Jeff Gordon not letting pressure for another title change his approach for today’s race

By ANTHONY ANDRO

aandro@star-telegram.com

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Jeff Gordon left Texas Motor Speedway after April’s Samsung 500 on top of the Sprint Cup world.

He’ll come into next Sunday’s Dickies 500 in the same spot he’s been for the last eight years, still seeking an elusive fifth championship.

Despite the best efforts of the driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, it doesn’t look as though it’s going to happen this year either. No one knows more than Gordon that it’s been eight years since his last title.

"There’s always been a lot of pressure," Gordon said. "For me, each year that passes that we don’t win it I feel like it adds pressure. It’s more intense than it’s ever been."

Despite the intensity, Gordon has been able to remain remarkably calm, even though his Hendrick Racing teammate Jimmie Johnson appears well on his way to a record-setting fourth consecutive title.

Johnson, who will start today’s AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway first because Saturday’s qualifying was rained out, has a 118-point lead over Mark Martin and is 150 points ahead of third-place Gordon.

While other drivers might take desperate measures to make up ground, Gordon instead is almost Zen-like in his approach to the final four races.

"You can’t wish them any bad luck," said Gordon, who starts today’s race third. "The championship is going to play out the way it plays out. Whatever’s meant to happen is going to happen. Obviously some things have to happen in order to get us back in it. Those things are not in our control."

Gordon said if he were sitting further back in the points, he’d do whatever he could to help Johnson try to win the title. But that’s not the case. While Gordon hasn’t won a race since Texas, he’s been remarkably consistent. That’s continued in the Chase. Gordon’s worst finish was the Chase opener, where he finished 15th. In the next five races, his average finish was 3.8. Unfortunately for him, Johnson won three of those races.

The good news for Gordon is that the final month of the season lines up well for him if he’s going to make a historic charge. He’s already won six times at Talladega.

A strong showing today could give him some momentum heading to Texas next weekend. It was at TMS that Gordon snapped a 47-race winless streak with his first-ever win at the 1 1/2 -mile quadoval.

That victory gave the team confidence that it was heading in the right direction after a winless 2008 season.

"Any time you get a win, it helps the momentum of the team and the confidence in the program," crew chief Steve Letarte said. "Without a doubt it helped that the win came there. We had really struggled there in the past. To be able to win there was a real confidence boost to our 1 1/2 -mile and two-mile program. We had shown speed early in the year, but that was really kind of the icing on it."

Letarte said he’s not sure how much the April success will help at the Dickies 500 because the team’s poor history at TMS didn’t provide it with a good baseline.

But getting to Texas within striking distance of Johnson is also important. Today’s race at Talladega is considered by many to be the wild card in the Chase.

Johnson was caught up in an accident in the first race at Talladega this year and finished 30th. If something like that happens again today, Gordon knows his team has to be ready to capitalize.

"I’ve got to focus on keeping myself out of a wreck and doing what we can do if that were to happen," he said. "Our goal is really to look at the situation we’re in. Our strategy is going to constantly be changing as the race goes on."

Anthony Andro, 817-390-7760

Looking for comments?