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IMSA Daytona 24
Gordon on first stint: Restarts "might be crazier than NASCAR"
Jeff Gordon was thrown straight into the hornets nest for his first stint behind the wheel of the Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi.
Nick DeGroot
Edited: Jan 29, 2017, 2:49 AM
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Gordon got behind the wheel as the second hour came to close, but not under the circumstances he and the team wanted.
“It was interesting getting in the car with the caution because it was my first restart in one of these cars,” Gordon said. “It might be crazier than NASCAR racing, trying to restart when you have some GTs and PCs in front of you and you’re on cold tires.
“That was a bit of a challenge and I lost some time. I went wide on the outside and that was the wrong move. And then I made a little contact with the Mazda, which was coming off the pit lane. I felt bad about that. But from that point on, it was a really good stint. The car feels good and strong. It was by far the most laps I've made in the car."
Despite the incident, Gordon kept the car up inside the top three and within reach of the Action Express teammates before handing the wheel off to Max Angelelli.
“I wish I had more laps coming into this, but I totally understand how the team has to balance it out between three different drivers," Gordon admitted. It was good to get comfortable, get some good laps in and work traffic. The rest of the way was very smooth and clean. I was having a blast, especially the second stint ... I had a great time.”
Experience is everything
When asked what would have been the ideal situation, Gordon didn't hesitate to reply.
"What would have been a ideal is him (Ricky Taylor) have a ten second lead and me get in the car under green because I lost about six or eight seconds on my out lap," he laughed. "Honestly, I was happy to get in the car under caution because it allowed me to get some heat in the tires and do a few things. But, at the same time, I just don't have enough experience with these cars on restarts. I just didn't know which way they were going to go. I'm in conserve mode because I know this is a long race and I don't want to tear anything up.
"I was happy with some of my laps when I was in clean air, so that's kind of mission accomplished, but I have to work on traffic and if we get another restart, I look forward to that challenge."
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