Gordon Tames Darlington With 3rd Place Finish, Moves Into Top-10

5/11/08 7:06 AM

Darlington, SC - May 10, 2008 - Hendrick Motorsports and Team Chevy driver Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Impala SS finished third in the Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway. Gordon battled a tight race car most of the evening but stayed clear of the famed wall to claim a much-needed top-five finish. Gordon's fourth top-five and fifth top-10 finish of the season jumped the four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) champion to 10th in the standings with 11 races of the 2008 season in the books.

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT IMPALA SS, FINISHED 3RD

"We are definitely making big strides, I am real proud of this DuPont Chevrolet team. Tonight, Steve Letarte just did an awesome job. He has these guys in the pits just on their game. I mean, that track position and getting us out of the pits and making good calls all night. All I did was try to keep it out of the wall. Which was not easy in itself. We were off. I wish I wasn't so darn competitive because you have no idea. I am happy that we have a top-five and we are third, but also how frustrated I am because of how far off we are from winning races right now. We did the tire test here at Darlington and the No. 18 just kicked everybody's tails tonight. So, we have some work to do. We have been working hard, hopefully we can get a little bit closer to them at Charlotte.

"It was a very solid effort by this DuPont Chevrolet team. That was all done in the pits. Steve Letarte did a great job calling the race. This DuPont Chevrolet crew was just awesome in the pits, getting us out and gaining us spots all night long. We didn't really have a great car, we just got great track position and all I did was focus on not getting in to the wall. Probably one of the only cars out there that didn't hit the right side. We just didn't have a car capable of going up and challenging those guys so we just brought her home in one piece.

"The No.18 was in an unbelievable class of his own. Carl (Edwards) and his crew got their stuff better there at the end. We tried and tried and tried a lot of things and every time we got it a little bit better. But every time we tried to get it better than that, we went the wrong way with it. So, we just had to settle for a car that was a third place car and hope we could get track position and we did."

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NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

DODGE CHALLENGER 500
DARLINGTON RACEWAY

PORT RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
May 10, 2008

An interview with JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT IMPALA SS

THE MODERATOR: We also have our third-place finisher in tonight's race, that's Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet.
Jeff, your thoughts about your run out there tonight and first time racing on this new surface. What did you think?

JEFF GORDON: I thought it was, yeah, pretty good. You know, for a first time, new surface, new tire, to not have tire problems, you know, to be able to get up and go pretty good on new tires, I thought it was pretty much what I expected. You knew, I knew it was going to be very tough to pass. But guys who had their cars working real good would be able to come up through there, like Carl, and like Kyle when he went to the back.
All we did was we started eighth. Two cars wrecked in front of us. We got to sixth. Somehow some track position worked out. We got in the top five. We just had awesome pit stops all night long. Because we did not have a car that could have driven from the back to the front.

So we know we have some work to do. You know, we're excited about heading in the right direction.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions now for Jeff.

Jeff, you've been in this game a long time. How do you stop a guy like Kyle? He seems almost unstoppable across three different circuits.

JEFF GORDON: I felt that way about Carl (Edwards) earlier in the season. Now that the No. 18 has come on strong, I don't know, they've definitely -- between the two of them, they've just got the field covered.

You know, you just got to work hard. We were unstoppable last year. We worked hard to get into that position. Other teams worked hard to catch us and pass us really. That just shows you, you know, just how tough and how competitive this sport really truly is.

You know, we've been doing everything we can, testing, trying to figure it out with all the tools that we have at Hendrick Motorsports. You know, we're definitely still missing a little something that we're going to keep working on.

I can tell you one thing: it wasn't aerodynamics tonight 'cause Kyle hit the wall. I can't tell you how many times he tried to give this race away by slamming the wall. His right side was destroyed. So I know it wasn't aerodynamics tonight (laughter).

Q. Can you describe to the fans just how tough it is to make 500 miles running here. Looked like basically every lap was a wreck waiting to happen. We had eight cautions, which some people thought was miraculous. Can you talk about how hard it is to race under normal circumstances and with the new surface how hard?

JEFF GORDON: Yeah, I mean, I saw some characteristics of the old Darlington tonight, like getting into turn three, even though you could carry good speed into turn three, get to the middle, the front end would take off to the wall. You didn't know if you were going to hit it. I saw plenty of people that hit it.

I think you can race this track a lot of different ways. You can drive it, you know, a lot of different ways. And I think it's still Darlington of old in how you have to do that. But this surface, like Carl said, any time they resurface a track, it's going to take a while for the racing to get to where we really like it, which is grinding the tires down, having to conserve and run hard on new tires, then having to really drive the car.

Tonight was tough, but it wasn't the toughest Darlington that I've ever driven, just because you really couldn't even get up to a guy to pass him. You know, lap car had to let me go in order for me to pass him. I don't know, maybe them other guys were a little bit better than that (laughter).
I was able to keep my car on the wall all night. That's just what I focused on doing all night, just trying not to get in the wall.

Q. Jeff, you've had a lot of success here. This track has really changed over time cosmetically with lights, the facility itself. Could you talk about how much this has changed from six, seven years ago.

JEFF GORDON: Really, you think it's changed that much? I didn't think it's changed that much. I mean, the surface has certainly changed. The lights, you know, that's certainly a different aspect.

But they do such a great job with the lights these days, it's almost better driving at night than it is during the day 'cause I think there's less shadows, the grip's better.

But, you know, other than maybe some of the big grandstands that you see. And I'm excited that this track is still on the circuit. I hope more than anything that it stays here because to me this place, the fact that it hasn't changed, just shows all the history. I love seeing the old footage. I know Carl (Edwards) got to run around here with David Pearson. I've done the same thing with Cale Yarborough. That's just cool, you know. That's what makes this place so great. It's kind of like Daytona, it's kind of like Indianapolis. It's the greats, the video, the history that makes it what it is.
And I'm really glad that they didn't change this track when they repaved it. They just repaved it, tried to fix the cracks and the bumps. I just hope it does get back to wearing tires out and right back to the old Darlington, because that's what really makes this place so great.

Q. Jeff, as Kyle's former teammate, a guy who knows him, he's pretty widely loathed out with the fans, but yet he's on this tear, he's winning. Does he have to find a balance on playing to the crowd, being the villain, still be able to continue his success?

JEFF GORDON: I think if he had his choice, he wouldn't be the villain. I don't think he wants to be that. I know Kyle's a good guy, you know. And he's an incredibly talented racecar driver. There's no doubt about that.
He just gets himself into situations, you know, that it just follows him. He just needs to accept it, go with it, but, you know, be himself. And I think there's an opportunity here for him. Not that he wants to go crashing Dale Jr. very often. I don't think that's going to do him too many favors. But having a love-hate relationship out there with the fans is not a bad thing. I heard more noise for him tonight than I've ever heard for him. And all I can remember when I came into this sport is riding around Dale Earnhardt, and him getting a lot of boos and cheers, and all he cared about was about how much noise they made.

That's what I've always built my philosophy on. I've been fortunate to have a lot of noise. I didn't always, you know, know who's cheering and who's booing. But, you know, right now, the boos might be louder than the cheers, but at least they're making a loft noise.

Q. Along the lines of that same question, could you talk about the feeling that Kyle must be enjoying right now about how when you get up on race day you know you're gonna be up front and running for the wins, having so much success on a week in, week out basis?

JEFF GORDON: No, I've forgotten what it was like, so I can't answer that (laughter).

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. Thanks a lot. See you at the All-Star