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Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona wasn't the first Jeff Gordon has lost a big race at Daytona thanks to a spin on a late race restart.

And it wasn't the first time that Gordon caused the wreck himself. First, we'll start with Gordon's most current mistake at Daytona:


As Kyle Busch restarted the race, he kept the field at a slow pace, messing up 2nd-place Gordon's timing as they came to the green flag. That allowed Carl Edwards to get a run on the inside of the No. 24 as they exited the tri-oval, and when Gordon threw the block, his left-rear clipped Edwards' right-front fender, spinning the No. 24 out of the race.

Gordon had led 46 laps in the 160-lap event and appeared to have a car that could overtake Busch for the win, but the late race mistake during the green-white-checkered finish left Gordon with a 30th-place finish, just as the same move cost Gordon a shot at winning the 2002 Daytona 500:



In the 2002 instance, Gordon was leading the field as they came to the green flag with 6 laps to go in the 500. He used nearly the same tactic as Kyle Busch and logjammed the rest of the field to keep Sterling Marlin and the rest of the Top-5 from getting a run on him.

Marlin, though, timed the restart nearly perfectly behind Gordon and ducked under the No. 24 in the same spot as Edwards did in the 400. Gordon cut down and spun across Marlin's bumper, taking him out of any chance to get the win.

The funny thing is in the 2002 version, Gordon admits exactly what happened and knows that it was his fault, but when the same situation came back again in 2008, he made the same mistake.

Of course, I can sit and make light of Gordon's situation all week, but when it comes down to it, Gordon is still the best restrictor-plate driver in the Sprint Cup Series with 12 wins at Daytona and Talladega. And who wouldn't try to defend your position in the race's closing laps?

I know I would.