Associated Press
It’s been 18 months and 47 races since Jeff Gordon last visited Victory Lane and Texas Motor Speedway wouldn’t seem to be the most likely place for the four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion to end that streak.
But Gordon, leading the season points and coming off his fifth straight finish of sixth or better, is feeling pretty good this week heading to the Fort Worth track, along with Homestead-Miami Speedway one of only two current Cup venues where he has yet to win.
He’s come close on the 1.5-mile Texas track.
“In 2007 when we hit on the setup, I hit the wall with about 20 to go while leading and it ruined that opportunity,” Gordon said. “Another time we had electrical issues while leading late in the race. But those were instances when we ran well and had a shot at the win. Other times, we’ve been off the mark.”
Last April’s race was one of those. Gordon hit the wall in turn four on lap 110 and finished last in the 43-car field.
“I am not going to base anything off last year,” Gordon said. “Even when we finished second (in the fall race), it was because of fuel mileage and we still were only about a 12th- to 15th- place car.
“The team worked hard over the offseason and our performances on intermediate tracks have improved. We are just a different team with different race cars right now.
In three races on 1.5-mile ovals, Gordon has led laps in each event and has had finishes of second at California, sixth at Las Vegas and second at Atlanta.
“Texas is one of those places that is on my radar,” Gordon said. “I want to turn things around and conquer it. We’ve made such huge progress ó the way the cars are driving, the way the team is performing ó that I’m really optimistic. What we are doing with the cars has worked well so far this year. “And I think it could possibly even work better at Texas than some of the places we have been to.”