After coming home a distant tenth in last weekend's Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, Jeff Gordon acknowledged his hopes of lifting the NASCAR Nextel Cup crown are now all-but gone, but he vowed to go out fighting.

At 300 points ahead earlier during the campaign, the four-time Winston Cup Champion had looked a sure-fire bet to claim the honours, but as his form has nose-dived in recent weeks he has seen Hendrick Motorsports team-mate Jimmie Johnson embark on a winning streak – one that has turned the latter's 300-point deficit into an 86-point lead heading into the final round next weekend.

"It's over,” Gordon confessed after the race.” Even if we win it, it's because they had problems, and while we'll accept the cheque and the trophy we don't want to do it that way. Those guys have flat-out killed everybody; they are stomping not just us, but everybody right now, and you've got to give credit where credit's due. They deserve a lot of credit.

“We didn't step up and win the races when we needed to, and I'm just bummed out that we're not getting it done the way I know I'm capable of."

Six victories earlier on in the season are testament to Gordon's ability to get the job done, but late-race contact with Kevin Harvick and handling woes contributed to the 36-year-old's lowly finish in Arizona – one that has effectively killed his championship dreams. Indeed, the Californian has an average result of just fifth place over the most recent nine races, while Johnson has won the last four on the bounce.

“[The contact] didn't affect us in any way today,” he insisted. “We were going backwards at that time anyway and just weren't getting a handle on it. We took four tyres hoping that would pay off for us, but traffic was so horrendous and with track position and all that we just couldn't get up there. Another top ten, but still not a good enough day to get it done.

“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.”