Gordon Likes Chances
By TONY FABRIZIO [email protected]
Published: Jan 14, 2004
DAYTONA BEACH - Wearing a new short haircut and invigorated by an offseason of diving with sharks, Jeff Gordon proclaimed himself a strong contender for his fifth championship Tuesday.
Gordon placed sixth on the speed charts in both the morning and afternoon test sessions, as drivers whose teams finished in the even- numbered positions in last year's points standings tested for the first time.
Jimmie Johnson, Gordon's teammate, posted the fastest speed of the day, going 187.585 mph in the afternoon session. But Dale Earnhardt Inc. again flexed its superspeedway muscle, this time with John Andretti showing the fastest time in the morning and second fastest in the afternoon.
Gordon finished fourth in last year's standings, 237 points behind champion Matt Kenseth. The No. 24 Chevy team, led by crew chief Robbie Loomis, returns virtually intact.
``I sat down with Robbie at the end of 2003, and we analyzed virtually every race,'' Gordon said. ``All in all, I thought we did a great job. We had some things happen to us, and some were self-induced, but the majority of the things that kept us out of the championship were things we couldn't control.''
Gordon swept last year's races at Martinsville and also won at Atlanta. His championship hopes faded with a late-summer/fall stretch of seven finishes of 19th or worse in nine races.
Scuba diving has become Gordon's choice for getting away.
``I went to the Bahamas for New Year's and found this incredible dive site where they sink these ships and create dive environments,'' Gordon said. ``They also happen to do a shark dive. Jimmie Johnson and his girlfriend were with us out there, so I took Jimmie on his first dive. He was surrounded by about 15 or 20 reef sharks out there, and that guy doesn't scare easily. I think he thought I was nuts, though.''
As with most drivers, Gordon isn't in favor of the playoff format NASCAR plans to implement this year. But he is not as adamantly opposed to it as some others are.
``It's definitely going to change the way we think about the points and go about it,'' he said. ``It's an entertainment-based points system and that's not a bad thing. As much as we focus on the competition, we also have to recognize the sport is what it is because it's entertaining. There's millions of people who watch it. Without the entertainment side of it, we wouldn't be able to do it at the level we do it.''
``To me, this flip-flopped it to the entertainment side more than I would have liked.''
By TONY FABRIZIO [email protected]
Published: Jan 14, 2004
DAYTONA BEACH - Wearing a new short haircut and invigorated by an offseason of diving with sharks, Jeff Gordon proclaimed himself a strong contender for his fifth championship Tuesday.
Gordon placed sixth on the speed charts in both the morning and afternoon test sessions, as drivers whose teams finished in the even- numbered positions in last year's points standings tested for the first time.
Jimmie Johnson, Gordon's teammate, posted the fastest speed of the day, going 187.585 mph in the afternoon session. But Dale Earnhardt Inc. again flexed its superspeedway muscle, this time with John Andretti showing the fastest time in the morning and second fastest in the afternoon.
Gordon finished fourth in last year's standings, 237 points behind champion Matt Kenseth. The No. 24 Chevy team, led by crew chief Robbie Loomis, returns virtually intact.
``I sat down with Robbie at the end of 2003, and we analyzed virtually every race,'' Gordon said. ``All in all, I thought we did a great job. We had some things happen to us, and some were self-induced, but the majority of the things that kept us out of the championship were things we couldn't control.''
Gordon swept last year's races at Martinsville and also won at Atlanta. His championship hopes faded with a late-summer/fall stretch of seven finishes of 19th or worse in nine races.
Scuba diving has become Gordon's choice for getting away.
``I went to the Bahamas for New Year's and found this incredible dive site where they sink these ships and create dive environments,'' Gordon said. ``They also happen to do a shark dive. Jimmie Johnson and his girlfriend were with us out there, so I took Jimmie on his first dive. He was surrounded by about 15 or 20 reef sharks out there, and that guy doesn't scare easily. I think he thought I was nuts, though.''
As with most drivers, Gordon isn't in favor of the playoff format NASCAR plans to implement this year. But he is not as adamantly opposed to it as some others are.
``It's definitely going to change the way we think about the points and go about it,'' he said. ``It's an entertainment-based points system and that's not a bad thing. As much as we focus on the competition, we also have to recognize the sport is what it is because it's entertaining. There's millions of people who watch it. Without the entertainment side of it, we wouldn't be able to do it at the level we do it.''
``To me, this flip-flopped it to the entertainment side more than I would have liked.''
:lol: