NASCAR WCUP: New Hampshire stats good for Jeff Gordon

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

July 18, 2001

LOUDON, N.H. - After two disappointing finishes in the last two races, Jeff Gordon is looking forward to getting back on track this Sunday in the New Hampshire 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Gordon, driver of the DuPont Chevrolet, has twice finished outside of the top 10 in consecutive events during the 2001 season. The first time it happened, he immediately went on a tear with two wins, three second-place finishes and a third in the next seven races.

Now, after finishing 37th at Daytona and 17th at Chicago, Gordon enters this event at the 1.058-mile speedway tied with Dale Jarrett for the NASCAR Winston Cup points lead, with Ricky Rudd only 18 points behind them. Gordon may have a small edge heading into Loudon based on past performances at the New England track.

In 12 starts, Gordon has three wins, seven top-fives and nine top-10's. Jarrett and Rudd each have five top-five's and eight top-10's in 12 events with Rudd securing the only win between them.

"It looks like a three-man race right now but I'm not counting anybody out," Gordon said. "We were 150 points down and then a couple of races later we were 150 up.

"We're only halfway through the season, so it's too early to be worried about what other teams are doing. We just need to focus on our equipment and finish as high as possible. After all, where you finish is what determines where you stand in the race for the championship."

While Gordon has not finished worse than sixth in the past seven races at NHIS, he sees room for improvement.

"For some reason, we've lost a little bit of ground here," Gordon said. "The guys at the shop have been working hard getting ready for this race and hopefully we'll make up that little bit we've lost here."

Gordon has made up more than a "little bit" compared with his overall performance of last year. He has already tied his win total of last season (3) and number of finishes in the top five (11). Gordon led only 15 races for 425 laps in 2000. This year, he has led 14 races for 1,276 laps, almost three times as many as any competitor.

While it is too early for Gordon to talk about the championship possibilities, his statistics are speaking for him.

Text provided by Jon Edwards

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