Since Jeff Gordon’s win at Phoenix International Raceway he hasn’t recorded a top 10 finish. In fact, aside from his win at PIR his best finish would be his 14th at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday.
At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he was running top 10 for most for the race until a cut tire ended his day and a 36th place finish to show for it.
It is not like this team hasn’t run well this season but getting caught up in the first large wreck at Daytona, tire issues at LVMS and handling issues at BMS have left this team 19th in the points. He is 18 points outside the top 12 heading into this weekend’s race a t Auto Club Speedway.
This will be the first and only time this season the series will run at ACS so getting off the truck fast will be key to get as much information as possible.
Gordon spoke about the two mile track prior to hitting the track at BMS on Friday.
“It's big and fast. You got to have the power down the straightaways, you got to have the grip in the corners, same as all the other big tracks. When you get to a track like California, it can get tricky. There are a lot of different combinations of setups that you can put underneath the car to make it go faster.”
After a struggle on the handling of their car at BMS last weekend; the team heads to ACS where Gordon won the inaugural race in 1997.
He has two wins, two poles, 10 top fives and 11 top 10 finishes at ACS. This is the type of track where the title will be won or loss on.
ACS is a very down force sensitive track and hooking the car up on both ends is always a challenge.
Last years race Gordon started 28th but finished 20th after engine issues slowed him and his team down.
Engines could be a factor as this track has a history of forcing engine problems.
It all starts on Friday with practice and qualifying for Gordon and his new crew chief, Alan Gustafson.
Gordon in essence is starting over with a brand new team and new setups. While previous data is available to him and Gustafson, every weekend for Gordon is like starting from scratch.
“Certainly a track I love, look forward to going to, one we've had success at. Especially when I think of this team, I think of Alan and his group, they've run well there. They've run well here, too. To me, I look forward to going to every racetrack every weekend because it's kind of like starting over and doing some new things that I look at their past performance and I look at their current performance. It's got me really excited to go to the racetrack and see what we have for the weekend.
He continued “That's the thing I look forward to finding out when I get to every racetrack, it's just where we stand from a competitive standpoint. “
This weekend Gustafson and Gordon will be looking to be the fastest to the checkered flag as they look for their second win of the season and climb back up the standings.
photo: www.sportsillustrated.com
quote: www.jeffgordon.com
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