CONCORD, N.C. - Jeff Gordon is in a frantic push to save this season from being the worst of his 13-year career.

If he's going to do it, his critics believe he needs to focus more on his team and less on his A-list lifestyle.

Gordon has drawn fire from even his most ardent fans who are tired of seeing him at more celebrity functions and fewer Victory Lane celebrations. The most troubling moment came just 12 hours after he was eliminated from championship contention, when Gordon was photographed enjoying himself at the men's U.S. Open final with a drink in his hand and a model on his arm.

He hardly looked like a driver distraught over losing a shot at the Nextel Cup title.

"Whether I would have made the Chase or not made the Chase, what difference does it make if I was at the U.S. Open?" Gordon asked. "I think the perception is that I should have been at the shop at 7 a.m. the next morning saying, 'Come on guys! We're going to turn this thing around!'

"That's just not the role that I play. I never have played that role."

Perhaps, but Gordon has never been as scrutinized as this season. Because of the Chase format, he's guaranteed to finish no higher than 11th in the final standings. The lowest Gordon has finished was 14th during his 1993 rookie season.

He'll try to improve beginning with Saturday night's race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Gordon heads into the event 14th in the standings, and will start 10th in the race. Elliott Sadler won the pole with a track record of 193.216 mph, edging Ryan Newman.

Gordon hasn't written off this disappointing year just yet. Even though he's not eligible to race for a fifth Cup title, there are still incentives on the track - particularly teammate Jimmie Johnson, fifth in the standings, 92 points behind leader Tony Stewart.

"I just want to help Jimmie win the championship," Gordon said.

But he also wants to get his own team fixed, and is still trying to figure out where things went wrong. He opened the season with a win in the Daytona 500, then added two more victories while emerging as the driver to beat this season.

Then things took a terrible turn. Whether it was bad cars, bad driving or bad luck, something always seemed to happen to sabotage Gordon's day. Even though he was mathematically eligible to make the Chase in the final qualifying event Sept. 10 in Richmond, Va., Gordon said his team had long known it wasn't a championship group.

Exactly when did he figure it out? "Like August," he said with a laugh.

Because of that, Gordon freely acknowledges there were times he wasn't "into it as much as I would like to be," but defends his lackadaisical attitude as fallout from his poor performances.

"When you run good week in and week out, it's easy to say `I'm motivated,'" he said. "Well, yeah, you're motivated! You're running up front for wins and that's what motivates you."

So if Gordon isn't running for wins - his best finish the last seven weeks was sixth in Bristol, Tenn. - he's got to find other things to light his fire.

Regardless of his red-carpet trips at the ESPYs or an MTV awards show, Gordon said the team is still his top priority.

"I am doing a lot. I am the hardest working guy in this sport," he said. "It is not just in the team aspects of it. I can only do so much. Me being there on a day-to-day basis is not going to make the team any better.

"I always have believed that the leader of team is the crew chief, and my job is to support him and do all that I can for him to be successful."

Right now the crew chief is Steve Letarte, the 26-year-old replacement for Robbie Loomis, who stepped down just days after Gordon was knocked out of the Chase. Fixing the No. 24 Chevrolet is now in Letarte's hands, and Gordon said they already are looking ahead to 2006.

"When you win four championships, you create a lot of expectations that you are supposed to be in the mix every year," Gordon said. "This year we fell short, but no matter what people believe or what the perception is, we are doing everything possible to get back in there next season."