Gordon's Pursuit of Title Is in Details

DARLINGTON, S.C. August 25, 2004; Pete Iacobelli writing for the AP reported that Jeff Gordon is indeed serious about winning Nextel Cup championships.

He turned a 10-lap exhibition under the new lights at Darlington Raceway on Tuesday night into a solid, fact-gathering test that will serve him not only this fall but next spring as well.

"These are the things that he's always on top of his game thinking about," crew chief Robbie Loomis said.

Darlington turned on its lighting system for the first time this week. Gordon is one of the 55-year-old track's all-time champions -- he shares a record five Southern 500 victories with Cale Yarborough -- and was invited to ride before 12,000 cheering fans.

But such fan-friendly tours aren't for Gordon, who took over the Nextel Cup points lead last week at Michigan International Speedway.

Gordon brought a machine he raced with at Darlington last year. And after truck racer Bobby Hamilton did doughnuts on the track and smoked the tires for the first under-the-lights burnout, Gordon called on track crews to clean the debris before charging from the pits.

"That's why we took advantage of this opportunity," Gordon said after climbing from his car. "We thought about testing here. I don't know we might still. But at least I got eight, 10 laps on the computer here with the telemetry on the car."

Much of that info probably won't help Gordon in November when Darlington hosts its final Southern 500 as the next-to-last race in the Nextel Cup's championship chase. Loomis says the team will store the information for next May when the track holds its only 2005 race.

"When we come back for the lights, that's when it'll be an advantage," Loomis said.

On the way to Darlington, Gordon and Loomis discussed how they might gain a jump on competitors long before others test at night. Loomis said Gordon wondered about the affects of the South Carolina sunset on track conditions or lingering glare on cockpit.

Gordon said he'll need all the information to succeed in NASCAR's newest championship format in which the top 10 in points advance to a final 10-race shootout. Should Gordon hold his lead after the race at Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 11, he'll have a five-point edge on second place.

Usually a front-running team -- Gordon and Loomis were on their way to the 2001 title -- can race more conservatively this late in the season, Loomis said.

Not this year. Gordon has tests planned for at least seven of the 10 tracks on the final stretch.

"The nicest part is we have a lot of employees working on preparing the car," he said. "The thing we got to make sure is we don't burn anyone out."

That's not likely to happen to Gordon, aware that even the smallest detail might derail his try at a fifth championship.

"I feel like the way this points championship is, it's no matter how great things are for you now, it doesn't matter," he said. "It's all about timing and making sure that they're right when it counts."