NASCAR WCUP: Jeff Gordon Interview; Qualifying for the pole at Michigan

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

June 9, 2001

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet Monte Carlo (pole-sitter - this is Gordon's third pole -- 6/95 & 6/99 -- at MIS) "Our guys did a great job. We were a little tight during practice and we freed it up. I don't know what we could have done to make it much better. Of course it was pretty good under the hood getting down the straightaways too. That was an incredible lap for us. If we can run that fast, I'm sure somebody else can run faster. That was just a great effort by this race team. I'm so proud of them and the way they've stepped it up here. That's what we need to do - just go out there and keep performing like that."

(After last week, that doesn't sound good for the competition) "Well, what happened in the race last week doesn't happen very often. You've got to ride it while you can. This sport's pretty humbling. We're just going to keep focusing on our team and hope that we can just keep getting good racecars. That doesn't come along very often to dominate like that, so we're going to try to appreciate it as much as we can and go out there and have a good effort on Sunday."

(Why did you only run one lap?) "Well, two laps around this place - it's a long racetrack - two laps isn't going to do you any good. We did the same thing at Charlotte. The Goodyear tires come in great right away, the way this car it set-up and the pressures that we run, and the tape that we run at the front of the car, one lap is really what we shoot for. Now if I'd made a big mistake on the first lap, we would have run another one."

(Is the way your team coming together now feels like days of old?) "I'm seeing a team that is just incredible. The teamwork, the unit that they are right now certainly reminds me a lot of what we had - if not more so - maybe even better. I think these guys are working better together than they ever have and that's what's impressed me the most about this group."

(Can you breakdown a championship season into critical time in the points and you definitely want to make a move?) "It's a long season. You've got to capitalize on the tracks you run good at and try to survive on the ones you don't. It's early enough in the season where you start thinking about the points, but it's not so early where you start worrying about points. What we've got to do it just go out there and do our job. When we get to that last 20-lap stretch - those last 20 laps are going to be the deciding factor in what teams are the strongest."

Text provided by Nancy Wager

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