NASCAR Cup

Martinsville II: Jeff Gordon post qualifying interview

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT/NATIONALGUARD.COM IMPALA SS, QUALIFIED 2ND: ARE YOU PLEASED WITH YOUR QUALIFYING EFFORT AND PIT SELECTION?: "Definitely. When I was in here earlier, we talked about pit selection being important, qualifying being ...

Published: Oct 24, 2009, 3:20 PM

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JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT/NATIONALGUARD.COM IMPALA SS, QUALIFIED 2ND:

ARE YOU PLEASED WITH YOUR QUALIFYING EFFORT AND PIT SELECTION?:

"Definitely. When I was in here earlier, we talked about pit selection being important, qualifying being important and so I'm very thankful that the weather held out and we were able to get qualifying in. This is the kind of qualifying session that we were certainly hoping for so it's nice to see things going our way so far this weekend. The car has been great. I bobbled a tiny bit down in turns three and four, but all in all it was a great lap, great day and we were able to get a little bit of a race run in as well in practice. I feel really good about starting on the front row and Ryan (Newman) put in a heck of a lap and we're happy to be second."

DOES IT GIVE YOU PEACE OF MIND KNOWING JIMMIE JOHNSON IS STARTING 15TH?:

"The only reason that I wanted to have this qualifying session today is because this is a positive track for us when it comes to qualifying. It's a track that's been good for us and we qualify well. Any time that we can put a gap in between us as well as the pit selection, then that's a step in the right direction for us. We're going to take anything good that comes our way and try to take advantage of it. We're happy with the results. We've seen these guys be strong and run well on Sunday no matter where they start and I think they will be. Right now I'm more focused on the fact that we're going to get a good pit selection and had a great run today. Felt like the car was really good in our race runs as well."

WERE YOU SURPRISED THAT ANYBODY BEAT YOUR LAP AND WHAT IS THE SECOND-BEST PIT STALL AT MARTINSVILLE?:

"I'm never surprised. I knew it was a good lap, but I wasn't sure. We saw a lot of guys running low 70s and at that point, I thought we put in a really good lap. When (Martin) Truex (Jr.) put in the 62 I got nervous and it was shortly after that when (Ryan) Newman put his lap up. Whether it was just a couple guys putting up good, solid runs -- (Ryan) Newman was fast in practice. I ran like a 70 and he ran a 72 in practice so you have to certainly always keep your eyes on him. I wasn't that surprised. We were certainly hopeful that we were going to hold out. As far as pit selections, I think you've got one, two, 10, 11 and 34 or something like that. Those are the only ones with openings. I'd mentioned earlier when I was in here that one on the front straightaway can be really good, especially as we start getting cars a lap down, if that happens. There's nothing better than number one and I guess the next best one is maybe 11."

HOW MUCH INPUT DO YOU HAVE INTO YOUR PIT SELECTION?:

"He (Steve Letarte, crew chief) runs it by me what his thought process is and shows me the map and gets my opinion on it. When I was getting ready to leave and he was looking at it he said, 'Maybe 11, maybe two.' I said, you're the crew chief and so I'll let him make that call. If I have a strong opinion about it, I'm going to give it. If I don't have one either way then I'm very confident in him making that call."

-credit: gm racing

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