Sports Radio Interviews

Jeff Gordon: “It is Frustrating That We Are Not Living Up to Our Full Potential.”

Jeff Gordon is no stranger to NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Championship. After all he has won the title 4 times and is still hungry for more. So far during the Chase he hasn’t been able to put a full race together which has been frustrating for him at times. He has been great for the first 2/3 of races and then somehow or another he starts to fade late in the race. His teammates, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin, are in the top-2 in the Sprint Cup standings which is even more frustrating for him as he has all of the data to use from his teammates at his disposal. While Gordon has enjoyed a strong 2009 campaign, he still has some work to do if he wants to bring home trophy No. 5. He is 5th in the standings, 105 points behind series-leading teammate Jimmie Johnson, with 6 races left to go in the Chase.

Jeff Gordon joined  The Fan 590 in Torontoto talk about his chances at Charlotte and Martinsville, whether it takes an emotional toll on him racing great at places like Dover and then fading but his teammates in Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin finishing strong, having a top-10 race in the Chase and not being in the position he would like to be in, whether he thought that it would take him this long to win another championship, and looking ahead to Martinsville, a race where has had a lot of success.

On his chances at Charlotte and Martinsville:

“I think our chances are really good.  I have really excited about the mile and a halves in the final 10 races in the Chase.  I feel like it is something that we have done a really good job with improving from last season and I feel like that is where this championship can really get turned around for us and the Dupont Chevrolet.”

On whether it takes an emotional toll on him racing great at places like Dover and then fading but his teammates in Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin finishing strong:

“Well I mean it doesn’t really matter whether it is your teammate or not.  When you have had the kind of year that we have had in the Dupont Chevrolet, we have been consistent and then it all comes down to those final 10 races in the Chase as to whether you are going to win the championship or not.  Then first 2 don’t go the way you like them to and you get beat by anybody and then your teammates are up there winning the first 2 races it is very frustrating.  It is frustrating that we are not living up to our full potential.  It is not something that we are over thinking or spending too much time on. We are certainly 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 certainly could have been a lot worse in Dover.  We are still in this thing in our minds and all we can do is you know try to turn things around.  We know that if those guys continue with the way they are, we have got to win to gain points on them and that is certainly a lot to ask for. In my opinion it is still doable.  The nice thing when your teammates are running good you have got all the data right there at your fingertips to be able to pull from.”

On having a top-10 race in the Chase and not being in the position he would like to be in:

“Well you know we have got to live up to our full potential. I mean 10 races is a lot of laps. It is a lot of points that can be lost or gained. There is going to be a lot more drama and all we can do is go and get our absolute best. We are shooting for top-5 and if we are 14th and finish 10th, then that is a gain. If we are 5th and finish 2nd or 3rd, that is a gain but you really have to be in the top-3 which I believe to be a winning car. That is what we have to put ourselves into position for.”

On whether he thought that it would take him this long to win another championship:

“Well I never thought that I would win 4 championships or 3, 2 or 1.  I just never thought that I could come into this level of competition…  I remember when I signed with Hendricks I had people doubting that decision and they have never won a championship.  I have exceeded all of my expectations 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.  I really thought that we have had some years in us to pull off the championship.  One or two things didn’t go our way and we didn’t win it.  We have been competitive 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 am hungry and eager as I have ever been as that was mentioned to get this championship because it’s something that I feel that I have never accomplished and this team has never accomplished and something that we desperately want to do.  We know because our teammates have won the last 3 and this year 2 of our teammates are right in it and that we have got just as much as a shot as anybody else as well.  We are excited about that opportunity and hungry for it.  It is not about what you did in the last race. It is not about what you did last year.  It is about what you do in the next one coming up and the next season and that is what we are focused on.”

On looking ahead to Martinsville, a race where has had a lot of success:

“Lately it has been kind of like the championship, you have got to beat Jimmie Johnson.  Martinsville has been a great track to me since like ’94-95 maybe ’96.  It has just been a track that we clicked on with the setup.  I learned a lot about being patient at that track and that’s really what it takes.  It takes being patient and not overdriving through the corner really waiting for the throttle through the center-part of the corner. Let the car roll through the center.  What you have to focus on as far as information for them team is to getting the car up off the corner really strong to get down the straightaways.  Every race we go there we are one of the fastest cars.  We are one of the cars with a shot at winning and we would love to get back into victory lane.  Our teammates have been really strong.  Denny Hamlin has been really strong.  I feel like we haven’t has the quite the edge that we have had.  We are working hard to go back to Martinsville this next race and get that victory.  I think that is a race that we definitely have highlighted on our schedule in the final 10 that we can gain some points but we just got to do make the car do a couple of more things that we haven’t had it do as well as the guys that we have been getting beat by.  That is what we are focused on doing when we get back there.”

Jeff Gordon on the Fan 590 in Toronto

Tags: consecutive champion, consecutive championships, crew chief, Dover, final 10 races, Hendricks Motorsports, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Martins ville, NASCAR, Sprint Cup, The Chase