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"I'm relieved," the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet said after he fell three places in the standings with a 42nd-place finish in the 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday.

Gordon entered the Sprint Cup Series race sixth in points. He heads for next weekend's race at Bristol in ninth place, only 82 points ahead of 13th-place Clint Bowyer with three races left before the top 12 drives qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

"We've been going every week (saying), 'Well, we can't take too big of a risk, but we got to push hard enough,' " Gordon said. "Now we just don't worry about anything. We can drive as hard as we can, do anything we possibly can, and just go all out ... and see where we end up."

Gordon's race ended when he cut down a tire and hit the wall after making contact with the No. 48 car driven by his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson.

Gordon didn't blame Johnson for the contact that occurred in the back of the field of cars.

"We're responsible because our pit stops have just been terrible today," Gordon said. "I'm more upset that we were back there to begin with.

"We finally had an awesome race car and just didn't have the total package. It's disappointing because that is the way our season has gone."

Kasey Kahne finished 40th and, like Gordon, dropped three places. The driver of the No. 9 Dodge is 11th.

Denny Hamlin, whose No. 11 Toyota finished 39th, fell three places, to 12th.

"Right now we don't deserve to be in the Chase," said Hamlin, whose car blew its motor.

Matt Kenseth finished fifth and solidified his position in the Chase, climbing two places, to 10th.

Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick jumped three places apiece, to seventh and eighth, respectively.

"To finish eighth at Michigan is almost as good as a win," Harvick said. "We have been pretty consistent the last couple of months. Hopefully we will be able to carry this momentum into the Chase."

Gordon does not have a victory this season. Neither does two-time series champion Tony Stewart, who finished 12th on Sunday.

George Pohly is a sports writer for Journal Register News Service. E-mail him at george.pohly@macombdaily.com.