Jeff Gordon doesn't plan any gambles at Daytona
By SceneDaily Staff
Friday, July 04, 2008
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Two of the last three NASCAR Sprint Cup races have been decided on pit strategy that involved some kind of late-race gamble.
At Michigan International Speedway three weeks ago, it was Hendrick Motorsports’ Dale Earnhardt Jr. stretching his fuel tank the final 55 laps instead of playing it safe and pitting for a late splash. It paid off and he won the race.
At New Hampshire Motor Speedway last Sunday, it was Penske Racing’s Kurt Busch inheriting the lead by not stopping with most of the leaders under a late caution period.
Still out front, Busch scored the win when rain forced officials to call the race 17 laps early.
Jeff Gordon says a similar kind of strategy gamble could take place near the end of Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Just don’t expect him to be a part of it.
“Everybody’s in different situations,” the Hendrick driver said Thursday at the 2.5-mile track. “We’re in a situation right now where the points are so tight where we’re at that we can’t afford to take those kinds of big risks.”
Gordon is sitting sixth in the standings with nine races left before the Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup field is set. The four-time Cup champion is 170 points ahead of the 13th-place driver.
Faced with a situation similar to Busch’s at New Hampshire, Gordon plans to play it safe rather than gamble.
“[Busch] was in a position to do it and it worked,” Gordon said. “If you can be in that position – if you’re outside the Chase or you’re comfortably, comfortably into the Chase, you can do that. For those of us who are like fifth through 12th or 14th [in points], you’ve got to be careful taking some of those risks.”
Busch was 22nd in the standings at the time his team made the call.
Should Gordon and fifth-place teammate Jimmie Johnson make the Chase, Gordon is confident that both drivers could get on a roll and contend for the title despite the fact that neither has been as strong as last season when they finished 1-2 in the championship standings.
“I wouldn’t say that we’ve got the confidence or the momentum that we had at this time last year but I feel like our teams are still really solid,” Gordon said. “I just think that we’ve gotten a little behind versus the competition, competitively. That’s something that we’re working hard on. Last year, as strong as we were going into the Chase, you still had no guarantees once we got in the Chase what was going to happen. As it turned out it was settled between the two of us and we had an incredible run really throughout the whole year.
“This year, who knows how it’s going to turn out? We might get in the Chase and all of a sudden be on fire. I hope that’s the case but we won’t know till we get in the Chase and get to that point.”
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Jeff Gordon
Comments
1 response to "Jeff Gordon doesn't plan any gambles at Daytona"
Rob Williams said:
Jul 4, 2008 at 6:54 AMThe Best driver that ever sat in a racecar will do the best he can with what they give him.............
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