Hot 20 – As Jeff Gordon experiences an interesting week, we remember Lynda Petty

I guess Jeff Gordon had reason to be somewhat hot this past week. Last Sunday, he came within a Clint Bowyer spin of taking the prize in California. Then, a satirical website came out with a story of Gordon coming out, admitting to dating an openly gay fellow, and “reporting” on the outrage of some fans at the “news.” I guess this comes with being the second prettiest driver in NASCAR, though the fact he has two kids with one of the prettiest spouses in NASCAR should be a hint that happy he may be, gay he is not.

One thing Gordon is, and that is the best driver in Cup who thus far has yet to register a win this season. Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson are in the ball park. Even though Kevin Harvick may have won at Phoenix he finds his stock plunging. Three races he has looked good, at least the first few chapters, then someone rips out the final few pages to leave him with finishes of 41st, 39th, and 36th. While the official standings might have him sitting fifth, last among those with a victory to their credit, he is nowhere to be found in anybody’s Top 20 finishers when it comes to accumulated points.

Every method of determining a champion has its critics. While we await reaction to this year’s elimination rounds, most remember that Matt Kenseth won the title in 2003 but fewer remember that Ryan Newman won eight races that year. The points system in place did not really reward him for the effort.  Still, that in no way diminishes Kenseth’s crown or the six Johnson has claimed since the Chase was instituted. It may alter who we think of as being the best over any one campaign, but in the long run the cream always rises to the top.

Richard Petty may have become the King due to his seven championships and 200 victories, but this week we mourn the loss of his queen.  Lynda and Richard were married in 1959, and it probably is not a coincidence that it was the next year her husband  began to win his first races. While Richard ruled the tracks, it was Lynda who ruled the roost. She was even the family disciplinarian. On that subject, a few years ago she said that you could ask her son “‘Did your daddy ever whip you?’ and he’d say, ‘No, but my mother wailed the daylights out of me.’ ”   She had her causes that she was passionate about, but none were as important to her than her family.  We join with the entire NASCAR family in remembering Lynda Petty.

If we returned to former days when there was no Chase, if we used today’s points system but winners were rewarded with 69 to 70 points, and we determined our champion over 36 races, this is how our Hot 20 standings would look like as the action heads to Martinsville for this Sunday.

 

 

Driver

Races

Win

Points

1

  Carl Edwards

5

1

208

2

  Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

5

1

207

3

  Brad Keselowski

5

1

204

4

  Jeff Gordon

5

0

184

5

  Kyle Busch

5

1

180

6

  Matt Kenseth

5

0

179

7

  Jimmie Johnson

5

0

165

8

  Ryan Newman

5

0

150

9

  Austin Dillon

5

0

150

10

  Joey Logano

5

0

146

11

  Denny Hamlin

4

0

140

12

  Jamie McMurray

5

0

138

13

  Brian Vickers

5

0

137

14

  Paul Menard

5

0

134

15

  Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

5

0

132

16

  Kyle Larson

5

0

131

17

  Tony Stewart

5

0

127

18

  Casey Mears

5

0

126

19

  Kasey Kahne

5

0

123

20

  Greg Biffle

5

0

122

21

  Marcos Ambrose

5

0

122

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

Ron Thornton
Ron Thornton
A former radio and television broadcaster, newspaper columnist, Little League baseball coach, Ron Thornton has been following NASCAR on this site since 2004. While his focus may have changed over recent years, he continues to make periodic appearances only when he has something to say. That makes him a rather unique journalist.

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