In sports, sometimes you see a performance so dominant that it is talked about years after it took place. NASCAR is no different and one man who personified dominance towards the turn of the century was Jeff Gordon. The four-time Cup Series champion picked up one of his most impressive and dominant race victories in the fourth championship-winning year at a track where he excelled, Dover.
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The year was 2001 and it had been a couple of seasons without the driver of the #24 car holding the Cup Series trophy in his hands. The then-three-time Champion went into the season with a hunger to reach the top of the mountain again and dropped jaws at the MBNA Platinum 400. Not only did he win the race, he did it after leading an incredible 381 of 400 laps. Leading 95% of the laps.
23 years ago today, Jeff Gordon won the 2001 MBNA Platinum 400 @ Dover, Gordon led 381 of 400 laps in the race. pic.twitter.com/P1MpdVJ8z3
— Andrew (@Basso488) June 3, 2024
The funny thing is that had it not been for the green flag pit stops and the cautions, Gordon might have had an even more dominant result. Dover had always been one of his favorite tracks and that was his fourth victory on it. However, the HMS star was not taking any chances, only focussing on crossing the start-finish line before anyone else and hoping nothing untoward happened.
“I was thinking it would be a real shame to lead that many laps and lose it at the end. I just didn’t want to get caught up in a fuel-mileage deal,” he said after the race as per ESPN. The former HMS driver had good reason to be concerned about fuel as in 1999 when he led 375 laps at Dover only to see Bobby Labonte drive to the checkered flag after he had to stop for fuel.
This time, however, nothing of the sort happened as Gordon set the bar as one of the most in-form drivers. He became the Cup Series champion for the fourth and final time in his career that year, capping off a season in which he won six races.
