QUOTES
JEFF GORDON, DRIVER, NO. 24 DUPONT/NATIONALGUARD.COM CHEVROLET (ON RUNNING WITH THE NATIONAL GUARD THIS SEASON.): “It was disappointing because we didn’t keep the (top-five) streak alive (after finishing 15th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 20). We’ve really performed well with the National Guard paint scheme on board. It’s been fantastic this year getting to know them and really learning about numerous opportunities that they offer to so many men and women out there and just the way that they protect us abroad and within our borders here in the U.S. It’s just phenomenal what they’re capable of doing, and then you look at their involvement in racing and how much excitement that builds for them when it comes to recruiting as well as for us to go out there and represent them. I can’t wait to get to Martinsville. The beating and banging that goes on there, you’ve got to be tough, and to me there’s no tougher team or paint scheme or race car than the DuPont/NATIONALGUARD.com car.”
GORDON (ON HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS’ SUCCESS AT MARTINSVILLE.): “I think from the inception of Hendrick Motorsports we’ve had great success there. Just looking at the package, the brakes the chassis, the body, the engine—everything has to be really specialized for that track. I think I always had the resources, and then it was just learning that track. I was fortunate to really get some things to click for me at Martinsville early on, and that allowed me to communicate to Ray (Evernham, former crew chief) and the team. Then, over the years, I just continued that communication to fine-tune from there, and we’ve had a lot of success. It’s definitely one of our favorite tracks.”
GORDON (ON HIS FAVORITE THING ABOUT NASCAR FANS.): “I think just the enthusiasm and dedication that they have. They’re always surprising me with how far they will go to be a fan, to watch a race and to support their driver, like getting tattoos, wearing crazy outfits and shaving their heads with the number in it to just show their support. It’s fantastic to have that.”
GORDON (ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL FITNESS FOR DRIVERS.): “It’s extremely important to work out. I’ve not always been the best one at it, and I’m obviously a lot more focused on it now with my back and strengthening that area. I think mentally and physically it’s a good thing to put in your regimen, whether you’re a race car driver or not a race car driver.”
STEVE LETARTE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 DUPONT/NATIONALGUARD.COM CHEVROLET (ON MARTINSVILLE.): “Without a doubt we’ve had a great history at Martinsville. The one thing we need to do is beat Jimmie (Johnson, teammate). We’ve had great cars there for practice, we qualify well and we always race well for the first 200 to 300 laps. But it feels like for the last 200 laps of the race we lack a little something.
“Right now, we’re going to be very aggressive at Martinsville. We’re going there to win. We’re not going there for a top-five finish. That’s a place I feel we can be aggressive. It’s a place I feel we have a great baseline over the last two or three years. So even if it doesn’t work out in practice, we can always punt and go back to what we had last year. That’s a great opportunity for us to earn points, and we need to take advantage of it.”
LETARTE (ON SHARING INFORMATION WITH HIS TEAMMATES.): “Everybody asks how it works, especially with three of our drivers in the Chase. People don’t understand, it just happens. It’s the way we’re designed; it’s the way we’re built. It’s our structure. We don’t know anything more than to share. We wouldn’t know not to.”
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