Some people in Jeff Gordon’s situation might be annoyed. He led a ton of laps early in the race, and for a while it looked like he was going to win his first points race since 2007.

Then the race got away from him. He ended up finishing fourth.

While he would have preferred to win, I’m guessing Gordon wasn’t too upset.

Why, you ask? Well, beside the fact that the’s married to a supermodel, he is also leading the Cup point standings. He’s 89 points ahead of the surprising Clint Bowyer, and has been by far the most consistent driver this season.

While NASCAR has made some weak attempts to increase the reward rate for winning races, the fact remains that the driver who is most consistent will be atop the standings, even if he isn’t winning.

So there’s no reason for Gordon to be upset. He can run fourth every week for the rest of the year and probably win the championship, assuming he does it all the way through the Chase.

That’s the system NASCAR has set up, so this is what they get -- a guy who hasn’t won with a comfortable points lead.

And that’s why Jeff Gordon is still smiling despite not being able to seal the deal on Sunday.

Jr. finally has a solid showing -- Can he back it up?
Dale Jr. ran up front on Sunday and got a solid finish, and that’s good news for him. But he needs to continue running that way if he’s going to make the Chase.

On a Jr. side note, The silliest thing I heard all weekend was when one of the elite NASCAR media types said that Rick Hendrick had told him the key to Dale Jr. doing well was him getting more physically fit.
While I’m sure losing a few pounds wouldn’t hurt, I have a better idea: Give him good cars that are capable of winning races. At that point, if he’s a good enough driver, he’ll begin to see the success his championship-winning teammates have had in the past.

What’s up with Roush cars?
If Jack Roush wants to win the championship, he needs to work on his short track program. For the second straight week, his cars were junk, with only one good finish out of five teams.