If Jeff Gordon had won his fifth Sprint Cup championship in the final start of his career last year, it would have been perfect.
It would have been a fitting sendoff for a four-time champion, a winner of 93 Cup races and a record-setting driver who took NASCAR places it had never been before.
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It would have been perfect. It would have been a fairy-tale ending to a magical career. A moment few athletes ever experience — save John Elway and Peyton Manning.