May 17, 2008
Gordon picking up speed
After second last-place finish, he hopes for win at Subway race on Phoenix track
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AVONDALE, Ariz. - A year ago, Jeff Gordon crossed Phoenix International Raceway off the ever-dwindling list of tracks where the four-time champion has yet to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
His victory in the Subway Fresh Fit 500 was also significant because it was his 76th, matching the career mark of the late Dale Earnhardt. And it was also the first of six victories by Gordon in one of the best seasons of his career, even if Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson did beat him out for the title.
"Last year was an awesome year for us, all the way around," Gordon said after qualifying 11th for tonight's Subway Fresh Fit 500 on the mile Phoenix oval. "And it was definitely one of the highlights of last season and definitely a highlight of my career. To go as long as we've gone without winning a race here, and I guess the irony of the fact that we tied Dale Earnhardt, to me, that's what made it so special."
The only current Cup tracks where Gordon hasn't won are Homestead and Texas.
Now Gordon would like to take advantage of his newfound winning ways at Phoenix to bounce back from a terrible race last week on that bugaboo Texas track, where he crashed and finished last in the 43-car field.
It was only the second time in 516 top series starts that Gordon finished last. The other was in April 1999 - at Texas.
But there is another thing to be concerned about right now: Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet has not been running at the end of three of seven races this year, the most times any driver did not finish in 2008.
"It's not that our team's in trouble, it's not that our race cars haven't been good. It's a pretty isolated situation to Texas," he said. "We've been great at all the mile-and-a-halfs up to that point. It's something we're focused on to try to do our best to overcome it, but you've got to leave it behind you. You've got to move forward."
And, even with suspension failure at Daytona and crashes at Las Vegas and Texas, Gordon goes into the Phoenix race just two positions and 91 points out of the top 12.
"Other than the DNF's, I'm very happy with the season," he said. "We've performed well, our pit stops, communication, teamwork, all that's been great. We've run really well at a lot of tracks.
Ryan Newman will start from the pole tonight, with Elliott Sadler on the outside of the front row and Carl Edwards and Mark Martin right behind. Two-time reigning Cup champion Johnson will start seventh.
Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun
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