California could be what Jeff Gordon needs to lock a place in the Chase
With the Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup drawing closer, Jeff Gordon appears to be getting closer to locking up a spot in the 12-driver field that will decide the 2008 championship.
Auto Club Speedway, site of Sunday night’s Pepsi 500, might be just what the four-time series champ needs to seal the deal.
In 16 starts at the 2-mile, California track, Gordon has three wins, two poles, eight top-five finishes and eight top-10s. He has led a series-high 525 laps at California spread out over nine races.
When the series last raced at Auto Club Speedway in February, the Hendrick Motorsports driver finished third.
“We feel really good about this weekend’s event,” said Gordon, who will drive a Dupont/Pepsi paint scheme for the 250-lap race. “We were strong here in February, and I think our program is better now.”
Despite his run at California in February, Gordon has struggled this season on the 1.5-and 2-mile tracks similar to California where NASCAR’s new car is being used for the first time. But Gordon is hoping his season is on the upswing after a fifth-place finish last weekend on the Bristol short track that helped blunt the sting of 42nd and 29th-place runs in the previous two races.
With his performance in the Bristol race – an event in which he was one of only three drivers to lead a lap and earn the accompanying five bonus points – Gordon stretched his lead over 13th place to 108 points with just two races left before the Chase.
If Gordon finishes eighth or better at California and Richmond the next weekend, he will automatically earn a place among the drivers who will compete for the 2008 title over the season’s final 10 events.
“The level of intensity has certainly risen in the last few weeks, and there’s definitely more pressure,” Gordon said. “We have to be sure we’re on top of our game. We can’t make mistakes, and we have to be sure we’re doing everything right.”
Gordon says his strategy in the final two regular-season races could be affected by what others do. But it won't be dictated by it.
“We’re racing the guys in 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th," he said. “If they take a big risk, it may push us into a corner to take a risk, but that’s not our focus. Our focus is, number one, to make our car go fast.
"Secondly, we must run our race and not worry about the other competitors. We shouldn’t have to base our decisions on what other teams are doing."
