what it resulted from overshadows just how good Gordon’s 2014 was. Though if you’re a Gordon fan, we know you’ve cursed the Chase many a time already with the realization that Gordon would have won a season-long title.

But Gordon was good damn near every week in 2014. He’ll never approach what he did in the latter half of the 1990s, but can anyone at this point? In 1998, Gordon won 13 races. In Jimmie Johnson’s career-best season for wins, he won 10.

But with the exception of the occasional Gordon-restart, Gordon is near the top of the heap in the Cup Series and it’s hard to see him disappearing from it unless he disappears from the Series entirely. And while it’s painful to realize that the slow pit stop after the cut tire at Texas cost him a shot at the championship at Homestead, we don’t think it was Gordon’s last chance at a championship.

Previous reviews: No. 7 Matt Kenseth, No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 9 Carl Edwards, No. 10 Kyle Busch, No. 11 Jimmie Johnson, No. 12 Kurt Busch, No. 13 AJ Allmendinger, No. 14 Greg Biffle, No. 15 Kasey Kahne, No. 16 Aric Almirola, No. 17 Kyle Larson, No. 18, Jamie McMurray, No. 19 Clint Bowyer, No. 20, Austin Dillon, No. 21 Paul Menard, No. 22 Brian Vickers, No. 23 Marcos Ambrose, No. 24 Martin Truex Jr., No. 25 Tony Stewart, No. 26 Casey Mears, No. 27 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 28, Danica Patrick, No. 29, Justin Allgaier, No. 30, David Gilliland, No. 31 Cole Whitt, No. 32 David Ragan, No. 33 Michael Annett, No. 34 Reed Sorenson, No. 35 Alex Bowman