Q&A: Jeff Gordon.

Jeff Gordon remains one of NASCAR's biggest names, but had found it hard to break into victory lane this season.

The #24 Dupont Chevrolet driver finished third in last weekend's race at Texas Motor Speedway, and climbed from twelfth to ninth in the Nextel Cup standings as a result. To add to his frustration at not getting to the top of the tree in any race in the opening couple of months of the season, he has scored five top ten finishes.

Looking ahead to Martinsville Speedway and the Advance Auto Parts 500 after the Easter break [18 April], Gordon reflected on his performance in Texas and his fortune at the next venue of the schedule, where he has started from the top five in his last seven races, and taken four Bud Poles, including a Bud Pole sweep in 2003.

Q:
Does the criticism that you and the #24 team have lost focus surprise you?

Jeff Gordon:
No, it doesn't surprise me because we've set that bar. We've set those expectations by the number of wins and championships and seasons we've had. We know where our focus is, but we also know we haven't lived up to our potential. We finally showed this past week in Texas what we're capable of, and that we are going to challenge for wins. Outsiders are quick to judge. It's a long season. We haven't gotten off to the season we've wanted either, but we are happy to get some momentum from Texas and take it to a great track like Martinsville."

Q:
How do you feel you performed in Texas?

JG:
If you would have asked me how happy I would have been with a third in the beginning, I would have said I'd be ecstatic. When you've got that shock to see that win there in your grasp you really want it.

I've been saying that top tens are okay, but we need to put some top fives together. Texas is turning into a track that's pretty good for us. It used to be the one we didn't want to come to because we'd either crashed or had some kind of problems. Until recently, though, it's been one of our best tracks, top five in the past four times. This is a great way to carry some momentum and get the critics off our back a little bit.

But we'll go to Martinsville and, hopefully, put it to these guys. I love going there, it's a little bit different tyre. We're gonna be set until we get there to do the qualifying run together and set me up front like we've done in the past. We're a team that works hard. We know what we are capable of. We haven't shown the full potential lately, but it was nice to show that today. They all know we were here. You got to finish it all the way to the end. We ended up coming home third and I'm happy with that.

Q:
What was the problem with your car?

JG:
At first, I thought it was the ignition box, but I flipped that and that didn't do it. I thought it was an engine. I ended up flipping batteries and, man, that thing came back to life. Unfortunately I couldn't get to it soon enough.

Q:
What was your first thought when the alternator cut out?

JG:
Just to figure out how far behind Dale Jr was. I fell right in behind him. It was a lap and a half, maybe two laps. I was shocked actually at first when it started happening.

Q:
Are there merits in running a back-up battery?

JG:
"I don't know if everyone runs a back-up battery, but we do. And I am very thankful we do. Right now, I'm happy to be in third. That could have been a disaster.

Q:
What happened in that incident with Casey Mears?

JG:
I had a run off turn two, but he lost me. I didn't know which way he was going because, at first, it looked like he would give me room on the outside, so I started going on the outside, and then he started going on the inside. I got in the back of him. You fight for your position extremely hard. I had some confusion with the way he was going to go. It looked like he was giving me a little bit of space to make a move and give me some momentum and then he changed his mind.

Q:
How did the cautions affect you this year?

JG:
After Rockingham, getting caught in the pits twice when the cars came out, we pretty much told ourselves right then we're not going to pit row until everyone comes. That's a great call by Robby and them guys to stretch it. The car was good at that point. We weren't the best car but we were definitely one of them. We just stayed out as long as we could until we were gonna run out of fuel.

At that point, I was watching the fuel gauge and it was coming. That lap was when the caution came out and I was worried I was gonna run out of gas under caution. Sometimes those things work for you and sometimes they don't - but they'll never work for you if you aren't out there on the track.

Q:
Are NASCAR's fines for bad behaviour effective - or are they just a slap on the wrist?

JG:
I think it depends on the severity of the actions. We all know that NASCAR doesn't like anything happening post-race, especially on pit-road. So that's a little bit more than a slap on the hand. If your intent was to break a rule that's in the rulebook, then that's very severe. That's why points are important along with money. Or, it would have to be enough money to really get your attention. They haven't gone to that level yet. We're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars. That's going to get your attention. Twenty-five points starts to get your attention. Fifty points really gets your attention. It just depends on what actions are taken on the track are what NASCAR goes by.

If you bump a guy and move him out of your way on a short track, and he doesn't wreck, that's just a slap on the hand if anything. If it's deliberate, and a guy just spins and backs you into the wall, action needs to be taken. We all need to have respect for one another and for our race cars and the effort that's put into race cars and the lives at stake.

Q:
With the new points system, are you looking at things differently to how you did in the past?

JG:
Absolutely. Right now, I can't say we're looking at it a whole lot differently because, basically, it's about being consistent. Everybody is out there trying to win races and so are we, but we know that come Richmond, we've got to be in that top ten. When we are, we'd better be set on kill to go out there and lead laps and win races and you're going to have to have top fives every single weekend and have a lot of luck in order to win that championship. Our testing schedule is different. Two or three months from now, everything is going to change for everybody.

Q:
What will it be like if there are some big-name drivers left out of the Chase for the Championship?

JG:
I've heard everybody making a big deal out of people being 400 points out of the top ten, but wouldn't they have been out of the top ten anyway? If you're having a bad year, and you're outside of the top ten and you have a shot of maybe getting into the top ten, okay, that's at least giving you an opportunity to be on stage at the banquet. But what it's really all about anyway, is winning the championship.

Yeah, people want to be in the top ten. But what they really want is to be on that stage as the championship. It's really about the chase for the championship, not about the chase for the top ten - even thought the top ten is prestigious. For some guys, being in the top ten is like winning the championship. To me, that's not that big of a deal - if you're not in the top ten and you're more than 400 points out, you would have been anyway.

The focus wouldn't probably have been on you whether the point system was changed or not. If you go out there and win races and you're more than 400 out and you're not in the top ten, you're doing the best job that you can to get yourself prepared for the next year. And I'm basing that on me. If I'm not in the top ten with ten races to go, then I've had a bad year and I'll just salvage the end of the season the best I possibly can to get ready for the next."

Q:
How do you see the current level of competition?

JG:
Every year, the competition has gotten tougher. Teams and drivers get chemistry. They get a connection and build on that. I think it's more competitive today for a couple of different reasons. One is that people have gotten more involved with the technology, engineering, and computers. That's closed the gap tremendously. But the cars are a lot different to drive today than they used to be.

Track position is extremely important. If you don't have it through qualifying, you'd better get it through pit-stops. Or you'd better find a way to get that track position and hold on to it. Because of that, pit strategy is different. Younger guys who are aggressive have been able to qualify up front or get that track position and maintain it. It's a lot harder to pass these days. I can remember that if we did have trouble, we could always find a way to get back. That seems to be a lot tougher to do these days. Fewer mistakes can be made.

Q:
If NASCAR takes Watkins Glen off the schedule in the future, should it be replaced with another road course somewhere in North America?

JG:
Obviously, I am biased to the road courses - I enjoy them and we have success at them. Watkins Glen is my favourite of the two we run. Even though I love the area we go to in Sonoma, I think the course itself at Watkins Glen is super for our cars. I would love to see us have at least one or two road course races on the circuit. But I understand how the sport grows and what makes it grow. And, if there is a date or a track in an area that would be better for our sport, and enable us to reach out more to our fans, I'm all for it.

Q:
Does it amaze you that Martinsville has been able to keep up with all its improvements?

JG:
I love Martinsville because I run well there. I enjoy going there. I grew up on the short tracks. I love the short tracks. The sheer fact that it is a short track has allowed it to stay [on the Cup schedule], because in a lot of ways they're very far behind. Yes, it's nice to see that they're making a lot of improvements, but we need to have short tracks on our schedule. There are really only three. I would hate to see one go. I'm glad to see they're making improvements because it encourages me that we're keeping short tracks on the schedule. We can't have a series that's nothing but 1.5-mile race tracks. We see how many people we pack in for Bristol and how exciting it is. Even though Martinsville isn't that same type of short track, it still offers that short track excitement the fans love to see.

Q:
What's the key to success at short tracks?

JG:
You don't want me to give it away to all the other guys, do you? [laughter] At short tracks in general - especially at Martinsville - the key is not to overdrive the corner. Having good brakes is extremely important. That's one area where we have drastically improved since [crew chief] Robbie Loomis has come on board. But with a flat, sharp corner like Martinsville, it's very easy to drive too deep into the corner. When you do that, it just messes up the whole corner. It takes away your ability to roll through the centre. It takes away your ability to drive straight up off the corner. That's one of the things I learned early on there. Maybe I brought a little bit of that from the short tracks that I grew up on.

Q:
What memories do you have of your first victory, at Charlotte, ten years ago?

JG:
That's certainly one I'll never forget. There are just so many emotions. I never dreamed that I would ever make it to the Cup Series, and I never dreamed I'd ever be a winner in the Cup Series. When that day happened, it was just more than a dream come true. It was beyond belief. That's why I broke down in Victory Lane. It's just one of those moments that only comes along once. It was awesome. I probably don't relive it enough - probably just because I'm so busy. But when I do have time, it's awesome to look back at how that day unfolded and how it's changed my life.

Q:
Why is it so difficult now for the drivers in their Forties to do well?

JG:
If you look at where most of the older guys are doing well - say at Bristol, where Rusty [Wallace] did well - aerodynamics really don't play a role. The set-up does. The feel does. Your level of aggressiveness is totally different there than, say, at a place like Texas or Las Vegas, or places like that. These days, the springs we're running in the rear of these cars are so stiff. The shocks are so much different. The aerodynamics is so much different. The tyres are different. What that does is force you to be extremely aggressive. What that means is the guy who is more aggressive is usually the one who is going to benefit the most.

Obviously, the young guys who haven't hit as many walls or lost control of their cars as often as some of the older guys have a lot more aggressiveness to put into that car. They also have come into it when the cars are like this. One of the things that impressed me the most about Dale Earnhardt was that he went through so many transitions of cars and downforce and tyres and horsepower, and yet he was always able to come back and be competitive. Rusty is another one of those guys. Bill Elliott is one of those guys. But it is tough and it takes time to transition through it.

When you've driven a car for a long time that didn't have a lot of downforce, or stiff springs in the back and soft springs in the front, you drove the car a lot differently. Now, we're getting closer and closer to being like Indy cars where we have a lot of downforce and grip and the speed doesn't drop off very much throughout the run. So the way you set the car up and the way you drive the car are completely different than the way it used to be.

Q:
Does all that help to explain Kasey Kahne's success this year?

JG:
Kasey has done a tremendous job. Yes, he's aggressive. I say this in the most complimentary way, but you almost don't know any different. I was that way when I first came into the sport. I didn't know anything other than just pushing that pedal down as hard as I could and just driving the wheels off of it. Kasey has that ability, but he also has a good head on his shoulders and he's smart and he knows how to go about it. That's why he hasn't torn up as many cars as I did when I first came in [laughter[. You look at that #9 car last year - they were very competitive with Bill [Elliott], and should have won the last race of the season at Homestead. They obviously had their act together and now they have a driver that has his act together. That's a great combination.

Q:
Given the talent in this year's crop of rookies, was Kasey given the ride that was best able to capitalise on him?

JG:
Yeah. Absolutely. I think so. I never want to take away from a guy who's done a great job. He's done a great job and there's no doubt about that. When it comes down to getting that car to the finish line and putting yourself in position to win, you've got to give a lot of credit to that driver. And I do. But that car was winning last year, or at least it was capable of winning. I think it's been a very fortunate situation for Kasey and he needs to capitalise on it. As drivers, especially young drivers coming up through the ranks, our goal is to get in the best ride at the right time that you possibly can. I was very fortunate that I got with Hendrick Motorsports at a time when they were really doing well and growing and being able to bring those types of cars to the race track. And I capitalised on it. And now Kasey is in that same situation.

Q:
Does Kasey's success with Ray Evernham remind you of yourself in the beginning of your career?

JG:
It does and I doesn't. Things I keep trying to remind people is that I wrecked a whole lot more at this point than Kasey has. It's hard for me to compare. I was the young guy who came out of open-wheel ranks like Kasey. Kasey is a little bit quieter than I am, but I'm impressed with what he's done on the race track. So if anybody wants to compare me to him, that's a compliment to me.

Rookies have a lot more pressure on them these days. The expectations are to win multiple races the first year. Back when I was a rookie, if you won a race it was a huge thing. I finished second and it was a big deal. He's done an amazing job and he's been very impressive. Ray and I are friends. I can see where Ray, and his relationship [with Kasey] could be a lot like his and mine. Ray is very good at being confident. He has more confidence now than he used to have, in being able to show Kasey things that he can work on to be better or things that he's doing well. I think Ray can really compliment those things. He is really good with a new driver who wants to learn and who has the talent. It's only going to compliment both of them.

Q:
How do you compare the quality of the #24 when you started to the quality of the #9 now, or even when Jimmie Johnson started a couple of years ago?

JG:
I knew that the resources at Hendrick Motorsports were the best out there, but we had a start up team that started from scratch basically. Our team maybe compared a lot more to Jimmie's than to the #9 car. Jimmie's team was a start-up team his rookie season. They were able to rely on the resources of the #24, the #25 and the #5 teams. By winning championships, Hendrick Motorsports has just gained great personnel and continued to grow in resources and technology. I can't say it was at that level when I came into it. But it grew pretty fast into that. Jimmie was able to benefit from that.

This is the #9 car's third year. It doesn't surprise me. If you look back, it was in Ray [Evernham]'s third year with us that we won the championship. Ray really knows how to put an organisation together and how to put people together to build a strong programme. I don't think he expected - nor did anybody else - expect that to happen in the first year or even in the second year. In the third year it doesn't surprise me.

Q:
What do you think about up and coming racers looking at joining NASCAR instead of following an open-wheel series?

JG:
It's great that these guys are getting the attention they're getting. Midgets and sprint cars are some of the hardest race cars there are to drive. It takes talent to drive them - especially to win. Even though it doesn't prepare you one single bit for a stock car, it prepares you to be able to handle a car in any situation. You can adapt to the heavier stock cars quickly because you've got something that allows you to drive a very difficult car.

The reason I say that is because I never had to shift or use the clutch or make a pit-stop. I only ran races that were about 40 laps. It's everything against what I had to learn when I came into stock cars. Maybe with the cars gripping a little better now than they used to, it makes them a little bit easier to take that lightweight car and transfer over. It takes a lot of talent.

Q:
How big a factor is fatigue in the race car?

JG:
It plays a huge role - especially at a very demanding race track like Bristol a couple of weeks ago. I know that I was really exhausted after that race. There are a couple of different factors. One is just being in good physical shape. A place like Bristol pulls a lot of Gs and puts a lot of strain on your neck and upper body.

But probably the most important fatigue factory is hydration. You have to make sure you stay well hydrated during the race. Most of us have a pack that was built to hold fluids and keep them cool and it has a motor in it. We have new carbon-fibre seats that not only are safer and stronger, but they're also much cooler with the air that blows through it and through the helmet. The other is carbon monoxide. We've made it better by filtering the air that goes through the helmet, but we still have not fixed the problem. It's still a major issue. When you're running that hard and breathing that heavy, the lack of oxygen is already an issue. And then when you're breathing carbon monoxide, it just compounds it. A lot of times, that will make you more fatigued than the other things.

Q:
Have you been using the carbon-fibre seat all season?

JG:
Yes, all year. Every race. What I like about it is that every seat is exactly the same. When we mount them in the car, they are identical. It's more like a cocoon or a tub-type seat like the Indy cars or F1 cars. They're very stiff. There's very little movement in an impact. I feel much more confined, but at the same time I feel much safer. One of the things I really like about it is that because it's a bigger seat, you pour the liner inside which is a foam insert that moulds to your body. That is very nice because it moulds to every curve. It's custom to your body. But it really isn't saving us in weight right now. It's actually probably a little bit heavier than we've had in the past. But we know it's so much stronger and more durable. Even in an impact, that seat can be used over again. If it was aluminium, you'd probably have to throw it away.

Q:
Are you comfortable in it so far?

JG:
Since it's customised, mine has a rib support. A lot of guys have gone away from the rib support and just have the shoulder support. Maybe my days driving Sprint Cars have made me feel secure. I've always had rib support in a stock car to hold me in the seat and give me the confidence I need to drive the car. We're always working on safety as much as we can, but we're also working on comfort to be able to drive the car at the speeds that you need to. I'm very happy with it. It's been a long working process with the guys at Hendrick. They've done a superb job and I'm looking forward to getting the other guys in the seat soon.

Q:
Is there anything about NASCAR that you didn't expect would be your role as a race car driver?

JG:
Coming into the series, I didn't expect a lot of things that have happened. I never expected to be co-hosting on TV shows like Regis and Kelly or Saturday Night Live. I never dreamed of commercials on television and the number of fans that have followed our sport all over the country. I can just go on and on and on.

To me, it was just a blast to be able to get out there in a car and drive it as hard as you can and see where you ended up at the end of the night. Never once did I really think of how big a role the sponsorship or television or the fans would play. Other than selling $10 T-shirts out of the back of a trailer at a dirt track somewhere to try to get a few extra dollars to buy some tyres, I never thought the business of the sport would go to the level that it's gone to.

Q:
Finally, what is relaxing about the city of New York?

JG:
I don't know if it is as relaxing as it is just a nice getaway. That's relaxing in itself. You can walk down the street and find everything at your fingertips. When you spend the amount of time that I spend there or that Jimmie [Johnson] spends there, you see a different New York than you do at the banquet.

For years, I went there and did the banquet plus a couple of other times. When you're there for the banquet, you're doing all the tourist things like Broadway and the restaurants. You're pretty much uptown. Since I've made friends up there and actually had an apartment where I stayed there - I don't have an apartment there anymore, but I used to - you just find all these different neighbourhoods and wonderful things to do that you never knew existed. I love downtown and Union Square. It really makes the city come to life for you in a totally different light.