NASCAR WCUP: Jeff Gordon Ready for Daytona -- Changes and All
9 February 2000
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
|
With new crew chief Robbie Loomis leading the team into 2000, and a new pit crew ready to perform competitive pit stops under race conditions, it would seem that Gordon and the Rainbow Warriors have their work cut out for them. However, the team feels confident about the new season.
"There have been some pretty significant changes," said Gordon. "However, this team has so much depth that the effects of changing people should not lead to major setbacks.
"Robbie Loomis is a crew chief with a lot of experience and is somebody we thought would really fit with our team. Throughout testing we worked extremely well together and he has been working very closely with Brian Whitesell, who is now our team manager and has been with this team pretty much since the beginning."
Loomis served as crew chief at Petty Enterprises for the last nine years and was named Gordon's crew chief in December, replacing interim crew chief Whitesell who held the position for the final seven races of 1999. Whitesell's two wins as crew chief came at Martinsville and Charlotte.
"We also have a new pit crew," said Gordon. "Some of them were recruited right from within Hendrick Motorsports and some of them were hired from outside. They have already pulled off some impressive times in practice."
Although Gordon won seven races last season, making him the driver with the most wins for a record five consecutive years, he finished sixth in points lending to an onslaught of criticism that Gordon's team is not up to standard because of the accomplishments in the previous four seasons -- defined by three Winston Cup championships and a host of other record-breaking accomplishments.
"We've been put to the test before," said Gordon. "This is just another test -- another challenge, and this team has never backed away from a challenge. Great things have come together in a short period and we feel like we have a team that really clicks like it has in the past.
"Plus, we're not here to prove anything to anybody and our job is not to make a lot of friends either. I'm here to win races and work with my team. Our goal is to win races, win championships and continue to be competitive."
Gordon won the Daytona 500 last year for the second time in three years and will go to Daytona with the intention of defending his win in NASCAR's premier event.
Daytona Speedweeks for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series encompasses numerous events. The first is qualifying on Saturday, Feb. 12, when only the top two positions of the Daytona 500 are locked in on time-trial lap times. Gordon started on the pole last year.
The Bud Shootout follows on Sunday. This race allows all of the previous season's pole winners to compete in a 25-lap event. Gordon won seven poles last season, more than any other driver, and will compete in this non-points event which he has participated in every year since completing his rookie season. He won the event in 1994 and 1997 when it was called the Busch Clash.
The twin 125-mile qualifying races determine positions three through 30 of the 43-car starting field. This event is held on Thursday, Feb. 17. Gordon won a qualifier in 1993, his first race of his rookie year.
Then comes the International Race of Champions event on Friday. This will be Gordon's sixth year of IROC competition where champions from all forms of motorsports compete in an invitation-only, four-race-per-year series.
Finally, Speedweeks reaches its pinnacle on Sunday. And as the defending winner of the Daytona 500, performance at the 2.5-mile superspeedway is one change Gordon does not wish to make.
Text Provided by Kymberly Brantigan
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