NASCAR WCUP: Gordon wants celebration to last another week
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
August 8, 2001WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - Jeff Gordon, coming off an "almost perfect week," will look to capture his fourth win in five years at Watkins Glen International on Sunday in the Global Crossing @ The Glen.
Gordon began last week taping several shows for the upcoming Sports Superstars edition of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," ended the week with a Brickyard 400 victory and celebrated his 30th birthday in between. With the victory, the driver of the DuPont Chevrolet became the first three-time winner in its eight-year history and extended his points lead by 115.
This Sunday, Gordon will attempt to become the first driver to capture seven NASCAR Winston Cup road course events. He is currently tied with Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and Rusty Wallace atop the all-time road course win list. Gordon's six victories were consecutive.
"It was difficult winning my first road course event, not to mention six in a row," Gordon said. "But the team worked hard on the setups, I worked hard on my driving and things just started to click.
"We knew we were capable of winning on a road course, we just had to have it all come together during a race. It finally did and that gave us confidence that carried over to five more wins."
Last year, Gordon's chances of seven consecutive road course triumphs ended with an incident on lap two with Tony Stewart. While he believes their much publicized incident during the race and post-race "discussion" will draw some attention this year, Gordon won't let it become a distraction.
"My philosophy is what happens on the track stays at the track," Gordon said. "Tony and I race every week, we both want to win and you can't let last year's incident become a distraction. If it becomes a distraction, then you lose your focus.
"Tony's a fierce competitor and when he's in front of me, he's my biggest rival. The next driver I'm trying to pass is my biggest rival until I get by them."
In eight starts at the 2.45-mile track, Gordon has one pole, three victories, five top-five's, six top-10's and has led 146 laps. While those credentials suggest he is a favorite, Gordon knows there are a number of drivers who could pull off the victory.
"Ron Fellows, Boris Said and Robby Gordon are going to be tough because of their road racing background," Gordon said. "But guys like Rusty (Wallace), Mark (Martin), and Jerry (Nadeau) are always strong.
"Steve Park won this race last year and Tony (Stewart) won earlier this year at Sears Point. I expect Ricky (Rudd) and Dale (Jarrett) to be in contention, also.
"More drivers and teams are competitive because you can't have many weaknesses when running for a championship."
Gordon, a three-time Winston Cup champion, leads the points standings by 160 over Jarrett with Rudd third, 179 behind. He also leads the series in poles (5), races led (17), average finish (10.9) and average start (9.1). Gordon has 13 top-five's (no other driver has more than nine), has led 1,552 laps (1,053 more than any competitor) and is tied for most victories (4) and most top-10's (14).
Text provided by Jon Edwards
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