Daytona 500: Jeff Gordon - front row interview

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO SS: GREAT RUN, GREAT PERFORMANCE "We let Steve Byrd adjust the spoiler so we are going to blame (missing the pole) on him (LAUGHTER). I don't know how many hundreths of a second we are missing it ...

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO SS:

GREAT RUN, GREAT PERFORMANCE

"We let Steve Byrd adjust the spoiler so we are going to blame (missing the pole) on him (LAUGHTER). I don't know how many hundreths of a second we are missing it by but I am just really happy right now. That front row is just so important here at Daytona. The pole is obviously something we would love to have and Jeff Burton and those guys put up a great number. We are just happy we hung on to this front row starting position. It means a lot for us because now we can just focus on the 500 and really just do all we can to get the car now handling as good as we can for the 500.

HOW IS YOUR CAR?

"It felt great, everything was good. I knew it was going to be reall, really close. I was really paying attention to the RPM's and all the gauges from yesterday to today. The Dupont Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS is strong. I didn't know for sure what we were going to have. Then there was more drama added by having to wait so long for the time and speed to come up and not knowing where we were at on the board."

WAS IT TENSE FOR YOU WAITING FOR THE TIME AND SPEED TO COME UP?

"Yes, it was, first four hours to get through inspection and then 30 seconds waiting to find out if we are first, 10th or wherever. So much hard work and effort goes into this. There are many guys who have been putting in long hours for this effort at Daytona so we could get this front row start.

HOW WILL YOU APPROACH THE 150?

"We obviously have to be careful during the 150 qualifier to make sure we can keep this car in one piece. I am so proud of all the guys on th9is Dupont Chevrolet team and everyone in Hendrick Motorsports. All the guys in the engine shop, chassis shop, fab shop, all the people on the 24, 48, 5 and 25 teams. This is a good day for all of us. We were on the front row one other time, '99 when we sat on the pole and we won that race. So we want to take this front row start and make the best of it as well."