Q. What you see that they have, you see all of the information, what is it that they have?
JEFF GORDON: If I knew that, you know, I would tell you.
You know, it’s nothing huge. I think that they did a great job on Friday qualifying on the pole. That was a huge advantage for them, because they were able to get out of the pits first. Clean air was just unbelievably big this past weekend, and it is every weekend, but I saw it being an even bigger advantage this past weekend. But they just had the balance right on the car.
I had a good car, a very good car, but it wasn’t perfect, and there was a little bit we were missing in turns three and four. And there are always slight differences in how a crew chief goes about their theories on springs and shocks and building the car and everything, and so even though we have all of the information, it doesn’t always mean we are identical. And there have been times where we have been, you know, quite a bit different than them and been faster than them and there’s been times when we have been exactly the same and made them faster than us. It’s driving style and it’s track position, it’s so many things that make it up. And you know, I feel like we were very close to them this past weekend, but there were some slight differences and that might have been the difference in the speed.
Q. I wanted to ask you, regarding crew chief methodology, as happens, from time to time, when you seem to be up close to position to winning and then drop back, I get a certain amount of feedback by fan e mail, etc., questioning Steve Letarte and wondering, yet again, if he’s giving you everything you need. What would you say to your fans who question Steve and also we have been on you a lot of years about your driving style versus Jimmie’s and maybe the difference in sometimes the way that two teams run. What about Steve’s style, vis a vis two guys who are getting very high profiles right now, Alan Gustafson and Chad Knaus?
JEFF GORDON: I feel like they are different as well as Steve is different than Lance; every crew chief goes about it in a different way. It’s really about the results.
You can say whatever you want to say. I feel like this year we have had some of the best cars that we have had in a long time. I give Steve a lot of credit for that. There’s been times when our pit crew has been as solid as they have ever been and I give Steve and that pit crew a lot of credit for making those improvements. The thing is that we all have our strengths and weaknesses you really have to take advantage of those strengths and try to make those weaknesses not so big and take away that week with as much as you possibly can.
But they are there and there’s so many things that you can do exactly the same. You can take every team out there and give them exactly giving exactly the same car, but you are still going to have somebody finish first and somebody finish 43rd. What we try to do is come together as an organization with four teams and make the most of it by gathering information, sharing information and if we get beat by them, we get beat by them. It just makes them work that much harder to be better.
I can’t change my driving style. At this point in my career, I can’t change that. I have a certain feel and a balance that I’m looking for out there in the car versus Jimmie, Mark and Junior because all of us can describe a certain feel totally different than the other. So it really just comes down to the results. I think Steve is that guy. I love what he brings to the team. I think he’s very smart, and there’s going to be criticism, but you go into Texas like we did earlier in the year and we lead the points and everybody praises him and says how amazing he is; or same for me and then you get into the Chase and things don’t go our way, it’s easy to say, oh, well, this isn’t the right combination or it’s this and everybody points fingers. But that doesn’t happen within the organization and that’s why we still have a shot at this championship.
Q. So as far as you and Hendrick are concerned, Steve is still a lock in that position?
JEFF GORDON: Yes.
Q. Looking ahead at the schedule in these Chase races, what do you think your best opportunities are to gain some points and are there tracks that I guess you expect to do well versus tracks that maybe you hope you do well?
JEFF GORDON: Well, I feel like our mile and a half program has really improved this year. So I am excited about Kansas. I feel like we learned a lot from Chicago earlier in the year. Obviously Mark Martin is very strong in Chicago and I look for him to be strong again in Kansas but I feel like we have a great shot at winning there.
California was a track earlier in the year where I felt like we let one slip away. And I’m hoping that we can get that one back the next time we go. Martinsville I feel like is a great track for us but we have been getting beat by Jimmie and a couple other guys have been doing a little bit better than us there. So we have got to make some improvements.
I feel like Talladega is a great track for us. I feel like Texas, I can’t wait to get back there after the win earlier in the season; it’s totally changed our attitude about being able to go and win at Texas. I feel like we have been really good at Homestead, not a winning car but I feel like we have been a Top 5 car and maybe we can make that into a winning car.
The only track that I see that we have to make big gains on is Phoenix. I feel like all of the other tracks, we are very capable. We have got to do our job in every aspect from me driving the car on the double file restarts, getting the most out of it to communicating well with Steve, getting the right adjustments made on the pit stops, having good, solid pit stops, especially in the closing laps or the final pit stop, I mean, those things are all crucial that they have to happen at the right time. That can be the difference between winning and being sixth, finishing sixth, and that’s something we have not done collectively as a team well enough in these first two, and we all are aware that we have to do that. We have to do it perfectly these next eight.
Q. And speaking of Homestead real quick, your average the past couple of years has been a fourth place finish. Can you now knock that one off the list, do you think, in the finale?
JEFF GORDON: I think we are very capable of it. It’s one that we don’t have a win at but I think that our performance the last, you know, few races there have been very solid as you mentioned. I think that it’s a mile and a half track that we have made big improvements on this year. Homestead we only run once a year, so it’s really an unknown for a lot of the teams, all of the teams out there, but it’s certainly one I’m optimistic about. You know this championship is going to go all the way down to the final race at Homestead. I just hope that we are one of the ones in contention when we get there.
Q. You alluded to the fact earlier that you don’t think the Chase format suits your style as much as the old points system. Why is that?
JEFF GORDON: Well, if I could take ten races from the schedule and put my best ten races together, I would throw out a couple of the ones that are in the Chase. I feel like you ask Jimmie Johnson that question, he will say that those are pretty much, other than maybe Talladega, those are ten of his or nine of his best tracks. You know, I think that that certainly plays a role. You have to be good at all of the tracks to win the championship. The timing of it, you know, you can have a great year, you can win as many races as want, but you’ve got to have everything going your way in those final ten.
I still think it comes down to the best team, overall team, that’s going to win the championship. So I’m not against it. I love the format. I just think that it has not suited my style as much as the old one, because the old one, it’s about being consistent over 36 races, not just being able to knock it out of the park or be consistent over ten races.
In ‘07, we did as great of a job as we can do and we are still lost. So you know, I think that I don’t want to make excuses; I want to win the Sprint Cup Championship under this format, and I would be so proud and honored to do it, because I know just how tough and challenging this has been on us.
Q. We are hearing that they are testing a wider tire here in a few days, first of all, do you think is that going to be a welcome change, and second, do you think it’s going to change the racing drastically?
JEFF GORDON: Don’t know anything about it. I’ve heard talk of that for years. This is the first to my knowledge about it. I’ve just been out of the loop on it.
Until I can drive on it myself or hear back from somebody who has driven on it, I really couldn’t tell you.
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