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September 30, 2009

Gordon moving up Chase standings, but his teammates are in his way

By Tom Reck The Tribune Star Wed Sep 30, 2009, 11:49 PM EDT

Jeff Gordon is off to a slow start in the NASCAR Chase for the championship but the four-time series champ thinks he still could take top honors.

To do it, he would have to win a race or two and pass Hendrick Motorsports teammates Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson to do it. Martin and Johnson rank one-two in the Chase point totals and have won the first two races in the championship series.

Gordon placed sixth in Sunday’s race in Delaware and moved up two spots in the standings to eighth going into this Sunday’s Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway.

“We had a great car and a great performance … the finish is not what we wanted,” he said on a teleconference of the race at Dover International Speedway.

Gordon won the first two Cup races run at Kansas Speedway in 2001 and 2002. His last championship came in 2001.

The native of California who grew up in Indiana and began his driving career on such tracks as The Action Track says his team’s program on11⁄2-mile tracks such as Kansas Speedway is much better than last year.

“We are just two races into the Chase and things haven’t gone our way but it could have been worse. If Jimmie and Mark continue the way they are, we will need to win some races,” he said.

“We need to race to our potential in each race and try to finish in the top three. If we don’t do that, we need to be in the top 10 in the DuPont Chevrolet. We have to do our absolute best,” he said.

This season, Gordon has one win, 12 top fives, and 19 top 10s. He ranks in the top three in three categories including most laps in the top 15.

Gordon began his NASCAR run by winning his four championships in seven years in the series and his first 10 years in NASCAR, all with Rick Hendrick.

He finished second two years ago. Asked what has kept him from winning again, he said, “I never thought I would [do what I did]. I’ve exceeded all my expectations,” he said.

He said he likes the new championship system but also liked the pre-Chase format where everything was based on what was done in 36 races.

“My teammate has won the last three. That makes you want to win that much more. We know we can do it,” he said.

Sizing up the eight races left on the schedule, he said he is “excited” about going to Kansas in addition to Martinsville, Homestead [Miami] and Texas, where he won his race this year.

Johnson won the 2008 race at Kansas Speedway while Greg Bifflee won in 2007 and Tony Stewart in 2006.

Gordon is the only driver to win more than one time at the track while Johnson has been on the pole three times, including the last two races.

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