Sometimes its hard to determine who or what is most responsible for a NASCAR victory - the car, the crew, the driver or some combination of all three.
But crew chief Ray Evernham didn't hesitate to credit his driver after Jeff Gordon crossed the finish line of the rain-soaked Coca-Cola 600 at 1 a.m. Monday in front of the rest of the field."Yes, we've got a great race team, we've got a great group of guys - they are above average performers," Evernham said of Rick Hendrick's Chevrolet team. "But this guy is probably the greatest driver to come along in a long time. He won't admit it and a lot of other people won't admit it."
Gordon, who has 24 wins and 81 top 10 finishes in only 135 races, credited his entire crew after the win.
In the past eight days at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Gordon won $207,000 in the May 17 all-star race at the 11/2-mile track, took the pole for the Coca-Cola 600 in mid-week, then won the grueling race Sunday and the record $224,900 paycheck that went with it.
"What are the odds of winning The Winston, winning the pole and winning the race?" Gordon asked. "It takes so much, everything has got to go your way.
In less than six years, Gordon has won more than $1.56 million at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
"Can we just race here every weekend?" he joked.
Gordon again proved his worth as a driver Sunday, testing numerous lines on the race track while still recovering from a near disastrous pit stop early in the race that pushed him to near the back of the 42-car field.
He then outdueled veteran Rusty Wallace over the final 20 laps of the rain-shortened race, including a final lap that included a caution flag that forced Gordon to weave through traffic back to the finish line.