Gordon not getting carried away

Gordon held a massive lead in the points just before the Chase started, but he dropped to second when points for the top twelve in the standings were allocated. He then tied teammate Jimmie Johnson after Loudon and is now two points ahead of Tony Stewart in the standings.

"You have to make the most of the bad days and take advantage of the good days," Gordon said. "When the race started at Dover, the car was awesome and I thought we were going to have a great day. But we lost the handle on the car and it was a struggle from that point on.

"While a lot of the Chase contenders encountered some problems, we were able to get a respectable finish and the points lead. But there's still eight races to go and many more points to be gained and lost."

The four-time Nextel Cup champion is hoping to increase his gap in the points on Sunday as he heads to Kansas Speedway this weekend, a track where he has won twice, finishing also four times in the top ten in six starts at the 1.5-mile oval.

Last year Gordon was second in the standings only six points out of the lead right before Kansas, when a fuel pump failure ended a good run in the event. A wreck and a blown engine in the following weeks ended his chances of fighting for his fifth Nextel Cup title.

"We finished sixth last year in the points, but I don't think it was indicative of how well we ran during the Chase," Gordon said. "We ran well here, at Talladega and at Charlotte - all races where we had poor finishes. In fact, we were strong at nine of the 10 Chase races with the lone exception being Homestead.

"I think that carried over to this year. We had a great start to the season and we have four wins so far and a lot of top-fives and top tens. I hope we have a great end to the season as well."