We were so strong here the last time I really thought we were going to be good again, but I was terrible in lapped traffic. We were probably about a sixth or seventh-placed car all day. This car is impossible to adjust once you get it off, so we're pretty limited on what we could do. It seemed like everything we did just made it worse, and the harder you drive this car, the slower you go.
"Unless you lead every lap and beat Jimmie Johnson and win the race, you don't have a shot at it. Those guys are on an unbelievable roll. Whatever they've got we're missing; we know everything they've got, but we're just not hitting on it. They're doing an awesome job, and we just haven't been able to get the job done the way we need to.
I thought this was our year to get another one (championship), but we're just coming up short here at the crucial time. I'm frustrated with the way we've been running when we've run so well all year long and we got ourselves in a great position, and it just hasn't worked out for us. Those guys have knocked it out of the ballpark, and unless you're going to lead the most laps and win the race you're not going to make up any ground.
Gordon was effusive in his praise for his team-mate, who he acknowledged would be a more than worthy double champion should he prevail in Florida in four days' time, and admitted his own side of the garage simply hadn't done enough, despite their meteoric start to the season.
"He's wracked up incredible numbers since he's been in the series, he said of his fellow Californian. To me, it's always a combination of a great driver and a great team. When you get those two ingredients you just think this stuff is easy, and they're making it look real easy. It's so difficult to find that combination, but they have it and that's why they're winning four races in a row.
![Jeff Gordon - DuPont Chevrolet [pic credit: image.net]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/279900.jpg)
