Jeff Gordon on the NASCAR Chase

Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup series champion, Jeff Gordon spoke to the media Tuesday from Hendrick Motorsports in Charlotte in advance of Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Kansas Speedway. That's going to be the Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods, which is the third race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Jeff is eighth in the current series standings. He won the first two Sprint Cup races held at Kansas in '01 and '02. That victory in '01 was more or less the clincher as he went on to win his fourth series championship in '01.

Team: Hendrick Motorsports

Team Owner: Rick Hendrick

Crew Chief: Steve Letarte

Engine Builder: Hendrick Engines

Career Starts: 545

Career Wins: 81

Career Poles: 67

Best Points Finish: 1st (1995, '97, '98, 2001)

First Full Season: 1993

First Start: Nov. 15, 1992 (Atlanta)

First Win: May 29, 1994 (Lowe’s)

First Pole: Oct. 8, 1993 (Lowe’s)

Birthdate: Aug. 4, 1971

Hometown: Vallejo, Calif.

Resides: Charlotte, N.C.

Wife: Ingrid Vandebosch

Children: Ella

Hobbies: Skiing, video games, racquetball, bowling, scuba diving

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001).

• Three-time winner of Daytona 500 (1997, 1999, 2005).

• Sixth on all-time win list with 81.

• Two time series runner-up – 1996 and 2007.

• Made series debut in historic 1992 season finale at Atlanta – Richard Petty’s final race.

2008 Finished seventh in series points. … First season since rookie year of 1993 without a win – a streak of 14 seasons, the longest such active streak entering 2008. … Poles came at spring Atlanta and Martinsville events, and at fall Dover and Texas events. … Won a pole for the 16th consecutive year, good for third place behind David Pearson (20) and Richard Petty (18) for consecutive seasons with at least one pole.

PREVIOUS RACING HISTORY

Set NASCAR Nationwide Series record with 11 poles in 1992; also won three races that season – all from the pole -- including his first in NASCAR, in March at Atlanta. … Named NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year in 1991 following an 11th-place finish in the points; also won U.S. Auto Club Silver Crown Series championship that season. … 1990 USAC Midget champion at age 19, the youngest driver ever to win the title; was also youngest driver ever awarded a USAC license at 16. … Won three quarter-midget national championships and four karting titles. … Won more than 600 short-track races as a youngster after beginning in the sport in his native California at age 5; family relocated to Pittsboro, Ind., where he honed his skills.

NOTEWORTHY

Gordon is one of NASCAR’s most active drivers on behalf of charitable causes. The Jeff Gordon Foundation, founded in 1999, primarily supports charities working on behalf of children in need. The Foundation supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Hendrick Bone Marrow Foundation and Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. … Hosted Saturday Night Live on Jan. 11, 2003, in addition to making guest-host appearances on Live with Regis and Kelly.

Here are some highlight’s from today’s NASCAR CAM Video Teleconference.

We are going to start off today with a quick fan question, came across NASCAR's Twitter account. A fan named Max in Arizona, he wants to know: What are your chances of winning one of the upcoming Chase races starting with week at Kansas where you won a couple of times?

JEFF GORDON: Well, thank you Max for the question. I think our chances are really good. I've been really excited about the mile and a halfs in the final ten races in the Chase. I feel like that's something that we have really done a great job with improving from last season, and I feel like that's where this championship can really get turned around for us in the DuPont Chevrolet. We haven't had the best start especially compared to our teammates. But this last week in Dover was certainly a good performance. Didn't get the finish we were hoping for but I feel in Kansas, we are cable, very capable of getting that win that we need to really move ourselves up to where we need to be to battle for this championship so hopefully we can pull that off.

Q. You said last week that you're every bit as hungry for a championship as you've ever been, still don't like to finish second or worse. How does it wear on you like at Dover being up in possible position to win and slipping back, and then having those two teammates out of the same stable who are able to stay up there and win races and finish second? How does that, what kind of emotional or mental wear and tear is that on you?

JEFF GORDON: Well, I mean, doesn't really matter if it's your teammate or not, when you've had the kind of year that we've had with the DuPont Chevrolet and we've been competitive and we've been consistent and it all comes down to those final ten races in the Chase as to whether you're going to win the championship or not, and the first two don't go the way you'd

like them to and you could get beat by anybody, and then your teammates are up there winning the first two races; it's very frustrating. It's frustrating that we are not living up to our full potential, but at the same time, we are only two races in. It's not something that we are really overthinking or spending too much time on, we certainly are working hard and we have had some things that haven't gone our way.

But at the same time, we could have been a lot worse in New Hampshire and we could have been a lot worse in Dover. We are still in this thing in our mind, and eight races, a lot is left to happen. And all we can do is just go try to turn things around this weekend in Kansas, and we know that if those guys continue the way that they are, we have got to win to gain points on them. And that's certainly a lot to ask for. But in my opinion, it's still doable. The nice thing is when your teammates are running that good, you have all the data and information at your fingertips to be able to pull from.

Q. Last week you said you had to have a Top 10, and you got a Top 10, but you probably didn't move up as far as you wanted to. What do you got to have this week?

JEFF GORDON: Well, we have got to live up to our full potential. We were second, third place car last week at Dover. We didn't finish there, so Jimmie and the 48 team, by far, they had the best car, the best team, and they won the race. So you have got to get your absolute best, and we haven't done that the first two races.

You know, ten races is a lot of laps. It's a lot of points that can be lost and gained. There's going to be a lot more drama over these next eight, and all we can do is go and get our absolute best. I just hope that this weekend in Kansas, our absolute best is a car and a team that's capable of winning, and we pull that off. If not we are still shooting for Top 5s, and if we are 14th and we finish 10th, then that's a gain. If we are fifth and we finish second or third, that's a gain. But you really have to be in the Top 3, I believe, to be able to be a winning car, and that's where we have got to put ourselves in position for.

Q. After winning four championships in seven years, did you ever think it would take this long to win another one, and why do you think it has taken this long? Has it been mostly just a matter of competition getting better? Has it been something more to do with your team?

JEFF GORDON: Well, I never thought I would win four championships or three, two, or one. I mean, I just never thought I could come into this level of competition and you know, I remember when I signed with Hendrick, I had people doubting that decision and they had never won a championship.

So, you know, I have exceeded all of my expectations, but at the same time, as you win championships and you win races, it raises your goals up to another level, and sort of creates new expectations.

So you know, I really thought that we have had some years in it to pull off the championship, and you know, one or two things here or there, didn't go our way, we didn't win it, but we have been competitive many, many years since 2001.

But the Chase has changed things. This format I think doesn't suit my style quite as well as the old one but I'm as hungry and as eager as I've ever been to get the championship, because it's something I feel like I've never accomplished and this team has never accomplished and it's something that we desperately want to do. We know because our teammates won the last three, and this year, two of our teammates are right in it, that we have got as much of a shot at it as anybody else, as well.

So we are excited about that opportunity and hungry for it, and it's not about what you did in the last race and not about what you did last year; it's about what you do in the next one coming up and the next season and these next eight races. So that's what we are focused on.

Q. You're just such a great guy, you come into victory lane and I saw you there the other night and you're congratulating Jimmie, and a lot of drivers, Mark Martin was a little flustered when he was asked about what Jimmie has got going on, but everyone is asking it, seemingly everyone. And then you were mentioning a few minutes ago about how you have all of the information from Jimmie Johnson's team so that's really helpful. You above anyone would know what they got. What is it that they have got, and I appreciate your patience in asking about him, and I thought it was cool that you came into victory lane to congratulate him.

JEFF GORDON: Well, you know, one thing, I'm a team player and it was at a great organization, and as frustrated as I was at New Hampshire, I wanted to go and congratulate Mark because it was a job well done. And same thing last weekend with Jimmie. You know, we are competitors, but there's also, you know, the right thing to do. And sort of put it to Jimmie, you know, when you do what he did, it deserves a congratulations from everybody in

the garage and in my opinion, because it was impressive.

The thing is, there's going to be times where your teammates are going to out run you, they are going to do a better job of all of the details and you have to give them credit when they do it, but it makes you work that much harder to get those details put together for the next race so that you can go out and accomplish the same thing.

Q. What you see that they have, you see all of the information, what is it that they have?

JEFF GORDON: If I knew that, you know, I would tell you.

You know, it's nothing huge. I think that they did a great job on Friday qualifying on the pole. That was a huge advantage for them, because they were able to get out of the pits first. Clean air was just unbelievably big this past weekend, and it is every weekend, but I saw it being an even bigger advantage this past weekend. But they just had the balance right on the car.

I had a good car, a very good car, but it wasn't perfect, and there was a little bit we were missing in turns three and four. And there are always slight differences in how a crew chief goes about their theories on springs and shocks and building the car and everything, and so even though we have all of the information, it doesn't always mean we are identical. And there have been times where we have been, you know, quite a bit different than them and been faster than them and there's been times when we have been exactly the same and made them faster than us. It's driving style and it's track position, it's so many things that make it up. And you know, I feel like we were very close to them this past weekend, but there were some slight differences and that might have been the difference in the speed.

Q. Looking ahead at the schedule in these Chase races, what do you think your best opportunities are to gain some points and are there tracks that I guess you expect to do well versus tracks that maybe you hope you do well?

JEFF GORDON: Well, I feel like our mile and a half program has really improved this year. So I am excited about Kansas. I feel like we learned a lot from Chicago earlier in the year. Obviously Mark Martin is very strong in Chicago and I look for him to be strong again in Kansas but I feel like we have a great shot at winning there.

California was a track earlier in the year where I felt like we let one slip away. And I'm hoping that we can get that one back the next time we go. Martinsville I feel like is a great track for us but we have been getting beat by Jimmie and a couple other guys have been doing a little bit better than us there. So we have got to make some improvements.

I feel like Talladega is a great track for us. I feel like Texas, I can't wait to get back there after the win earlier in the season; it's totally changed our attitude about being able to go and win at Texas. I feel like we have been really good at Homestead, not a winning car but I feel like we have been a Top 5 car and maybe we can make that into a winning car.

The only track that I see that we have to make big gains on is Phoenix. I feel like all of the other tracks, we are very capable. We have got to do our job in every aspect from me driving the car on the double file restarts, getting the most out of it to communicating well with Steve, getting the right adjustments made on the pit stops, having good, solid pit stops, especially in the closing laps or the final pit stop, I mean, those things are all crucial that they have to happen at the right time. That can be the difference between winning and being sixth, finishing sixth, and that's something we have not done collectively as a team well enough in these first two, and we all are aware that we have to do that. We have to do it perfectly these next eight.

Q. And speaking of Homestead real quick, your average the past couple of years has been a fourth place finish. Can you now knock that one off the list, do you think, in the finale?

JEFF GORDON: I think we are very capable of it. It's one that we don't have a win at but I think that our performance the last, you know, few races there have been very solid as you mentioned. I think that it's a mile and a half track that we have made big improvements on this year. Homestead we only run once a year, so it's really an unknown for a lot of the teams, all of the teams out there, but it's certainly one I'm optimistic about. You know this championship is going to go all the way down to the final race at Homestead. I just hope that we are one of the ones in contention when we get there.

Q. You alluded to the fact earlier that you don't think the Chase format suits your style as much as the old points system. Why is that?

JEFF GORDON: Well, if I could take ten races from the schedule and put my best ten races together, I would throw out a couple of the ones that are in the Chase. I feel like you ask Jimmie Johnson that question, he will say that those are pretty much, other than maybe Talladega, those are ten