Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon believes communication key to improvement
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It’s not as bad as, say, Strother Martin explaining that, “What we have here is failure to communicate” in the movie “Cool Hand Luke.”
But Jeff Gordon, four times a NASCAR Cup champion and the sport’s winningest active driver, says communication between himself and crew chief Steve Letarte needs to improve for his Hendrick Motorsports team to contend for a fifth title.
“As far as the team is concerned,” Gordon said during Friday’s NASCAR Preseason Thunder Fan Fest at Daytona International Speedway, “we had a good year [in 2009]. I mean, we finished third in the points. It’s not like we need to reinvent the wheel here.
“But we’ve also been getting our butts kicked by [our teammates], and you’ve got to look at the other competitors out there as well.”
The flow of information goes both ways, so Gordon’s not exactly calling out Letarte. The two have been paired together since the start of the 2007 season, and during that time, Gordon has won seven races and finished second, seventh and third, respectively, in the point standings after qualifying for NASCAR’s Chase For The Sprint Cup each year.
“I feel like Steve and I … our in-race communication can be better,” he said. “We started off a lot of races [in 2009] as one of the best cars, but I don’t feel like we maintained that throughout the race and to the finish. I feel like a lot of that is just information that I’m giving him and some of that interaction.”
It’s not the only thing Gordon said his team has tweaked in preparing for the 2010 season, but it’s one of the key items on the agenda. There will likely be some new faces in new places on the No. 24 team, and a fresh look at how the organization utilizes its engineering efforts.
Those are some of the “little things,” he said, that could combine to make a big difference.
One thing Gordon said he can’t do is “change my driving style.”
“I got to take what I have, the skills that I have and what’s worked so well for me in the past, and we’ve got to make sure that the setups and the cars and everything that we have are working with that," Gordon said. "But I definitely think there are some things that I can do better.”
He said he’s in better shape, thanks to a year-long fitness program. Persistent back problems may or may not be an issue. “I have been working out so hard, I don’t know if my back hurts anymore,” Gordon said, “because I hurt everywhere else.
“I’m a lot stronger, and I’m excited about that.”
The battle for title No. 5 officially begins next month, when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to Daytona for the Feb. 14th Daytona 500, a race Gordon has won three times. The 2010 season will be his 17th as a full-time competitor.
How much longer he will be behind the wheel, he said, depends on several factors.
“As long as I’m healthy,” he said. “I think it depends on how long Rick [Hendrick, team owner] wants to keep me in the car and the sponsors want to sponsor the car, and as long as I can stay healthy, then I’ll keep doing it.”
