NASCAR Cup
Jeff Gordon Daytona July Preview
GORDON FEELING HOT EN ROUTE TO DAYTONA DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Jeff Gordon is as hot as Daytona in July as he returns here for this weekend's Pepsi 400 in search of his second modern-era record in as many weeks. By driving his ...
Edited: May 8, 2001, 12:19 PM
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GORDON FEELING HOT EN ROUTE TO DAYTONA
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Jeff Gordon is as hot as Daytona in July as he returns here for this weekend's Pepsi 400 in search of his second modern-era record in as many weeks. By driving his DuPont Automotive Finishes Chevrolet to victory at Sears Point Raceway last weekend and blistering the competition by leading 80 of 112 laps, Gordon became the first driver in the modern era to win four consecutive road course races and the only driver ever to win back-to-back races at Sears Point. If Gordon wins this Saturday night's event, he will be the only driver in the modern era to win three consecutive races at Daytona International Speedway, having won this year's Daytona 500 and the first race under the lights at DIS that was scheduled for July of last year, but postponed until October due to forest fires. "It was an awesome feeling to be the first one to win at Daytona under the lights," said Gordon. "It also gave us our first win in October. At that time, there was a lot of talk about how this DuPont team always faltered at the end of the season because we had never won in October or November. "We went on to win a few more races in both months, but Daytona was the place where we were able to prove that we could win races at the end of the season." Gordon has set the track ablaze with two poles and four wins at Daytona. His first Daytona victory came at the Pepsi 400 in 1995. Then, he went on to win the Daytona 500 in ‘97 and ‘99. Last year, he won the Pepsi 400 from the pole. In addition, Gordon has eight top-five and nine top-10 finishes in 13 starts for an average finish of 10 at the 2.5-mile tri-oval. He has led laps in all but one of those 13 events. Gordon's burning desire to return to DIS this weekend is ignited by the fact that he has four top-five and five top-10 finishes in six Pepsi 400 starts. His average finish is 6.5 and he has completed 100 per cent of the laps. The three-time Winston Cup champion has led laps in all the 400-mile events at Daytona, leading the most laps -- twice. "I'm very excited about returning to Daytona this weekend," said Gordon. "It's been a very good track for us. "The car we won the Daytona 500 with in February is in Daytona USA, and we wrecked our Talladega car, so we're going to race the same car we won here with in October. Hopefully, we'll be able to get this car to adapt to the track conditions for a night race in July like we did for the one in October." Gordon has had a recent string of success after a rocky start to the 1999 season. In the last four events, Gordon has one win and three second-place finishes. He gained 35 points on leader Dale Jarrett last weekend. He is currently fifth in the standings, 314 out of the lead. Also, Gordon has four wins and five poles this season, exceeding those of his competitors and will look to increase those numbers and gain more points this July Fourth weekend. If he succeeds, Gordon and his team of Rainbow Warriors will leave the competition smoldering and go out, under the fireworks, in a blaze of glory.
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