Jeff Gordon OK with 15th place at vegas

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Jeff Gordon's DuPont Chevrolet went through many changes throughout the weekend. Credit: Autostock
After tough weekend, Gordon happy with 15th
By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive March 8, 2004
10:55 AM EST (1555 GMT)




LAS VEGAS -- Finishing 15th rarely, if ever, appeases Jeff Gordon. Four championships have a way of doing that to a guy.

But after one of the most mentally and physically taxing weekends of his illustrious career, Gordon finds solace in his 15th-place run in the UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"To come from dead last, have great pit stops and be up there in the top 10 ...and move up one spot in the points, I'm pretty happy with that," Gordon said.

"It was a struggle. The whole weekend was quite a fight for us. We thought we were going to come away with a top-10, we were seventh at one time and we really made some big gains.

"Then all the sudden it just went away, especially on that long run. We didn't have the best car, but I thought we had the best effort for sure."

Uh, yeah. Gordon opened the weekend by posting the third-fastest time in practice. But during his Bud Pole qualifying run, Gordon got loose exiting Turn 4 and hit the wall. Hard.

The resulting damage forced the No. 24 crew to stay late Friday evening and arrive early Saturday. Diligently, they repaired the DuPont Chevrolet, only to see the engine explode in Saturday's first practice session. After changing motors, Gordon started dead last Sunday.

"I made mistakes. I never like making mistakes and I like to pride myself on the fact that I don't make many," Gordon said Sunday. "Usually when they come, they come big, so I'm just thankful that they didn't come today and they came before the race."

Despite the struggle, Gordon moved from fifth to fourth in the Nextel Cup Series championship standings. He trails points leader and Sunday's race winner Matt Kenseth by 119 points, and is 30 points behind third-place Elliott Sadler.
 
Happy with 15th? How the mighty have fallen. To Jeff's credit at least he admitted his own mistake caused the bulk of his problems. Yeah,of course, it's still early---but 4 is likely as far as Jeff is going with titles,the competition has finally arrived. Too many good drivers can run with him, or better than him, now.
 
OK they repaired a wrecked racecar, only to have an engine blow-up and have to start at the end of the field. Since the only reason they repaired the car was so he wouldn't have to go to the back of the field, and they had to change engines so he had to start back there anyway why not pull out an unwrecked racecar. Like they say, the back-up car is just as good as the primary car in most race stables anyway. :idunno:
 
I am with you Bowtie. I could not understand why Jeff did not use the back-up car. I wonder who made that call...
 
The car was damaged on Friday. Should they have been able to tell he would blow the motor on Saturday. Fixing the car had nothing to do with changing the motor. In a perfect world Jeffy would want to win, but with all that happened 15th wasn't that bad.
 
Jeff was just being PC. No way was he happy with that finish. I wouldn't be counting him out just yet either. He's had a bad couple of seasons (for him :p ) but he's only 32 years old and still got a lot of good years left! B)
 
Jeffy ain't done.........those who think he is are only kidding themselves!! :D

And he ain't even my favorite!! :)
 
Loomis may not be the brightest candle on the cake. But he did take Jeff to one championship. Now might have been Jeff's skill and a lot of luck. :lol:
 
Ah geez, since Jeff was happy with 15th?

I'm no fan of his, but he was running a pretty fast lap during qualifying day, couldve set the pole, then he caught the wall.
 
I'm not sure Jeff can win 3 more with Loomis as his crew cheif. Not that I'm sure he can win 3 more without him either, but I digress. I don't think Jeff Loomis is a great asset to the team. He is better than average, but below average for a top flight team. :(

Obviously I think that anyone who thinks Jeff championship days are behind him are way off base. But of course I would think that, wouldn't I? ;)
 
I don't want to sound bias....but I do believe he will win a few more championships with or without Loomis! JMO ;)
 
Jeff isn't my favorite, but I don't think for a second his Championship winning days are over!!

Once they repaired the damage from hitting the wall, the option to go to the back up car wasn't there anymore. You can't go to a back up car just because your motor blows.
 
I agree loomis is a big problem with the 24 team, I have watched many races where the 24 came in to get something fixed and the car ended up being alot worse once he got out.

Ex.
Come in because the car is a little loose, comes out and the car is majorly tight.
 
Originally posted by dupont4me@Mar 8 2004, 10:01 PM
I don't want to sound bias....but I do believe he will win a few more championships with or without Loomis! JMO ;)
Click to expand...
A few? That means three or more. Not in todays NASCAR.
 
Originally posted by Eagle1@Mar 8 2004, 10:10 PM
Once they repaired the damage from hitting the wall, the option to go to the back up car wasn't there anymore. You can't go to a back up car just because your motor blows.
Click to expand...
Are you sure? I figured they could there was just to much damage and just start at the back.
 
The Fox boys wondered why Jeffy did not go to the backup and then on another show before the race they reported NASCAR would not let him go to the backup??????????
 
Originally posted by 02Pace@Mar 9 2004, 04:27 PM
The Fox boys wondered why Jeffy did not go to the backup and then on another show before the race they reported NASCAR would not let him go to the backup??????????
Click to expand...
I would like to know why. That really seems odd. :idunno:
 
Originally posted by bowtie+Mar 9 2004, 04:40 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (bowtie @ Mar 9 2004, 04:40 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--02Pace@Mar 9 2004, 04:27 PM
The Fox boys wondered why Jeffy did not go to the backup and then on another show before the race they reported NASCAR would not let him go to the backup??????????
Click to expand...
I would like to know why. That really seems odd. :idunno: [/b][/quote]
If they were going to go to the backup car, they had to do it when Jeff hit the wall during qualifying instead of making repairs to the car. With the repairs made and the car ready to race, the motor blows because Jeff missed a shift. You can't go to your backup car just because you blow a motor. (They could have taken the motor out of that car (before it blew up) and put into the backup car and stayed in the same qualifying position, too!)
 
Originally posted by smack500@Mar 9 2004, 07:41 AM
I agree loomis is a big problem with the 24 team, I have watched many races where the 24 came in to get something fixed and the car ended up being alot worse once he got out.

Ex.
Come in because the car is a little loose, comes out and the car is majorly tight.
Click to expand...
I agree with that assessment,I've also notice it happen far too often,especially in 2002 season,I do realize that Robbie Loomis was there with Jeff in winning the 2001 Championship,but seems that communication,for whatever reason,is still a problem with the #24 team entering Their 5th season together,should be better than this by now IMHO ;)
Now that I've said that,watch Jeff go on a 10 race or more winning streak and make Me look like the complete idiot,that'd be alright too :lol: Go #24 :D
 
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