NASCAR Cup

Talladega: Jeff Gordon preview

GORDON GOING FOR 'THREE-PEAT' AT TALLADEGA TALLADEGA, Ala. (April 22, 2008) - Attempting to win his third consecutive race at Talladega Superspeedway, Jeff Gordon does not yet know what strategy he will use during the Aaron's 499 on Sunday. There ...

Edited: Apr 23, 2008, 3:26 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

GORDON GOING FOR 'THREE-PEAT' AT TALLADEGA

TALLADEGA, Ala. (April 22, 2008) - Attempting to win his third consecutive race at Talladega Superspeedway, Jeff Gordon does not yet know what strategy he will use during the Aaron's 499 on Sunday. There is one strategy he prefers, though, and that is racing from the drop of the green flag.

Gordon, whose 12 restrictor-plate wins are the most of any driver, swept both events in 2007 at the 2.66-mile track in very differing styles. In the spring event, Gordon started from the pole and led a race-high 71 laps en route to victory. He was running in the top 15 for 161 of the 192 laps with an average running position of seventh.

When the series returned to the track in the fall, it was during the "Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup" with the debut of the "Car of Tomorrow" (CoT) on a restrictor- plate track. Gordon started 34th, spent only 45 of the 188 laps in the top 15 and had an average running position of 28th during the event. He led only one lap - the final one.

"We didn't want to lay back during the fall race, but there were a lot of unknowns with the new car at the track," said Gordon, who will drive a specially painted No. 24 DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet Impala SS this weekend. "Our qualifying position played the biggest part in determining our strategy. Starting so far back, we thought it would be best to play it safe and work our way into contention near the end of the race.

"As uneventful as it was in back, I was concerned every single moment of every single lap. I was concerned that we would wreck amongst ourselves. I was wondering if we were going to lose the draft."

While the plan worked, it went against the "racer" in Gordon.

"I've never had to do that before, and it was difficult to get into that mindset," said Gordon, who has six wins, 13 top-fives and 16 top-10's in 30 starts at the Alabama track. "We talked about it before the race and I said, 'I can't do it.'

"It was tough because I don't like riding around in back. I want to be up front, battling for the lead and leading laps from the drop of the green flag." That mindset has helped Gordon capture 81 victories - sixth all-time, only two behind Cale Yarborough for fifth and only three behind Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip for third - and lead 19,647 laps during his 16-year career. But he may have to adjust again this weekend.

"Our plan right now is to have a good qualifying run on Saturday, start near the front and race with the leaders all day," said Gordon. "We may have to rethink that plan if we don't start up front, though."

Either way, the plan is to battle for victory as the checkered flag waves, and Gordon hopes the No. 24 car is there first.

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Talladega: Sam Hornish Jr preview

Next article Talladega: Kurt Busch preview

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Red Bull called Christian Horner to thank him for F1 engine project after maiden win

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

13 min

Red Bull called Christian Horner to thank him for F1 engine project after maiden win

Jon Armstrong announces WRC co-driver split for 2027

WRC

WRC WRC 15 min

Jon Armstrong announces WRC co-driver split for 2027

Alex Marquez: Decision to travel to Qatar should not be made right now

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Australian GP

49 min

Alex Marquez: Decision to travel to Qatar should not be made right now

Autosport Business Exchange New York Examines the Forces Driving Racing’s Next Era of Growth in America

General

Misc General 1 h

Autosport Business Exchange New York Examines the Forces Driving Racing’s Next Era of Growth in America

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts