Legends, for any legend in any sport sets the bar of where fans look up to them and where boys and girls want to be one day and one of those legends of NASCAR is Jeff Gordon. In 805 starts he has racked up 4 championships 93 wins,325 top 5s, 477 top 10s 81 poles, ran 231223 laps led 24936 laps earned $153,703,667 with an average start of 10.5 and an average finish of 12.5. But one thing that sticks up when you say Jeff Gordon is how close he has been to 5 championships but never got it. 2014 was one of those seasons. As The Iceberg would say on his Youtube edition of Missing Rings 2014 bought many different story lines like Jimmie Johnson a 6 time champion trying to start a new streak and to tie Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty as the only 3 drivers to win 7 championships, 3 time champion Tony Stewart a star looking for a redemption year after being sidelined by a leg injury in 2013, Dale Earnhardt Jr NASCAR'S most popular driver looking more poised than ever to be called a NASCAR cup champion. But for Jeff Gordon it was trying to FINALLY seal the deal of a 5th championship. Another storyline is today's championship format made from popular requests from fans wanting winning to mean more well now if you win you are IN the chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. This also features eliminations as it would begin with the drivers who won races the more you win the higher you are and if you don't have 16 winners the highest drivers with the most points if any spots are left open. The chase format will be explained when we get in that part of the year. Anyway 2014 would begin with 2 top 5s and top 10s in all of the first 4 races and something in common with all of these races is at some point he either lead a lap or mixed it up for the lead. Next up was California where the 24 team looked to continue their form. He'd start 6th and by lap 13 he was 3rd and closing on the leaders Clint Bowyer and Brad Keselowski a lap later he'd get by the 15 but now the 2012 champion wasn't letting him have it. Lap 20 and Kevin Harvick's left rear tire went flat bringing out a caution. After pitstops Gordon lost 1 position but it would be even worse as he'd restart dead last after being busted for speeding in pit road. He'd rebound to 12th at lap 43 when his teammate hit the wall from a flat tire. So the pure pace his Hendrick Chevrolet is there and he is about to recover from a speeding penalty with 1/4 of the race complete. Lap 53 and Gordon is back in the top 10 and 7 laps later the caution is out once again for a spin by Tony Stewart from another tire problem. So now pitstops come which brings a chance to gain even more spots but he stays out because of confusion thinking pit road was closed when everyone else pitted. Knowing how important tires are the 4 time champ pits and is at the rear of the field again. But he would recover all the way to the lead at lap 106 but would lose it after yellow flag pitstops but he would remain at the front from the remainder of the race competing against his 6 time champion teammate Jimmie Johnson. They were running top 2 in the closing stages. One theme of that day is that tire wear was really bad to the point where at about 20 laps into a run somebody is going to have a flat tire. 7 laps to go and the race leader Jimmie Johnson has a flat tire putting Jeff to the lead. But now he just has to nurse those tires home to win but Marcos Ambrose has a tire problem, Greg Biffle does to and Brad Keselowski! Man all Jeff Gordon wants to see is that white flag and to just SURVIVE. Coming to 2 laps remaining and Bowyer has a flat tire and spins into turn 4 and the caution is out! Well good news is at least Gordon can pit for tires but the bad news is he has to execute 2 laps with hungry hounds at his heels. After the stops Gordon would lose 6 positions to Landon Cassil who stayed out while Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, and Paul Menard took 2 tires while Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch took 4 tires but with a rough restart would only see him finish 13th but was 3rd in points 2 behind Carl Edwards so he is doing good but Martinsville he'd finish in 12th. Putting him back to 4th in points and with the fact that there have been 6 different winners there are only 10 spots could potentially be remaining. So Texas was a hope to change fortune. Gordon would seem to get his mojo back in the race, after starting 12th he'd get to led some laps but eventually fell back to 6th place coming to the white flag and the caution is out! 2004 champion Kurt Busch suffered a left rear flat leaving debris on the track. So now is the chance for the pit crews to shine. As well as Jeff Gordon's crew chief Alan Gustafson who put Gordon on 2 tires and gets him the lead. Next is a green white checkered finish but he has 4 fresh tires behind but the 4 time champion nalis the start and coming to the last lap Logono's tires were too much for Gordon but survived to finish 2nd. Darlington the 24 Hendrick team would show their muscle to go from 9th to the lead before the first caution but at the restart would lose the lead to Kevin Harvick who went on to dominate but Gordon remained in the top 5 for most of the night. And with 10 to go he'd pit for 2 tires and come out 4th but after a crazy finish involving beating and banging between drivers and a late wreck from Kurt Busch. Gordon would finish 7th. It was starting to be apparent that Gordon one of these races with his form was gonna win, it was just a matter of time and at Richmond he would dominate along with the Penske duo of Logono and Keselowski. But with 39 laps to go would lose the lead to Matt Kenseth. But as a trend with this race tire problems would plaque Johnson bringing the field to pit road for their last stops and Gordon came out 3rd, not from a slow stop or a faster stop from Dale Jr or Kenseth but tactically slowed down to let the Gibbs Toyota through to restart 3rd on the preferred inside lane. But oh boy after a spin from Denny Hamlin and JJ Yeley's engine faliure set up an exciting finish.

After leading 173 laps he comes home 2nd. But in his interview as slight disappointment showed he also showed confidence knowing if he puts himself in a position enough times the 24 team will break through for that elusive win. And another thing for him and his fans is that he is the points leader and true wins are valuable in this format but if the points leader doesn't get a win there is still a spot open for him to be one of the 16 drivers to begin the chase. Talledega would see him involved in a wreck and finished 32 laps down. Kansas would see speed once again with having to survive a caution coming out twice during green flag pitstops and was as low as 19th. But with 30 to go he'd pit before race leader Kevin Harvick and when pitstops cycled out he'd get the lead but in the closing laps the 4 was closing on the 24 but finally coming out of the final corner Jeff Gordon is a winner in 2014! The weight was finally lifted off of the 24 team's shoulders. Now they can focus on getting ready for the chase and the next 2 and a half months they would be consistent, Charlotte would see Gordon finish 7th after taking 2 tires on his last stop, Dover despite running in the top 5 for most of the race would lose the handle of his AARP Drive To End Hunger Hunger Chevrolet and finish 15th, an 8th place at Pocono, Michigan would show he still has that race winning speed leading 36 laps and finishing 6th, Sonoma Jeff would finish 2nd, 6th at Kentucky, Daytona saw a 12th place after being involved in a early wreck, Loudon would be an up and down day after starting 11th was as low as 26th and was even lapped from a low right rear tire. He would get all the way back up to 2nd and even led 19 laps from strategy, but it didn't work after running out of gas made Gordon finish 26th. Next up is the Brickyard and the chase is getting closer and the teams need to start putting their best foot forward to show who can fight. He would lead early but strategy would push him back but the inevitable pace was there and he muscled his way back to the front. The Brickyard 400 was dominated mainly by Kasey Kahne after strategy evened out from Trevor Bayne's turn 3 crash after the last pitstops Gordon was all over his teammate Kasey Kahne setting up a 20 plus lap duel between teammates the 2 best cars but the caution is out for Ryan Truex's slowing car! Now it's up to the crew chiefs to decide tires or track position. The leaders decide track position. Jeff Gordon seemed this year to struggle on restarts he is restarting 2nd on the outside line and needs to nail it for the win. 17 laps to go they are even into turn 1 and Gordon drives that car in there and gets the lead! People sometimes have said that maybe the fire in Gordon was lost that he seemed to lose his way but this year has been good so far for the 4 time champ. Leading the points standings, but with the new format about to take place you needed to prove that you can win and a number associated with Jeff Gordon is 5, wanting to get that 5th championship and he has made an important step to that title as Jeff Gordon wins his 5th Brickyard 400! It started a run with momentum and confidence before the chase which many thought turned him into one of the championship favorites and a confident Jeff Gordon and 24 team oh boy you better watch out cause they will get you. Pocono the following week would show these traits once again after starting 5th worked his way up to the lead to dominate once again. But at lap 117 would be the turning point of the race with a huge crash coming out of turn 1. This allowed Dale Jr and Kevin Harvick to pit for fuel and when the race was restarted Jr topped off his fuel tank to win the race while Gordon could only finish 6th after leading a race high 63 laps and being shuffled back due to fuel strategy. Watkins Glen would see him dominant the first third of the race and was up there racing with Marcos Ambrose but suddenly at lap 50 into turn 8 his car just lost all power. They'd finish the race 4 laps down in 34th. That didn't slow the 24 team down at Michigan as Jeff would pit his Hendrick Chevrolet on pole. And would be on par with race dominantor Joey Logono. Some phases he'd even be ahead of the Shell Pennzoil Ford. But with 27 laps to go would fall back off the lead to Joey Logono but with cautious from Brian Vickers and Kurt Busch he got back up to 2nd with 17 laps to go and if he was struggling on restarts he didn't this time as he would drive his car into turn 1 and get the lead from Joey Logono. But the Penske driver fights back the next lap side by side for the lead down the backstretch! But into turn 3 the 4 time champ would hold his own to win the while Logono finished 4th. Things are looking good for Jeff with his 3rd win in 2014 and the last two times he won the championship he won at Pocono and Michigan so if trends are what people go off of he is looking good for the championship. Unfortunately he didn't look good at Bristol, true he led 17 laps but a combination of strategy pushing him back and losing the handle of his car made him fall a lap down. He would get it back but finish 16th. Atlanta he would get from 9th to 2nd until he wrecked in 3 and 4 with a blown right front tire. Richmond he would finish 2nd to Brad Keselowski which would cost him the points lead and be tied for 2nd with Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Joey Logono 3 points behind Keselowski.Now it is the beginning of the chase. In the beginning of this story I said I'd explain things about the chase format. It has 4 rounds, The Challenger Round, Contender Round, Eliminator Round, and Championship round. The first 3 rounds consist of 3 races and a win is a automatic advance to the next round. The other way to advance is to have more points than the bottom 4 in the round and the 4 with the less points will be eliminated from 16 to 12 turning into 8 and then the final race with 4 drivers left to race for the title. No bonus points for leading a lap or the most laps will be available to the Championship 4. The best finisher of the 4 in Homestead wins the championship. The Challenger round would show which chase drivers would be able to prove that they can challenge up front and multiple people thought that the best teams would just need decent finishes and not really need to show their full potential to advance. One way to think of it is 3 top 10s no matter what happens you advance. Chicagoland the 24 team would be tough once again as after starting 8th would get past fellow chase driver Kyle Busch for the lead. He would lose the lead however to Jamie McMurray. But after caution flag pitstops he fell to 7th after changing 4 tires while others took 2. He would still get back to the lead and race against fellow title drivers Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick. late in the race a couple of late restarts gave Gordon a chance to attack.

While Gordon may seen his championship rival Brad Keselowski win and true have finished 2nd but his result was the next best thing as some people expected that it would be a heavyweight fight between Hendrick Motorsports and Penske Racing. There is still two races left in the round and after the finish of Chicago fans were excited for New Hampshire. And it was pretty good fir Gordon nation after starting 13th would get up to 3rd before the one third mark of the race. But after choosing to take 4 tires he'd fall to the rear of the field. But he'd get all the way back to 6th and with 9 laps to go was on the move on his teammate Jimmie Johnson. But into turn he blows a right front tire and finishes 26th. Well that was nothing the 24 team wanted to see but it isn't as damaging as you'd initially think. He isn't the only chase driver who had a bad day all from crashes from a race full of incidents like Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, and Matt Kenseth. This meant that he is 7th in points now 21 points above the cutline so all he needs at Dover is an uneventful day. That is exactly what would happen after starting in 6th he'd be in the top 3 for most of the race but after Kevin Harvick's car cut a left front tire immediately after his stop this allowed him to focus on Keselowski at the restart but would lose out to Kyle Busch. But a modo that has kept true is the fact that the 24 car is good on the long run and would use it to get up to the lead. The race would end under a 140 lap green flag stretch and after pitstops Keselowski was looming at about a second behind Gordon but the 4 time champion held his nerve to get his 92nd career win and his 5th at the Monster mile to end the round with a win and a ticket to the Contender Round. Now he needs to step up his game to prove with some tough tracks that has shown to throw the chase upside down and prove who the true contenders are. Well at Kansas it would start off uneventful for the 24 team running in the top 10 for the first long run in the race. But after a restart at lap 82 coming off of turn 4 McMurray gets loose and accidentally puts the 24 into the wall. He'd survive the race but would only finish 14th. Hendrick wasn't having a good day period as Johnson would wreck from the stack up from Gordon, Dale Jr would lose a right front tire while leading the race and Kahne hit the wall on a restart. This put Gordon 7th in points 8 ahead of the cutoff line. Heading to Charlotte a good performance on the track was needed to keep him in a decent position. He would dominate early takimg the lead away from Kyle Busch and lead 71 of the first 100 laps but after a restart Kevin Harvick would get the lead and dominate the race. But with a late restart Gordon would finish 2nd after rebounding from strategy pushing him back. This put him 6th in the standings 18 points above the cutline heading to the wild card track that the chase drivers who didn't win a stressful race lies ahead. So he would hang out at the back for the race even though it nearly backfired as Kyle Busch was involved in a wreck who was ALSO hanging out at the back on purpose. So you try to hang at the back and you still nearly get in a wreck so there's more stress. And it gets worse as he narrowly missed a wreck that involved Dale Jr. But despite that he would finish 26th but crucially transfers to the next round with 3 points ahead of 9th. With the Eliminator Round beginning the hype was real around Gordon as his all of his teammates and Kyle Busch were eliminated in the previous round turned Jeff into a championship favorite. But he'd still have his work cut out for him another favorite could be Stewart Haas driver Kevin Harvick who like Gordon has been in the mix for victories almost every time you get out on that racetrack. Or Brad Keselowski, the 2012 champion who races for Roger Penske has the most victories this season at 6. And the other 5 remaining rivals are 2003 champion Matt Kenseth in his 2nd year for Joe Gibbs Racing was dominant in the previous year and was so close to a second championship, his teammate Denny Hamlin who was the 2010 runner up, Carl Edwards for Roush Fenway a runner up in the championship twice, a young rising Joey Logono for Penske, and Ryan Newman might just be hanging in the weeds with no wins but still has a shot to be champion. Martinsville the 4 time champion would start 13th but by lap .. he would het the lead from Jamie McMurray. He'd lead for 100 laps and continue to lead at pitstops but his drive for 5 would take a hit as on lap 170 he would be sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. And at the restart he would avoid Reed Sorenson spinning, witnesses Kasey Kahne get in the wall after contact with Brian Vickers, and just avoid Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth spin on 3 different cautious. All everyone in 24 nation is thinking is please don't let Jeff be involved in anything. At Lap 350 Gordon after getting set back in the pack rebounds by finishing his march back to the lead. But he would lose it to Denny Hamlin who had slightly better tires at the time. But would still run 2nd in the closing stages but a late race behind his teammate Dale Jr. But a late race caution left strategy wide open. Gordon would pit for fresh tires but come out 7th but he would muscle his way back through the field but behind his eliminated teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr who won the race. This left him 7 points ahead of the cutline heading to Texas he'd show his muscle once more starting 2nd and would run well. But at the first pitstops he'd fall to 10th after a lugnut mishap. But that didn't rattle the 4 time cup champion as he would go to 2nd racing with Jimmie Johnson for the lead. He'd get it by getting through his teammate and would lead the later part of the race but strategy would push him out of the top 5 but nonetheless he would recover and with 20 laps to go Jeff and others stay out while everyone else comes in for fresh tires. Still he would get up to 2nd place and after a wreck from Kasey Kahne a restart gave a chance for Gordon to strike. Remember the restart of his life that he had at Indy? He did it again here. With help from Tony Stewart he stayed even through 1 and 2 with Jimmie Johnson and he gets the lead! Jeff Gordon is leading the race and he is pulling away from the field. Well this could be one of the most important restarts he has ever done, he got the lead from Kasey Kahne to win at Indianapolis and Joey Logono to win at Michigan and he just pulled of another great restart to take the lead away from Jimmie Johnson! Critics have said that ever since his 4th championship in 2001 that he lost the fire, that he wasn't the same as he was in his prime years. In his closest seasons when he missed out on championships since 2001 he lost out to Kurt Busch in 2004 and Jimmie Johnson in 2007. They aren't in the championship mix anymore and now Gordon is on his way to an important, massive victory to give him the momentum to win his 5th cup series championship! 3 to go and Bowyer is in the wall and the caution comes out! Now there is a green white checked finish! So Gordon goes with his gut and chooses the top which is where he initially got the lead. Jeff would be even with Jimmie Johnson going into turn one and contact is made Keselowski tried to go 3 wide in the middle but there wasn't enough room between he and Jeff! But Gordon tries to keep his momentum up but can't. He is running unusually slow into turn 3 and championship contender in trouble spinning out in turn 3 from a flat tire after contact from the deuce! He has led for 49 laps laps and was as high as 31 points above the cutline which would have put him in a really good position for Phoenix but now all he has to show for it is a 29th place finish! And afterwards in a nutshell showed Brad Keselowski that he is not happy at all.

And in his interview in the aftermath of this, he would say "Um, yeah you know I mean we were sitting there on a little bit older tires. Yeah I spun the tires a little bit I got a pretty decent start. You know and we went down into 1 and I just wanted to get the outside of the 48 and out of nowhere I just got slammed with the 2 and it cut my left rear tire! And he's just he's just a (expletive) you know I mean the way he races I don't know how he's ever won a championship. And I'm just sick and tired of him and that's why everyone is fighting him and running him down. You know your emotions are high that was a huge HUGE race for us. We had the car we had the position I'm so proud of my team and I'm proud of Jimmie Johnson for winning that race and not letting that little...you know what win that race.Oh my God!"

When asked about the conversation his response was

"There wasn't any conversation. You can't have a conversation with him I mean, he beats his own drum gets himself in this position himself and he's gotta pay the consequences and you know, I'ma race him the same way he races me but that kind of stuff is uncalled for and I'm not gonna stand for it."

Gordon was asked if NASCAR should get involved so he said

"You know to them I'm sure it's a racing incident but to me it's just a bunch of crap. I mean the kid is doing stuff way over his head and I mean that's just uncalled for you are racing for a win and a championship you don't go slam into somebody and cut their left rear tire you know if that's what it takes than no problem I'll do it back to him." So there was his response and this isn't the first time a driver was mad at the Penske driver. Back at Charlotte after the race Denny Hamlin had to be held back from him, Tony Stewart reversed on purpose into his car after being hit on pit road and Brad also hit the 20 of Matt Kenseth cause he claims the 2003 champion hit him under yellow but Matt says he was hit without seatbelts on so he went after Keselowski afterwards. Kenseth is one of the calmest heads in the garage so je never gets this mad so Brad isn't gonna be cut any slack. Plus if Gordon needs 1 point and the 2 car is in his way he won't feel bad about it. Despite it all Gordon lies only 4th with ONE point above the cutline. Heading into Phoenix EVERYONE is on edge noone is safe. Harvick is on 8 points outside looking in last of the chase drivers and Logono is only 13 points to the good and he is LEADING the chase drivers. The tension was high for EVERYONE to do EVERYTHING right. One speeding penalty, one uncontrolled tire penalty, one time you didn't get the car full of gas, one mechanical problem, ANY FLAW THAT HAPPENS IN THIS RACE CAN COST YOU A TICKET TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP 4! Anyway Jeff would start in 7th place and would run in the top 5 for most of the beginning doing everything he needs to do to advance. But at lap Gordon would take 2 tires after a mistake on pit road would end up 3rd on the restart and end up in 6th when a caution gave him a chance to pit for 4 tires but it pit him all the way back in 20th place. He would be on the move though and get all the way back up to 2nd by lap 240. But things were still tight as it is still very possible for all 8 of the chasers to end up eliminated. But now the end of the race is near with 12 laps to go Gordon restarts 2nd alongside Kevin Harvick who is in a must win situation but with all of the stress of the chase a win is a automatic pass through so there is motivation with both those drivers but Gordon was no match to Harvick's car and now a stressful time for all the chasers especially Harvick, Gordon and Newman all tied for 4th in the championship the last place in the championship 4. Harvick is leading the race and Jeff Gordon has the tiebreaker over Newman who was falling back to Larson who had fresher tires. White flag lap and EVERYONE is on the edge of their seats. The first few cars go across the start finish line and 3 of the 4 spots are clinched. Denny Hamlin, Joey Logono, and Kevin Harvick. Gordon finishes 2nd but what happenes to Newman? He drives it into turn 3 for 1 last ditch effort and he's alongside Larson! And Larson gets in the wall and this gets Ryan Newman into the championship 4! And as Allen Bestwick would say on ESPN "And that's gonna knock Jeff Gordon out!"
The disappointment was real for Gordon and the 24 team. But however he would say on the radio and in his interview that he is proud of what he and his team have done for the season and all they have left to do was go win Homestead. He would go to Homestead and hold his own by dominanting the race leading 161 of the 267 laps and finishing 8th. 2014 would end bittersweet. The sweetness being that it brought lots of great racing all year long but the bitter part of it is as the Iceberg would say the last year of Gordon's carrer that he was an elite competitor week in and week out, he was a threat to win every race. He'd would go on to say 2015 was gonna be his last full time year. He would only win once at Martinsville that year which would be the last of his historic, legendary, amazing carrer. Jeff Gordon will always be known as one of the greatest NASCAR drivers ever but people ask questions like "What if he would have won Martinsville?" What if Keselowski never wrecked him at Texas?" "What might have been for Jeff Gordon in 2014? Or as I quote from the Iceberg from his missing rings episode "What if Gordon had captured his 5th championship in 2014? What if Gordon had captured his missing ring?"

There it is everyone sorry for the delay of getting this one out I just wanted to make sure that it was the best that I could produce for you guys. I also want to shout out the people who suggested this AJis41 BlueVolacano Skyisblue68 they are all nice people so go follow them and I'm sure you are going to love them and also I want to shout out YouTuber the Iceberg who I honestly got inspiration from watching his content to do this. He does missing rings for drivers who missed out on championships like Jeff Gordon 2014, Jimmie Johnson 2005, Dale Earnhardt Jr 2004, Joey Logono 2015, Denny Hamlin 2010, Carl Edwards 2011, Kevin Harvick 2010, Ron Hornaday Jr 2011, Davey Allison 1992, and Mark Martin 2002. So by any chance if you wanted to suggest to me any of these drivers for an episode go watch them on YouTube and subscribe to the Iceberg. And don't worry, if you still want a what might have been episode on these guys they will be done in the future. Tune in next time when we go about a rising star who has been unfortunately stopped.