Gordon

When Rick Hendrick and his team — he insists it wasn’t just his decision — decided after last season to juggle drivers and crew chiefs, it wasn’t a spur of the moment decision.

Hendrick decided to leave Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus together, figuring five straight Sprint Cup championships weren’t to be trifled with, though crew members were changed.

The dramatic moves came elsewhere, putting crew chief Alan Gustafson with Jeff Gordon, shifting Lance McGrew from Dale Earnhardt Jr. to Mark Martin and sending Steve Letarte, Gordon’s former crew chief, to work with Dale Jr.

Two races into the season, Hendrick and his team like where they’re headed, especially after Gordon ended a 66-race winless streak with a victory in Phoenix.

“When you make the decision, then it’s up to the guys to make it work and I didn’t do it all by myself,” Hendrick said Sunday after Gordon’s 83rd career victory.

“This organization is really one team of four cars. People say it sometimes and don’t really mean it but these guys work shoulder to shoulder.”

Hendrick said he looked at personalities when the decision was made to shuffle the drivers and crew chiefs. He wanted Letarte’s “rah-rah” attitude with Earnhardt. He paired McGrew and Martin because both are technicians.

That put Gustafson and Gordon together, and it clicked.

“It’s early. By summer you might be telling me I made a terrible mistake but right now the chemistry looks really good in the teams and we are competitive every week,” Hendrick said.

For Gordon, the Phoenix victory was just his second since the 2007 season but it reinforced the notion that the 39-year-old hasn’t lost the ability to win races.

He chased down superaggressive Kyle Busch over the final 20 laps, gently nudged his car up the track and cruised to a victory that had thousands standing and cheering after it was over.

“I think we needed to do something to rejuvenate our whole group,” Hendrick said. “I think I see every one of our guys stepping up. I think Jeff sees this as an opportunity with Alan that he’s got something to prove and I think that’s a good thing.”

The communication between Gordon and Gustafson was crucial on a weekend that started poorly for all the Hendrick cars. None of the cars were particularly fast in the Friday practice sessions and none qualified inside the top 20.

They kept working, tweaking the car and Gordon said when the green flag dropped, he knew he had a car capable of winning.

“Jeff Gordon was perfect in the car,” Gustafson said.