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NASCAR-WCUP: Gordon Seeks to Further Tame Darlington

18 March 1999

Jeff Gordon
DARLINGTON, S.C. - For a track that is "too tough to tame," three time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon has sure had a calming effect on Darlington Raceway. Gordon has driven his DuPont Automotive Finishes Chevrolet to victory in five of the last seven races at the legendary speedway.

He returns for this Sunday's Transouth Financial 400 ready to crack the whip on the 1.366-mile oval once again.

"A lot of the reason that we've had so much success at Darlington is because my crew chief, Ray Evernham, and all the guys on this team give me great equipment here," said Gordon. "I really like Darlington. It's a tough little track.

"It's a place where you have to fine tune all day no matter how good the car is. Ray and I have great communication and he is able to give me what I need on pit stops throughout the day and that allows me to be up front in the end."

In addition to his five wins in a total of 12 starts at Darlington, Gordon has one pole, seven top-five's and eight top-10's for an average finish of 10.4. However, in his last seven starts here, Gordon's average finish is 1.43.

And although only one of his wins came in the Transouth 400 spring event at Darlington, Gordon has won a record four consecutive Southern 500's over the last four Labor Day weekends.

Now, after winning last weekend's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Gordon will have to refocus to gear up for this weekend's event. "When we arrive at a track after winning the week before , like we are this weekend, it's like starting all over again," said Gordon. "Anything you mighthave done then doesn't mean anything when you go into the next race."

Gordon started out the season by winning the Daytona 500 from the pole. Then, a rare engine failure occurred at Rockingham giving the DuPont team their first DNF since getting caught up in an accident at the fall race at Bristol in 1997.

The third race of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway resulted in a third-place finish, an improvement from last years 17th-place finish in the inaugural event there. Last weekend's win at Atlanta gave Gordon his second win in the first four races of 1999, and a total of 44 career victories. Currently, he is third in the Winston Cup points standings, 44 behind leader, Mike Skinner. A good run this weekend could very easily have Gordon leading the points battle.

But can the track that's "too tough to tame" be rendered lifeless, once again, by Gordon?

Only after the dust settles, will we know.

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