Jeff Gordon stoic about his last NASCAR Sprint All-Star race

Yes, this was the last time Jeff Gordon would drive in NASCAR’s Sprint All-Star Race.

No, that didn’t give him pause to reflect on the three All-Star races he won or bring him any closer to the finality of a spectacular career in NASCAR.

“It’s hard for me to think of it that way,” Gordon said as he left his hauler Saturday night, following a fourth-place finish. “Homestead (the last race of what Gordon has said will be his last Sprint Cup season) will affect me a lot more as it probably will be my last race.

“It’s awesome to see all the fans and all the things they did on the track. But as far as really putting it all in perspective – it sinking in that that was my last All-Star race – I wasn’t thinking like that. I was focused in on the race.”

Gordon was always solid but never spectacular Saturday. He steadily improved his track position, going from a ninth-place start to as strong as third. He didn’t win any of the first four segments, but his average finish in each segment kept him in contention entering the pit stop that set up the final 10-lap dash.

He exited that pit stop seventh and had the power to forge ahead to fourth place almost immediately. But race winner Denny Hamlin and runner-up Kevin Harvick built such sizeable leads that they were uncatchable the last eight laps. So Gordon was essentially chasing Kurt Busch for third, which is hardly what he’s about at the end of a 22-year career in which he won four Sprint Cup championships.

Gordon didn’t seem disappointed by Saturday, rather he was philosophical that he got what he could out of the No. 24 Chevrolet on a good, not great, night.

“We were solid. I was pretty happy with the performance of the car,” Gordon said. “It’s so hard to get that track position that you need. A couple of guys were able to make some moves and maneuver through. We made a few but not many.”

Gordon was feted pre-race, sharing the stage with his wife, children and stepfather to considerable applause. Former crew chief Ray Evernham came by to mark the event with his former protégé.

As Hamlin celebrated in Victory Lane, the gigantic video board at Charlotte Motor Speedway flashed a thank you to Jeff Gordon. A few minutes later he walked to his hauler by himself, drawing surprisingly little attention from fans in the garage area.

When he departed that hauler a half-hour later, a single family waited to have him sign a checkered flag. But for Gordon, this night was not about checkered flags.

“It was all about lining up on the inside. When we lined up on the inside a few times we made up some spots. When we lined up on the outside we lost some,” Gordon said.

“At the end we were on the inside (passing three cars) and had a decent average. We were decent and got a fourth-place finish for it.”

This story was originally published May 17, 2015 at 12:51 AM with the headline "Jeff Gordon stoic about his last NASCAR Sprint All-Star race."