Jeff Gordon : News

GORDON WANTS TO ADD TO COLLECTION AT MARTINSVILLE

Martinsville, Va. (March 27, 2007) - Soon-to-be first-time father Jeff Gordon wants eight. Grandfather clocks, that is. But seven-time Martinsville winner Gordon knows that good brakes may ultimately determine who collects the grandfather clock as champion of the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday.

Gordon, who finished third last Sunday, used more brakes than normal in the debut of the "Car of Tomorrow" at Bristol Motor Speedway. With the tight, flat Virginia short track next on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup schedule, the team plans to be conservative with the brakes on the brightly painted No. 24 Chevrolet.

Along with his seven wins, Gordon has collected five poles, 16 top-fives and 22 top- 10's in 28 events at 0.526-mile track. In his last eight races here, Gordon has visited Victory Lane four times, has led an average of 130 laps per event with a 3.25 average finishing position.

The four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion enters this event with the points lead, the first time he has held the top spot since February of 2005. Gordon has posted three top-fives and four top-10's in the first five races this season with an average finish of 5.8. Only one other time has Gordon started the season with a single-digit average finish in the first five races, and that occurred in 1999 (9.4).

"We've battled the handling in a few of the races this year, but my crew chief, Steve Letarte, and the entire DuPont team have not let that get them down," said Gordon. "We went backwards fast at Bristol, but fought back. We struggled early at California but came back to finish second.

"We've been able to fight back from adversity to post good finishes. But we want more than that."

MEDIA INFORMATION:
Jesse Essex, Hendrick Motorsports
704-455-0527
jessex@hmsracing.com

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