NASCAR WCUP: Jeff Gordon hopes to keep car and Martinsville streak intact
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
April 4, 2001MARTINSVILLE, Va. - To keep a remarkable streak of 12 consecutive top-10 finishes alive, Jeff Gordon will need to show patience on Sunday as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series visits Martinsville Speedway for the Virginia 500.
Gordon, driver of the DuPont Chevrolet, last finished outside the top 10 at Martinsville in 1994. Since then, Gordon has three victories, has led 1,019 laps and completed 5,855 out of 5,856 laps, or 99.98 per cent. In those 12 races, the average number of finishers on the lead lap was 10.4.
In fact, he has only finished outside the top-11 once in 16 starts at the short track.
With 43 cars tightly packed around the 0.526-mile speedway for 500 laps, trouble lurks around every corner. Patience is a key ingredient to being in contention at the end of the race.
"You are constantly in traffic here," Gordon said. "When you're running in the pack, you are constantly trying to gain a position. If you're in the lead, you are constantly battling drivers who don't want to go a lap down.
"You've got to be patient and remember that the race is 500 laps. An early mistake can ruin your day."
One of Gordon's most memorable finishes at Martinsville was in the spring of 1997 when he spun while leading on lap 328 -- a race he eventually won.
"Everything seemed to be going perfect that day when I was hit in the left rear quarter panel coming out of turn four," Gordon said. "I looped it and kept going without doing much damage to the car.
"Mentally you have to regroup and not let it affect you."
Gordon enters this weekend's event second in the points standings with five top-five's in seven starts this year and fresh off a Martinsville test session last week. "You have to constantly step up your program to be competitive," Gordon said. "It seems everybody who starts a race has a chance to win.
"You have to take full advantage of your limited test dates. The better we're prepared, the better our chance to win is."
Text provided by Jon Edwards
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