Last time Jeff Gordon was at Dover International Speedway, everything worked out well for the four-time Sprint Cup Series Champion. He was able to reach victory lane. Now returning this year, he hopes that he can do just that so he can punch his ticket for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
It won’t be as easy as it seems, though, as he says the rule changes in decreasing the horsepower, and a new tire compound, have changed the track a lot from years past. As a result, those notes that he used to win last year – you might as well throw them out.
“It’s like starting all over again,” he commented. “We had some challenges today we weren’t near as good as we were hoping to be.”
That showed in qualifying as Gordon will start the FedEx 400 from the 22nd spot on Sunday afternoon. He is hoping that debriefing with crew chief Alan Gustafson and going through the notes overnight will bring some improvement.
“Just the fact that you are driving much deeper into the corners with less power makes a huge impact here because of the big dips and bumps going into (Turn) 3,” he added. “It really loads the car up much more aggressively over there. It makes those bumps seems like they are even worse than what we have had in the past. That is just one of the little things that when you take 100 horsepower out of the cars how it can change your approach in your set-up and what you have to do to get around a race track such as Dover.”
For Gordon, getting the performance up to par is key as he has yet to win a race this year, therefore leaving him on the outside looking in for the Chase for the Sprint Cup in his final season of competition. He could possibly make it in on points, but scoring a win and punching the ticket would be much better. The performance hasn’t been there to allow that, as Gordon admits they have struggled on the 1.5 mile tracks this year. saying that they haven’t lived up their own expectations. In the six intermediate events this year, Gordon has scored three top-10s, with a best finish of fourth at Kansas Speedway.
“I think right now if we execute flawlessly we have a shot at winning. But we haven’t been doing that either,” he commented. “We have some work to do. It always helps when you get your performance up in your cars. You can make a few little mistakes here and there and still put yourself in position to win. For us right now while the performance is down a little bit, I’ve got to do a better job on the restarts. We have to do a better job on pit road and the calls that we make for pit strategy and track position. Those things just all have to be done perfectly, but never stops us from trying to get the performance better. We want to win every time we go out to a racetrack, our goal is to win. But nothing has changed in my entire career since I started your goal is to go out there and fight as hard as you can for every position and get the best finish that you can.”
Gordon added that the fight for every position and being as solid as possible has worked so far to keep him consistent, which has him sitting ninth in points. With the current winners and standings, he would qualify for the Chase based on points. However, that’s not good enough by his expectations as while he wants to be in the Chase, he truthfully wants to be in the Chase with a chance at winning the championship.
The effort to get better is something that is seen throughout the entire Hendrick Motorsports camp as everybody is working hard to get better, and find the right set-up for the rules package. While Jimmie Johnson has three wins, he admits that the rule package isn’t something that has suited the organization to date.
“It seems like at the other tracks we are off a little bit, downforce and maybe even a little bit with power,” he added. “That is unusual for us. We are very aware of it. I wouldn’t call it urgency just a lot of hard work and focus on getting that turned around.”
