GORDON RIDES WAVE OF MOMENTUM INTO ATLANTA

    HAMPTON, Ga. - With five top-fives in his last five races, including a 
win at Martinsville last Sunday, Jeff Gordon hopes to carry that momentum into 
this Sunday's Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
    Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, is familiar with momentum 
and winning races "back-to-back." He has followed up a win with another trip 
to Victory Lane 17 times in his 11-year career, including one stretch in 1996 
when he won three in a row. In 1998, he tied a modern-era NASCAR Winston Cup 
record by winning four consecutive races. In addition, he ended that year with 
two consecutive wins and began the 1999 season with a victory in the Daytona 
500.
    "I look back throughout my career at things that would happen and you 
ride the wave when it carries you," Gordon said. "And you keep your chin up when 
it's not going your way. I've been very fortunate to win the number of races 
we've won and the championships we've won."
    In 1995, Gordon won seven races en route to his first championship. One 
year later, he grabbed 10 wins and finished second in the point standings to 
teammate Terry Labonte. In 1997 and 1998, he won his second and third 
championships and notched 10 wins and 13 wins, respectively.
    "You can't keep that kind of momentum up all the time," Gordon said. 
"Sometimes you have to get knocked down a little bit before you can climb back up 
there and be on top."
    At times, the 2003 season has been frustrating for Gordon. He went 
through a nine-race span that began in July and lasted through September where he 
finished outside the top-10 seven times. The performance was there, the finishes 
were not.
    "We've actually performed a lot better than our results show," Gordon 
said. "We can't blame anyone but ourselves when that happens. There are little 
areas we can improve on, but as a whole we've been a solid team this year."
    Evidenced by his laps-led statistics, Gordon leads the series with 1,580, 
which is 510 more than his closest competitor. By comparison, he led 1,717 
laps during his 13-win season of 1998. 
    In 22 career starts at Atlanta, Gordon has led at least one lap in 14 
events for a total of 882 laps. He has captured three victories, one pole, nine 
top-fives and 13 top-10's. Earlier this year, Gordon started 30th and led 68 
laps before Bobby Labonte shoved him aside for the victory.
    "Bobby made a great move here in March," Gordon said. "He had momentum 
and I slid up in front of him to block him. He gave me a little tap and I got 
sideways. I tried to squeeze him high, but I knew we'd wreck if I took him any 
further.
    "He didn't do anything I wouldn't have done."