Gordon insists Letarte will be crew chief in 2006

Jeff Gordon has reminded everyone that 26 year-old Steve Letarte will continue to be his Nextel Cup crew-chief for the 2006 season and that his performances to date atop the #24 Hendrick Motorsports pit box have continued to astound him.

In the eight races since Letarte was promoted to crew-chief in place of Robbie Loomis, Gordon and the #24 DuPont team have rolled to one win and a second place finish as well as one other top ten and two more top 20 finishes. While those results are hardly vintage Jeff Gordon, they do show a ray of promise for the new year as the quadruple Cup Series champ tries to put closure on one of the most disappointing seasons of his entire career.

Even though Letarte, formerly a weekend parts assistant at the Hendrick shop during his school years, has also overseen three finishes of 37th or worse during his tenure so far, Gordon maintains that Letarte is the man to re-start Gordon's 'Drive for Five' in 2006.

"I think it takes a unique personality to be able to be a crew chief," stated Gordon, who finished 14th in Sunday's Dickies 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway to remain in contention for eleventh place in the overall championship. "You know, the good crew chiefs always have that ability to step up to the plate when it's on the line. You just don't expect it to happen from guys who are 26 years old and have never been in that position. I don't know, I've just always sensed something about Steve that when the time was right. And the time has just worked out to be perfect for everybody.

"I want to be a part of him getting his first championship. You can start dissecting that down to Brickyards and Daytona 500s and all that, but I'm not going to get picky. I think that we've got a team capable of winning races and championships and I think Steve has, other that the experience, he has what it takes. He's getting that experience in hurry, and he's like a sponge. He's like a newborn child; they just soak it all up. And he seems to be handling that all so well. I'm really excited for him."