Will Jeff Gordon Be Able to Block out Revenge Factor and Focus on Phoenix?

After Sunday’s post-race brawl at Texas Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon is left with a dilemma: What to do with Brad Keselowski?

If this was any time during the 26-race regular season, Gordon could very easily come back and play tit-for-tat with Bad Brad in the following race. Gordon can be just as aggressive as Keselowski, but typically is more under control and doesn't have to resort to seemingly driving over his head at times.

But this Sunday’s penultimate Chase race at Phoenix International Raceway is not the time or place for Gordon to seek revenge on Keselowski for what happened at Texas. If Gordon was to try and imitate Keselowski on the track, it likely would end up working against him rather than in his favor.

Gordon has long had the aura of being one of the most focused and clean racing drivers in NASCAR. Very little rattles him or gets under his skin.

But Keselowski sure did Sunday, prompting Gordon to explode in a rage that we’ve never seen from him before. In the end, both drivers wound up with fat lips, although it’s not totally clear if they got them from each other or from one of the couple dozen crew members who got into the free-for-all.

Following Sunday's race, Gordon had some choice words about Keselowski, which he wasn't afraid to share, even on a live national TV broadcast. 

"

He's just a dip****. The way he races, I don't know how he ever won a championship and I'm just sick and tired of him. That's why everybody's fighting him and running him down. Your emotions are high. That was a huge race for us. We had the car. We had the position. 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.

"

So how does Gordon, who went from what appeared to be a virtual shoo-in to make the final-four field for the season-ending and championship-deciding race at Homestead-Miami Speedway to now being on very shaky ground, get back at Keselowski?

Or should he?

Maybe the better part of valor—and prudence—for Gordon would simply be to forget about Keselowski and drive his own race. When you start altering your longtime style of driving to go head-to-head with another driver who can be over the top at times, that's when Gordon could wind up in big trouble.

Keselowski has made a reputation based upon brawn, known for the kind of moves that most other drivers wouldn’t even think of making. Even NASCAR’s villain brothers, Kurt and Kyle Busch, wouldn’t go that way.

If Gordon was to try and take on Keselowski head-to-head and drive like him rather than the way he usually races, he could ultimately make a mental mistake that would cost him not only a spot in the final round, but his coveted goal of finally winning that elusive fifth Sprint Cup championship.

Any other time, it would be great to see Gordon do a Keselowski imitation on track. But this is NOT the time to start messing with the success and strategy Gordon has followed all these years.

Simply put, Gordon has to race the race track and forget about Keselowski.

At the same time, it would be wise for Gordon to stay as far away from Bad Brad as possible in Sunday's race.

But...

There is a second side to this whole scenario.

What if Gordon finds himself in the latter stages of the race essentially eliminated from advancing to the Championship Round? What if he is involved in an early wreck or suffers damage to his car that requires lengthy repairs on it before he returns to the race track?

With his championship hopes through at that point, does Gordon go after Keselowski, much like he did at Phoenix two years ago, when Gordon intentionally took out Clint Bowyer, all but ending the latter's title hopes in the process?

Sure, Gordon was fined $100,000 and lost 25 championship points, but that was small change to avenge the long-running feud he had with Bowyer throughout the 2012 season.

Much like what he could potentially do to Keselowski, if needed, Gordon essentially took the tack that if he couldn't win the championship in 2012, he'd make damn sure Bowyer didn't either.

And that's exactly what happened.

But before he gets to that point, Gordon should let the race on Sunday play out and see what happens. Who knows? Maybe with so many eyeballs and disdain upon him, perhaps Keselowski will make a costly mistake that would essentially end his own championship hopes.

And Gordon wouldn't have to do a thing in the process.

Matthew Bishop/Associated Press

Keselowski has long had a “him or me” attitude behind the wheel, where he’s not afraid to run over anyone. Sure, it helped him win the Sprint Cup championship in 2012, but at the same time, other than Joey Logano, how many opposing drivers really talk with fondness for Brad K?

And it could be that Logano has to be nice because Keselowski is his teammate.

As much as Keselowski likes to win at all costs, is it also worth the cost of doing so without any friends out there on the race track, just 41 foes (not including Logano)?

But it would be very hard to find a polarizing character like Keselowski. He’s made hating him an art form, taking it to a whole new level. Even the Busch brothers, particularly Kyle, have waned as foes to other drivers, while Keselowski has become Public Enemy No. 1 among his fellow Sprint Cup drivers.

With so many enemies of Keselowski on the track, one of the many other drivers who has grown tired of Bad Brad's antics may just do Gordon's dirty work for him. 

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

When you put a pair of Type-A personalities in competition—and that’s what the Sprint Cup Series is inundated with—emotions are going to run high, especially in such a crucial and pressure-filled scenario as the Chase.

And now, with what happened at Texas, coupled with the crucial importance of Phoenix, the last thing Gordon needs is to go to PIR with a chip on his shoulder and a myopic tunnel-vision view of Keselowski in his sites.

Even though he may be ticked to the umpteenth degree with Keselowski, Gordon cannot be distracted by delusions of grandeur and exacting revenge.

Rather, Gordon needs to remain as laser focused as he is in every race—but with a caveat: He has to stay away from Keselowski as much as possible, unless that proves difficult, especially if they’re in a battle for the lead.

The further away from Keselowski he can be—mentally, emotionally and geographically on the race track—the better off Gordon will ultimately be.

Follow me on Twitter @JerryBonkowski