Jeff Gordon to Go Winless in 2008?

Flashback to 1994, a year where two Jeffs became household names. The late Jeff Buckley affirmed himself as simply the most keen and vocally serene musician in the industry with his debut album Grace.

Songs like his Leonard Cohen cover "Hallelujah" to originals "Lover, You Should've Come Over" and "So Real" soothed ears like the sounds of stock cars roaring around the ovals of America for a then 9 year old racing fan now writing this very article.

Oh, and the other Jeff was a Vallejo, California native with the last name Gordon. On the night of May 29th, Gordon captured his first NASCAR Cup points paying race, winning the Coca Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

He has since gone on to win 80 more races, including three Daytona 500 triumphs, five Southern 500 victories, four Brickyard 400s, two additional 600 milers, and of course, four NASCAR Cup titles.

In a nutshell, he has become a motorsports legend and sports icon in his own right. Love him or hate him, we certainly expect a lot out of him.

Fast forward to 2008. The driver once dubbed "Wonder boy" has truly wondered us—with his winless campaign this season. It seems totally uncomprehending for Gordon to be winless this year, without a victory in the past 37 races.

Analysts have been predicting a JG win at the tracks where Gordon has had some success in the past. But it seems like any time he's in the position to win, a bad call decides his finish, or someone else's misfortune sweeps the No. 24 car along for the wild ride.

Perhaps 80% of the field would take Gordon's year—after all, he's in the Chase, sitting seventh in points, with 11 top fives and 16 top tens. All that's making Gordon's '08 campaign seem like that ridiculously huge pimple on your nose is the huge zero on the win column.

So fans, is it possible for a driver who once won a race every 1.8 races he started to finish this season on a winless note? The odds seem favorable for such an unforeseen event.

But, with a definite missed opportunity in Lowe's two weeks ago and a car that couldn't handle well in the long run yesterday, we could be looking at history.

Besides the seemingly shunned three-peat attempt by Jimmie Johnson, a winless year for Gordon would probably be the biggest story of 2008 in NASCAR. Talk all you want about "Jimmie-proofing" the sport, but NASCAR may have finally succeeded in "Gordon-proofing" the series with the Car of Tomorrow.

But, for Gordon fans out there, there's no need to fret. Life won't be over if he does indeed have a goose egg for the win column. We can still be proud of our driver's accomplishments, his role as being Ella Sofia's father, the husband to the lovely Ingrid Vandebosch, and the driver who certainly follows his mantra of "refuse to lose."

After all, in a sport where the unpredictable happens, wouldn't it be a great story (at least for Gordon fans) to see Dos-Cuatro end up in Victory Lane in the last race of the year with teammate Jimmie Johnson being crowned with his third title?