NASCAR Cup
Texas: Jeff Gordon preview
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY VICTORY LANE IN GORDON'S 'CROSSHAIRS' FORT WORTH, Texas. (March 31, 2009) - Although Texas Motor Speedway has always been "hit or miss" for Jeff Gordon, Victory Lane at the 1.5-mile track is in his "crosshairs." In 16 starts ...
Published: Jun 19, 2009, 7:48 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY VICTORY LANE IN GORDON'S 'CROSSHAIRS'
FORT WORTH, Texas. (March 31, 2009) - Although Texas Motor Speedway has always been "hit or miss" for Jeff Gordon, Victory Lane at the 1.5-mile track is in his "crosshairs."
In 16 starts at the Texas track, Gordon has one pole, six top-fives - the most of any driver - and eight top-10's. But TMS remains one of only two tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule where Gordon has yet to post a victory (Homestead-Miami Speedway is the other).
"We've been 'hit or miss' here," said Gordon, who leads the point standings by 89 over Clint Bowyer heading into Sunday's Samsung 500. "In 2007 when we hit on the setup, I hit the wall with about 20 to go while leading and it ruined that opportunity. Another time we had electrical issues while leading late in the race.
"But those were instances when we ran well and had a shot at the win. Other times, we've been off the mark."
Including this race in 2008 when the four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion hit the turn 4 wall on lap 110 and finished 43rd. The team rebounded in November, winning the pole and finishing second.
"I am not going to base anything off last year," said Gordon, who will drive a specially-painted No. 24 DuPont/National Guard Chevrolet this weekend. "Even when we finished second, it was because of fuel mileage and we still were only about a 12th to 15th- place car.
"The team worked hard over the offseason and our performances on intermediate tracks have improved. We are just a different team with different race cars right now."
In three "intermediate" track races this year, Gordon has led laps in each event with finishes of second at California, sixth at Las Vegas and second at Atlanta. Next up is the 1.5-mile Texas track, and his sights are set on a strong run.
"Texas is one of those places that is on my radar," said Gordon. "I want to turn things around and conquer it.
"We've made such huge progress - the way the cars are driving, the way the team is performing - that I'm really optimistic. What we are doing with the cars has worked well so far this year.
"And I think it could possibly even work better at Texas than some of the places we have been to."
-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 Stewart - NASCAR teleconference, part 1
Next article Texas: Ryan Newman preview
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Clint Bowyer
The wildest fights in modern NASCAR Cup history
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Bristol II
The wildest fights in modern NASCAR Cup history
Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray to make surprise NASCAR return with Ram
NASCAR Truck
NASCAR Truck
Texas
Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray to make surprise NASCAR return with Ram
Clint Bowyer: "It’s time to allow somebody else to have fun”
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Clint Bowyer: "It’s time to allow somebody else to have fun”
Latest news
Liam Lawson rues Brazilian GP qualifying mistake despite third-place grid start
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
9 min
Liam Lawson rues Brazilian GP qualifying mistake despite third-place grid start
George Russell's Brazilian GP qualifying fury explained: "Pole was there for the taking"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
29 min
George Russell's Brazilian GP qualifying fury explained: "Pole was there for the taking"
F1 Brazilian GP: Sunday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
42 min
F1 Brazilian GP: Sunday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
Lewis Hamilton insists Ferrari tensions with Charles Leclerc are over: "We've squashed it"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
56 min
Lewis Hamilton insists Ferrari tensions with Charles Leclerc are over: "We've squashed it"
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