NASCAR Cup
Texas II: Jeff Gordon preview
LONE WIN, POLE NOT ENOUGH FOR TEAM DUPONT AT TMS FORT WORTH, Texas. (November 3, 2009) - Having secured their lone victory and lone pole position in The Lone Star State within the past year, Jeff Gordon and Team DuPont are confident entering ...
Edited: Nov 6, 2009, 2:22 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
LONE WIN, POLE NOT ENOUGH FOR TEAM DUPONT AT TMS
FORT WORTH, Texas. (November 3, 2009) - Having secured their lone victory and lone pole position in The Lone Star State within the past year, Jeff Gordon and Team DuPont are confident entering Sunday's Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS). But they need to take the "next" step to be competitive in this 500-mile race.
Not far removed from one of their worst performances in 17 years in the sport, Gordon and the No. 24 team bounced back from a 43rd-place finish at TMS in April of 2008 to secure their first pole at this track one year ago. The four- time NASCAR Cup Series champion led 15 laps en route to a second-place finish in the 334-lap race.
Although he "only" qualified second here earlier this year, Gordon led a race-high 105 laps to secure his first victory in his 17th start at the track.
"We had been so close in the past," said Gordon, who is third in the point standings and 192 behind leader Jimmie Johnson. "But, whether it was me hitting the wall late in the race while leading or an electrical issue while leading, we just never were able to win - so to get that first win here was great for us.
"To get another win, though, we'll need to take another step forward. If we showed up this weekend with the same setup we used in April, we'd run 15th. That's just the way the sport is. Everybody is constantly learning and the competition is constantly getting better and quicker."
Gordon and the No. 24 team certainly have adapted on the "intermediate" tracks since the 2008 "Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup" began. In 17 races on 1.5-to-2-mile ovals during that span, the 82-time winner has 12 top-fives, 16 top- 10's and a 4.35 average finish. His lone finish outside the top 10 was a 14th- place finish in the rain-shortened event at Charlotte in May.
"This whole DuPont team has worked hard to make our intermediate program better," said Gordon, who has seven top-fives and nine top-10's in 17 starts at the Texas track. "With this track being a part of the Chase, we also knew we needed to improve here.
"We're really looking forward to this weekend's race." Which may be the lone time Gordon has said that about a race at TMS.
-credit: hm
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
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Talladega II: Edwards' team wins Pit Road Award
Next article RFR's Edwards 2010 sponsors announced
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Johnson explains why the time was right for Legacy to add a third car full time
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Jimmie Johnson explains why the time was right for Legacy to add a third car full time
Why the 2027 Daytona 500 is the end of a road for Jimmie Johnson
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Daytona 500
Why the 2027 Daytona 500 is the end of a road for Jimmie Johnson
Unique Jimmie Johnson experience hits auction for Motorsports Hall of Fame
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Atlanta II
Unique Jimmie Johnson experience hits auction for Motorsports Hall of Fame
Latest news
Official race results: 2026 NASCAR Cup Phoenix II
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
5 min
Official race results: 2026 NASCAR Cup Phoenix II
Tyler Reddick wins Phoenix NASCAR Cup thriller as Kyle Larson crashes
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
10 min
Tyler Reddick wins Phoenix NASCAR Cup thriller as Kyle Larson crashes
WEC Barcelona: Toyota scores dominant 1-2 to seal manufacturers’ title
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
6 h
WEC Barcelona: Toyota scores dominant 1-2 to seal manufacturers’ title
Hailie Deegan eying NASCAR Truck return but future plans remain uncertain
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Phoenix
6 h
Hailie Deegan eying NASCAR Truck return but future plans remain uncertain
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
Subscribe