Top 10 HEARTBREAKING Jeff Gordon losses

Jeff Gordon won a lot of races, but he also lost a lot of races. Today, I’m taking a trip down memory pain, counting down the 10 most heartbreaking Jeff Gordon losses.

0:00 1998 The Winston
0:32 1995 Pocono
1:52 2007 Martinsville
2:59 2011 Talladega
3:45 2014 California
4:56 2002 Daytona
5:58 2010 Las Vegas
6:58 2010 Martinsville
8:34 2007 Watkins Glen
9:21 2012 Martinsville
10:26 2014 Texas

Music Credit:
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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The 1998 running of the Winston. Jeff Gordon has a massive lead with only a lap and a half to go. He takes the white flag and starts slowing out of nowhere. Gordon runs out of gas and loses the Winston in heartbreaking fashion. That’s the kind of video this is, folks. As the Will Vulk YouTube channel presents another trip down memory pain. Today it’s the top 10 heartbreaking Jeff Gordon losses. By the way, I’m only looking at points races, but this one is too brutal to not include. Number 10 is the 1995 Pocono Spring Race. As many races as he won in the9s, it’s hard to believe there were some he left on the table, but it’s true. He leads 124 laps. That’s well over half the race. But here we go. A caution for Jeff Burton with 25 to go. Gordon leads them down pit road and takes four tires while Ted Musgrave takes two. Musgrave wins the race off pit road and now leads the field to the restart. It’s no problem as Gordon takes the lead back within a few laps. Now we’re about to see a near disaster as Ward Burton loses control right in front of him. Seriously, look how close that was. But Gordon is spared. He set sail on the ensuing restart with 15 to go. It seems like he’s on his way to victory, but another caution this time for Poncho Carter. Now Gordon leads him to a restart with six to go. And there’s smoke. Gordon missed a shift and now he’s dropping back big time as his teammate Terry Leonti goes on to win. Gordon finishes 16. Jeff Gordon’s done some great things for us. And you know, we’re going to make mistakes. Everybody keeps saying championship, championship. You know, we’re going to make mistakes and this is a young team. I think Jeff’s a great little young driver and we’re going to have more days. Yeah, he was definitely right about that. Number nine, the 2007 Martinsville Spring Race. And this one is like slow torture because Gordon clearly has a better car than his teammate Jimmy Johnson. He spends basically the entire last 10 laps glued to his back bumper trying to find a way around, but Johnson shuts down every attempt. Obviously, Gordon is not going to risk crashing his teammate in this situation. So, it’s just hoping one of these bump and runs works. By the way, the fact that it’s Jimmy Johnson and not anyone else has to make this extra painful because recently Johnson’s had quite a few more wins. Anyway, it’s setting up for a dramatic finish on the last lap. He’s going to move. He’s going to move. Here comes the He’s got the inside. They touch once, twice. Drag race. Jimmy Johnson. I’m not going to wreck a guy to to to win a race. I tried to move them with these cars. It’s tough to tough to do, you know, and he did exactly what he should have done. So, you know, I’m happy for Jimmy, happy for Hendrick that they won the race, but, you know, I’m really disappointed that we didn’t cuz I felt like we should have. The 2011 Tallaladega spring race checks in at number eight. It’s the era of the twocar tandem and Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin have timed it beautifully as they take the lead coming to the white flag. These two weren’t hanging out up front for most of the race just waiting for the end. And it’s like they executed this perfectly. Gordon’s going to win. Well, not quite as two other groups caught up to them. Here goes Jimmy Johnson down low. And now Martin gets detached from Gordon. He’s got room. They’re three wide. Three by three in the line. Johnson, maybe Jimmy Johnson. Just a real roller coaster of emotions here. One minute you’re thinking, “What a charge to the front. He’s going to win.” And the next you’re watching him lose in a three-wide finish. At number seven, it’s the 2014 California race. Jimmy Johnson has a 2 and 1/2 second lead over Gordon and he has a flat tire. NASCAR doesn’t call a debris caution here. And now Gordon takes over the lead with just seven laps to go. There would now be problems all over the place. Ryan Newman comes to pit road. Brad Kesalowski has a tire down. And Marcus Ambrose, too. But it stays green. And Gordon is just trying to nurse it home to the finish, managing a pretty sizable lead. Now watch on the right side of the screen. It looks like Clint Ber has a problem, too. And while everyone else may hit the pit road, Ber spins out. And at this point, NASCAR has to throw a caution. Even though Gordon is the leader at the scheduled distance, it doesn’t matter. It’s going to a green white checker. You know, I’ve documented at least 20 of these races that have been altered by overtime on this channel, but not this one. Gordon loses a bunch of spots on pit road, restarts on row four, and kind of gets pushed down to the apron. After an ugly restart, he finishes 13th. Number six, the 2002 Daytona 500. Gordon grabs the lead on a late restart with 24 laps to go and he’s going to hang on to it. He has the lead with 10 to go, looking for his third 500 win. And I don’t know if anyone can get around him, but there’s a crash. Robbie Gordon has trouble. And now we have a restart with only a few laps to go. Sterling Marlin gets underneath him. And Gordon spins out. He was in a great position. But this ride through the grass effectively ends his chances of winning. Me being spun was my fault cuz uh he hung back so far, which I didn’t think you’re supposed to be able to do, but he did. And he had me, you know. He uh he he got restart. He had me and I moved down in front of him to block him and I did and got me a little bit of a push but he still got inside me and uh you I just tried to block him and all he had to do is just hold the wheel straight and spun me out. And there wasn’t a pass for the lead after the final restart which makes you wonder if not for that late caution would Gordon be a fourtime Daytona 500 champion. Number five is the 2010 Las Vegas race. Gordon has an awesome car and he absolutely dominates this race leading 219 of 267 laps in position to win. But look a caution with 39 to go. They come down pit road. Gordon takes two tires while Jimmy Johnson takes four. That is bad news. Gordon is able to hold him off for a little bit but not long enough. Johnson gets around him and Gordon slips back to third. you know, we had the car and uh you know, that’s what makes uh leading so tough sometimes. It’s real tough to make uh the right decision. And that 48 bunch is so strong. You know, you don’t want to give them four tires and only be uh one or two positions behind you. This is extra painful because of when it happened. Wins were hard to come by. Between 2008 and 2010, Jeff Gordon won only one race. Him not closing this one out despite leading nearly the whole time. Brutal. Number four, and speaking of losses in 2010 hurting, let’s look at the 2010 Goodies Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville, which provided the complete opposite of pain relief for Jeff Gordon fans. In the closing laps, Denny Hamlin has a big lead. Gordon’s in fourth 8 and 1/2 seconds back. But look, third place Jeff Burton crashes, which means Gordon moves up to third. And now we’re going to bunch the field up. First place Hamlin, second place Kyle Bush. Both pit for some reason. And now Gordon is the leader. Gordon just has to survive four laps. He’s not the best restarter in the world. But hey, look, this time he gets a great one. Let’s just bring this thing home. Two to go. It’s all over. Turn three. Turn four. He can see the white flag. And oh no, Kyle Bush is in trouble. Even though Gordon is the leader at the scheduled distance, doesn’t matter. We’re going to a green white checkered and things are about to get chaotic. Matt Kenith moves Gordon up the racetrack. Now we’re side by side for the lead down the back. Gordon trying to do everything he can. Doesn’t matter. Kenth overdrives the corner and that’s it. He was a couple seconds away from winning this race. Instead, he comes home third. The real unfortunate part was that that yellow came out with about 100 feet. uh to go to get the white. We had the thing wrapped up. It’s hard to believe he didn’t find victory lane once in 2010. He could have won like eight times that year. I made a whole video about it actually if you want to experience more heartbreak from that year. For number three, we’re going back to 2007 at Watkins Glenn. Here’s another great race from Gordon. He leads 51 laps. That’s more than half the race. And here he is leading with two to go. And he spins out. Talk about brutal. He just wheel hops it into turn one. Ironically, race winner Tony Stewart did the same thing earlier in the race. But considering when this happened to Gordon, that’s a devastating way to lose. He’s driving hard, you know, just overd it into one. Pretty much same thing that happened to Tony earlier. You know, we’re just right on the edge there in the breaking zone getting into one and just stupid, you know. I mean, I I know I had to push. Tony was really good and I wanted that win really bad. And I know points don’t mean anything, so I pushed and I pushed too far. Number two, it’s the 2012 Martinsville Spring Race. Gordon leads 329 laps in this race, and he’s trying to get that lead back from Jimmy Johnson in the closing laps. An interesting wrinkle here. Hendrickk Motorsports is looking for its 200th Cup win as an organization. And now we have the team’s two all-time winningest drivers setting up for a duel. This looks like 2007 all over again, except this time Gordon is actually having success. He gets inside Johnson and nos is ahead. He’s about to clear him. But wait, there’s a caution for David Rudman and stopped on track. Gordon leads it at the scheduled distance, but that doesn’t matter. It’s going to a green white checkered. Clint Boyer takes it three wide on the restart. And that’s that. You know, I didn’t want to see that last caution. Uh man, we we we had such a great battle with the 48 and he’s so tough here, you know, and to be able to even get up beside of him and I you I had to rough him up a little bit, but you know, I felt like I had the position to to get the lead. And now for the most heartbreaking Jeff Gordon loss, it’s the 2014 Texas Ball Race. It’s the first year with the elimination chase format. Gordon looking to win his way into the championship four. He takes the lead with nine laps to go and you can see he has a comfortable lead built up a few laps later. Looks like he’s on his way until Clint Boyer crashes setting up a green white checker. On the restart, Kesalowski goes up the middle, makes contact with Gordon. Now Gordon has a tire going down and he goes from a spot in the championship four to a 29th place finish and a brawl. You know, your emotions are high. That was a huge, huge race for us. We had the car, we had the position. So proud of my team and I’m proud of Jimmy Johns for winning that race, not letting that little, you know what, win that race. And the heartbreak from this race just continues next week at Phoenix. Ryan Newman keeps Gordon out of the championship four by just one point. If Gordon would have made it, I mean, he has the best car at Homestead qualifying on the pole and leading a raceh high 161 laps late in the race. He’s battling for the win. The caution comes out late. Gordon Pitts from second, clearing the way for the championship four to battle amongst themselves. If not for that loss at Texas, I don’t know. Is he a five-time champion? Jeff Gordon won a lot of races, but he also lost a lot of races. What did I miss that should have made the list instead? Be sure to let me know. Also, since you made it all the way to the end, why not like this video and subscribe? More motorsports content to come. Thanks for watching.