NASCAR WCUP: Jeff Gordon Interview: Finishing Second at Darlington

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

September 3, 2001

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet Monte Carlo (finished 2nd): "Well, that wasn't the way I wanted to do it. That was kind of ugly. When it comes down to the caution at the end, you've got to do what can. Bobby (Labonte) might not be happy with me, and deservingly so. I passed him there on that last lap. I hit the wall. I gave this race up today. I think we had the car capable of doing it. I came off of turn 2 when we were leading there in front of Bobby (Labonte) and I just hit the wall. The car started pushing from right there on. It was everything I could do to hold on to it. I knew I was going to have to fight hard for every position there at the end. I gave (Ricky) Rudd the room and we bumped and banged a little bit. But that's just good hard racing when you come down to 10 (laps) to go at Darlington. We were banging and it was wild out there. I'm real proud of these guys on the Dupont Chevrolet. They put a great effort today. They put a heck of a racecar out there and had great pit stops. We came home second."

Text provided by Nancy Wager

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.