TALLADEGA – When it comes to racing at Talladega Superspeedway, few current drivers know the way around the track better than Jeff Gordon.Never a fan favorite at the 2.66-mile speedway in Alabama, Gordon is always considered one to watch when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls into town. So when Gordon enters the Talladega race after a less-than-stellar beginning to the season, few can think of a better place for the former Cup champion to get back on track.
“We love coming to Talladega; it’s a great track,” Gordon said. “The fact that we had this car, the new Impala here last year and had success with it, it gives us definitely some confidence. We just came back from a test in Nashville. We test again next week and then Charlotte test coming up, so I feel confident those tests are going to help us in areas that we need to work on, but it’s kind of refreshing to come here and not have to worry about handling or really a whole lot other than the restrictor plate change and just see how that works in the draft.”
Gordon said a driver just has to be smart when racing at Talladega.
“You can’t just put yourself in a bad position,” he said. “You gotta understand your surroundings. You see yourself getting in a bad position and there’s a way to get out of it, then you get out of it. The problem is most of the time you are in the middle of it going, ‘I know I shouldn’t be here,’ but you don’t have any other options.
“Last year we didn’t qualify well; we were in the back. We rode around the back all day. It’s not something I enjoyed doing or had a lot of fun with, but you know it’s kind of the box we were put in.”
While Gordon didn’t start the Aaron’s 499 from the last spot this year, he wasn’t at the front either, starting from the 20th position. Gordon ran well for most of the day and was up front near the end, but got shuffled out of line and ended the day in the 19th position.
Gordon is currently 14th in points, a far cry from his position at this point in the season a year ago when he and Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson were dominating at nearly every track.
While Gordon has the most wins at Talladega of all active drivers, his newest teammate gets all the attention at the track.
“Junior’s always been the guy,” Gordon said. “He’s always gotten the most attention, so to me there’s nothing really different. We’re not having the success at this point in the season we had last year, so we are under the radar just because we haven’t performed. To me it’s always been Junior’s up here in popularity and the rest of us follow and that hasn’t changed to me any more this year than it has in other years.
“It’s exciting to see him at Hendrick and see him running well and up in the points, and I’m proud to be a part of that.”
With all the success Gordon has had in the Cup series, he’s not looking to get out any time soon.
“I feel I’m in a great place in my life and my career,” Gordon said. “No matter what this season offers me, I have a lot to be excited and proud of and happy about. I’m a competitor; I like to be competitive and I think what’s helped me contribute to the team’s I’ve driven for throughout my career and be successful. I hope it always continues until the day I can walk away from it. Hopefully I can walk away from it on my own terms.
“When you have tough years, you want to walk away sooner. When you have good years, you feel like it extends your career longer. After last year I was excited to get back in this year and obviously a tough year ahead of us, and we’ll see where it all ends up being at the end of the year.
“But if I never get the fifth championship, I will always be proud of my career, what I have accomplished — my four championships and my wins.”
The competitor in me wants to keep going; I have a great race team, great people around me, so that is what I am looking at.”
