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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon won the Daytona 500 twice in his first seven seasons, later adding another victory six years later, in 2005. Surely, he figured, there would be more to come.
Then Gordon never won NASCAR’s biggest race again.
“You get into this frustration of, ‘Man, what am I doing differently?'” Gordon said.
The answer, oddly enough, was nothing.
Such is the nature of this crown jewel NASCAR race, which represents a unique contrast in the realm of top sporting events: It is NASCAR’s Super Bowl in so many ways, but also remains one of the least reliable indicators of greatness.