{"id":12187,"date":"2015-11-23T09:03:21","date_gmt":"2015-11-23T17:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/gordon-finishes-6th-in-final-race\/"},"modified":"2015-11-23T09:03:21","modified_gmt":"2015-11-23T17:03:21","slug":"gordon-finishes-6th-in-final-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/gordon-finishes-6th-in-final-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Gordon finishes 6th in final race"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOMESTEAD, Fla.<\/strong> \u2014 Jeff Gordon climbed out of his race car and stepped into the waiting arms of team owner Rick Hendrick.<\/p>\n

They shared a long embrace and some words of encouragement. Gordon then kissed his wife and hugged his two kids before getting mobbed by fans. Someone in the crowd screamed \u201cYou\u2019re still the man!\u201d<\/p>\n

Just not the champion.<\/p>\n

Gordon failed to add a fairytale finish to his storied career Sunday, finishing sixth in the NASCAR season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a little disappointed we weren\u2019t more of a threat in the championship,\u201d said Gordon, a four-time champion who last won it all in 2001. \u201cBeyond that, it\u2019s absolutely been a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kyle Busch won the race and his first Sprint Cup championship. Kevin Harvick finished second in the Chase playoffs, followed by Gordon and Martin Truex Jr. Those four were the only ones remaining in the hunt for the championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew when those guys got by me, I just didn\u2019t have what they had,\u201d Gordon said about Busch and Harvick.<\/p>\n

Busch, who missed the first 11 races after breaking his right leg and leg foot, was the comeback kid. Harvick was the defending Sprint Cup series champion. Truex was the underdog driving for a small team.<\/p>\n

Gordon was the overwhelming sentimental favorite. It showed before, during and after the race.<\/p>\n

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne as well as fellow drivers Danica Patrick and Kyle Larson wore Gordon tribute hats before the finale. Patrick wore one with old-school \u201crainbow warriors\u201d colors.<\/p>\n

Joey Logano posted a picture of him and Gordon on Facebook that showed them sharing a moment when Logano was little.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were my idol growing up,\u201d Logano wrote. \u201cNever did I think I\u2019d race against you for wins. Congrats on a great career Jeff Gordon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harvick got a modern-day keepsake when he stopped by Gordon\u2019s No. 24 Chevrolet \u2014 which got a police escort to pit road \u2014 and posed for a photo.<\/p>\n

NASCAR presented Gordon with a tribute video during the pre-race drivers\u2019 meeting and then everyone in the room, including drivers, sponsors and dignitaries, gave him a standing ovation.<\/p>\n

\u201cJeff, congratulations on an outstanding career. We thank you for all you\u2019ve done for NASCAR and will do,\u201d NASCAR vice chairman Mike Helton said. \u201cYou\u2019re a true champion and a top-shelf guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans lined a red carpet leading to the meeting and showered Gordon with praise. Gordon responded by high-fiving scores of them.<\/p>\n

The 44-year-old Gordon announced in January that this would be his last season. He won 93 races in 23 full seasons. He wanted one more \u2014 which would have been bigger than the rest.<\/p>\n

He hopes to remember all the details of his celebratory day, including visits from racing legend Mario Andretti, three-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton and sports-car ace Scott Pruett. Gordon made sure his colleagues will remember the day, too.<\/p>\n

Gordon gave each driver in the finale field an inscribed, carbon-fiber box to commemorate his last race and their starting position. Richard Petty did something similar before the 1992 season finale in Atlanta. Petty gave each driver in that race, including Gordon, a \u201cPetty blue\u201d money clip.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething I\u2019ve always cherished,\u201d Gordon tweeted Sunday along with a picture of the money clip.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Petty gave Gordon $93 to put in the money clip and told him he had one more dollar ready for him should he win the finale.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t happen, mostly because Gordon fought an ill-handling race car all afternoon. When it was over, Gordon thanked his crew and Hendrick over the team radio and then made his final turn down pit road.<\/p>\n

Truex was among those who stopped by to offer support, reaching over the top of his car to shake Gordon\u2019s hand. NASCAR chairman Brian France also visited.<\/p>\n

But nothing was like that moment with Hendrick, his longtime boss and lifelong friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he would have kept going with the things he was saying, it was going to get out of control there,\u201d Gordon said. \u201cI was so happy to have that moment with him getting out of the car.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HOMESTEAD, Fla. \u2014 Jeff Gordon climbed out of his race car and stepped into the waiting arms of team owner Rick Hendrick. They shared a long embrace and some words of encouragement. Gordon then kissed his wife and hugged his two kids before getting mobbed by fans. Someone in the crowd screamed \u201cYou\u2019re still the … Continue reading Gordon finishes 6th in final race<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-12187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12187\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12187"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=12187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}