Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael "Jeff" Gordonis an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and currently an announcer for Fox NASCAR. He formerly drove the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in 23 full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series seasons between 1993 and 2015, and currently serves as a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRace Car Driver
Date of Birth4 August 1971
CityVallejo, CA
CountryUnited States of America
We didn't need the last caution. It jumped sideways on me. I was doing everything I could at that point not to wreck.
Usually when you make up 52 points it's easy. It's not difficult. It's because something happens. You don't make it up because a guy ran bad and you went out there and led every lap and won the race.
We've got a points system that's built on consistency, and then we change how it's structured to make this exciting 10-race stretch, but then it's still about consistency. The guy could finish top-five every weekend in those last 10 races and still win that championship. It's very possible that it could happen.
There's always pressure on everyone. It doesn't matter if you're trying to get into the top 35 in points or just trying to make the race or make the top 10, or if you're leading the points and trying to win a championship. There's extreme pressure throughout the field. You might be in a position where you don't know if you have a ride next year, you might not have a sponsor. There's always pressure on all of us.
The way the championship points are structured, winning is not the most important thing. It pays the most points, but a top-five these days is almost as good as a win.
At the end of the race, you are very aware of the position of the guys you are battling with in the points. You know that passing one more car may cut the points a driver gains on you, or even add a few more points separation to those behind you.
I really don't care where we end up in points now. It's all about getting ourselves in position to get things turned around so we can go into next season and challenge for the championship.
I'm curious to see, once they lock in the top 10, how aggressive they're going to be. To win a championship, you really have to go for it. You can't be out there racing for points every week.
The challenge is getting us ready for next season. I don't really care where we end up in points now. It's all about getting ourselves into position to get things turned around.we certainly don't want to be in the position we are in now.
I'm pleased. I guess this is what I was expecting of us at this point in the season where we were a better team. We had better race cars. Not necessarily the cars being better, but the setups relating to how I like to drive, the comfort and feel. I think it's given me more confidence. It's building confidence in the team.
We just want to be able to focus on our program, on our people, on what we have to do to be as strong as we can as a team to compete for wins, compete for championships, and build that together without there being too many outside distractions. If we ever say we want to go under the radar, that's what we're trying to do.
The Roush cars are really, really fast right now.
I've worked with Steve for more than 10 years and we already communicate extremely well, both on and off the track. The team has a ton of confidence in his abilities, so we're looking forward to the last 10 races of 2005 and getting an early jump on next year.
It was a long day. I think we had a shot a top 10 with that tore-up race car.