Gordon 'terrible' at Texas, endures 43rd-place finish
By SceneDaily Staff
Monday, April 07, 2008
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Tim Parks / NASCAR Scene
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FORT WORTH, Texas – Jeff Gordon hasn’t had many days like this. The Hendrick Motorsports driver referred to his performance as “terrible” when assessing Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, an event in which he battled an ill-handling car, hit the wall and then finished 43rd.
Gordon outlined his struggles with the new car in its debut on the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway, saying that his problems started before the green flag for the Samsung 500. His struggles originally surfaced in practice at the track, then never seemed to get better.
“Today was about trying to find a problem we’ve been dealing with all weekend long with just not having the handling and comfort there for me,” Gordon said. “We’ve tried every setup we can find, but none of them seem to work.”
Trying to hang on to the car, Gordon ultimately hit the wall, then returned to the track after undergoing massive repairs in the garage. He completed just 124 of the race’s 339 laps.
“You get frustrated,” Gordon said after his accident. “The car is not doing what you want it to do. You’re trying to figure stuff out and change your line and everything and I lost control and got in the wall.”
Gordon admitted that the way his car felt was the same as Jimmie Johnson’s felt at Las Vegas earlier this year, a race in which that driver said he was out of control. Gordon said that with NASCAR’s new car debuting on tracks such as Texas this season, there are some “crazy setups” being employed. With those, a little off is disastrous for teams.
Asked if he could use the setups of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has been the leader within the Hendrick organization this season, Gordon didn’t think that would help. Earnhardt Jr. also struggled at Texas more than he has anywhere this season and both he and Gordon switched to Johnson’s setup at some point during the Texas race weekend.
Gordon seemed stunned by the turn of events at Texas, though he did admit that he has had problems at the track from time to time. It’s one of only two Cup series tracks on which he has not won.
"I just don't think I have ever been very good at Texas, that is why we have never won here,” said Gordon, whose other career 43rd-place finish came at Texas in 1999. “But we have had our moments, when the car has been really good. But you know what, when the car off, I am lost here. I mean, I haven't felt this lost since my rookie year at a race track. We have been struggling here. I know Jimmie and some of these guys have gone through some weeks, it is frustrating. We just have to try and figure it out."
Gordon searched his mind, trying to remember a time when he and his team had struggled like this. He dropped from ninth to 14th in the points.
“Yes, it is just a bad day gone worse for our team,” Gordon said. “I wish I had an answer for you, but I don't. We are just really, really bad and I lost control of the car and I was hanging on just every single lap.”
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Jeff Gordon
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