NASCAR Cup

Texas II: Jeff Gordon preview

TEAM DUPONT TO "FALL BACK" AT TEXAS FORT WORTH, Texas. (November 2, 2010) - Clocks will be adjusted this weekend as Daylight Saving Time ends, but Jeff Gordon and Team DuPont will "fall back" to springtime well before Sunday. Earlier this year, ...

Published: Nov 3, 2010, 5:03 AM

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TEAM DUPONT TO "FALL BACK" AT TEXAS

FORT WORTH, Texas. (November 2, 2010) - Clocks will be adjusted this weekend as Daylight Saving Time ends, but Jeff Gordon and Team DuPont will "fall back" to springtime well before Sunday.

Earlier this year, Gordon led a race-high 124 laps at Texas Motor Speedway before a late-race multi-car accident relegated the four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion to a 31st-place finish. Setups have evolved since that event seven months ago, but Gordon and company will begin this AAA Texas 500 weekend like it is April all over again.

"We had such a great car here earlier this year that it's hard to start off the weekend any different," said Gordon, who is fourth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings and 207 behind the leader. "We'll start out the same and we'll find out how much this sport and setups have changed since we were last here.

"We'll fine-tune it from there."

In 19 starts at the 1.5-mile track, Gordon has one win (2009), two poles (2008 and 2009), seven top-fives and nine top-10's. The Texas track has been one of the most challenging for the No. 24 team - Gordon finished last here in 2008 - but they are much improved with a victory, a runner-up finish and the strong run earlier this year in the four races since.

"It's a tough 1.5-mile race track because the transitions from straightaways to the corners and corners to straightaways are very challenging and abrupt," said Gordon, who has 17 top-10's in 2010. "So it's hard to get the car comfortable in those sections.

"And if you get comfortable in those sections in and off the corner, how do you get the car to turn in the middle? You're doing all those things at a 170 or 180 miles per hour, so it's a very challenging race track. It's been one of the most challenging for me and my race team over the years for that reason."

Whether it is the challenge of the track or the race itself, Gordon knows one variable that helps earn trips to Victory Lane.

"You never know what it's going to take to pull off a win, but a fast race car certainly helps," said Gordon. "We had that in the spring and we hope to have another fast car this weekend.

"I expect us to be really strong."

With a "fall back" setup that may spring the No. 24 team to victory.

-source: pprp

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