When you're NASCAR's active career wins leader and you haven't tasted victory in almost two seasons, it's no surprise that many wonder what's going on.
And while Jeff Gordon understands the constant queries surrounding the timing of his next win, it doesn't mean he enjoys hearing them.
"You do get a little tired of answering the question, but I get it and I understand why I'm getting asked," he said.
"Trust me: It's not on anybody's mind more than it's on mine and our team. If we knew what the problem was, we would be fixing it and pulling into victory lane."
The four-time NASCAR champion's last victory came early in 2009, when he took the chequered flag in the April Sprint Cup race in Texas. He looked like he was about to end his drought early in 2010 after running well in several races during the first third of the year when he finished in the top 5 five times and led the most laps on three occasions. Unfortunately for the 82-race winner, fate seemed to conspire against his adding another victory to his tally and he ended the season winless for the second time in three years.
"We had some opportunities to get some wins and you just can't let them get away when they are there because it's so hard to win at this level and you never know what the competition is going to be like as the season progresses," he said.
"So, it's frustrating to me that we ran as well as we did in the first 10 races and had ourselves in a position to win and didn't, especially now looking at how the season turned out because we didn't seem to have that kind of performance later in the season."
The April race in Texas was a perfect illustration of the kind of bad luck that befell Gordon in 2010. The Hendrick Motorsports driver performed superbly all afternoon and looked to be in complete control of the race when he pitted in the lead under yellow with 22 laps to go.
Gordon took four tires while many rivals changed only two and he came out of the pits eighth. When things went green again five laps later, the No. 24 Chevy driver got caught in a nine-car wreck and ended the day in the garage.
While Gordon was able to perform well enough to be one of the 12 drivers who qualified for the Chase for the Cup that decides the season champion, he couldn't get the job done in the 10-race playoff-style title shootout.
To make matters worse, his teammate, Jimmie Johnson, not only won six times in 2010 but he also took his fifth straight Sprint Cup title. Although Johnson's success continued this year, the Hendrick organization recognized a need for change among its other three teams and decided to shuffle their crew chiefs for next year. The five-time champ and Chad Knaus will not be separated.
Gordon will work with Alan Gustafson next season, who has headed the No. 5 crew at Hendrick since 2005, most recently with Mark Martin at the wheel. Gordon's crew chief Steve Letarte since late 2005 moves to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car while Martin will pair with Lance McGrew.
While things will be different in three Hendrick garages next year, the change should also make observers realize that Johnson's championship performance deserves added recognition, Gordon insisted.
"What makes it more impressive is that I don't feel like Hendrick were the best and fastest cars out there on the track in the second half of the season," Gordon said.
"We aren't far off, but we need to be better and those guys are inspiring us to go out and win our fifth championship."
Another huge change for Gordon next year will be on the outside of the car where his traditional sponsor DuPont will only appear for one-third of the 36-races season and his primary backer on most weekends will be the AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons) Foundation's "Drive to End Hunger." DuPont and Gordon have been synonymous since he broke into Cup in 1993 and the orange flaming paint scheme over a deep blue background made the No. 24 Chevy one of the most recognizable cars in the paddock.
"[DuPont]are still going to be a significant position part of our race team. It's going to be a bit different, but I am excited they are going to be on for some of the races," he said.
"I am really looking forward to getting behind Drive to End Hunger and getting the message out."
The deal with Gordon made AARP the first charity to enter NASCAR as a primary car sponsor. AARP's goal is to raise awareness of and money for the six million U.S. citizens 60 years of age and older who go hungry every day.
As he heads into 2011 invigorated by his new sponsor and crew chief, Gordon also got a boost from an unlikely source when Roush driver Carl Edwards won the last two races of 2010 after going two years without a victory. Edwards' last triumph prior to this year came in the 2008 season finale.
"You look at what those guys have done and the Roush group in general from about halfway through the season to the end and the improvements they made. They were really were pretty far off of being in contention to win and they went to work," he said.
"And that's where we're at now. Yeah, Jimmie won his fifth championship, but we're behind and we are going to be competitive next year, we have to make some significant changes."
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