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Ray Evernham: “Jeff Gordon still has the ability to get it done”

Jeff Gordon, Ray Evernham

Jeff Gordon, Ray Evernham

AP

LAS VEGAS – Lost in the hoopla of Matt Kenseth’s two-race suspension and the reaction from the NASCAR world was the fact Jeff Gordon actually won the race last weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

And to the crew chief who was instrumental in Gordon’s earliest Sprint Cup success in the 1990s, it came as no surprise.

Ray Evernham, who served as Gordon’s crew chief from 1992 - 99 and currently hosts “AmeriCARna” on Velocity, reflected on what Gordon’s 93rd career win and first Sprint Cup victory of the season meant.

“I don’t want to say it’s unbelievable,” Evernham told NASCAR Talk at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. “But to see how happy he was, how much appreciated it and how it came to live was incredible.

“That Jeff Gordon still has the ability, whatever it takes, to get it done.”

Evernham didn’t rule out the chances of Gordon winning a fifth title, to go along with the three they achieved together in the 1990s, and the fourth Gordon won in 2001.

“This can actually happen,” Evernham said. “He showed everyone Sunday he can win it all this year before he retires.”

Asked whether he remembered a celebration similar to Gordon’s ebullient, exuberant response when he yelled “We’re going to Homestead!” on Sunday, Evernham said he couldn’t from their time together.

“That one was pretty cool!” he said. “But a large part of it was that his family was there, and that means a lot to him.”

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