Jeff Gordon Scannerbytes In-Car Audio

Jeff Gordon news, stats, videos, photos and in car audio clips.

You are here: Home / Archives for Race Audio

Homestead In Car Audio

by Leave a Comment

November 23- – Jimmie Johnson captured an unprecedented fourth consecutive NASCAR Cup series title with a 5th place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  Hendrick Motorsports took the top three spots in the points standings as Mark Martin finished 2nd in points, followed by Jeff Gordon.

Gordon started 20th at Homestead and gained five spots in the opening five laps of the race.  He entered the top-10 on lap 15 due to Marcos Abrose’s unscheduled pit stop.  Gordon ran as high as 9th before Dale Earnhardt Jr. passed to send him back to 10th on lap 39.  Gordon came to pit road for a green flag pit stop on lap 54. After pit stops, Gordon ran in the 8th position.

The adjustments made by crew chief Steve Letarte helped Gordon through the corners and he moved up to 6th on lap 60.  The first caution waved on lap 81 for Marcos Ambrose’s spin.  Gordon came to pit road for tires and restarted in 7th place.  However, on the restart he slipped back while complaining of a possible tire issue.   He fell to 17th by lap 90, but regrouped to 15th ten laps later. A caution for John Andretti’s cut tire on lap 102 brought out the caution flag.  Gordon ran in 15th over the next 15 laps before a caution for Juan Pablo Montoya’s cut tire on lap 120 following an ego clash with Tony Stewart.  Gordon stayed on the track during the caution flag and moved up to 7th for the restart.

On lap 156, Montoya exacted a dose of revenge by spinning Stewart coming off turn four.  After the caution flag, Gordon made it 3-wide coming down the frontstretch and took the 5th position from Kevin Harvick on lap 165.  Ten laps later, Harvick and Jimmie Johnson passed to put Gordon back to 7th spot.  Gordon complained of a lack of grip and slipped back to 9th on lap 180.  Robby Gordon’s spin on lap 194 brought out the caution and the lead lap cars came to pit road.  Gordon’s pit crew sent him out in 6th place.

In the closing stages he ran within striking distance of Kurt Busch in the battle for third in the Cup series points standings.  Johnson took a position with 18 laps to go as Gordon ran in 7th place.  He moved up to 6th at the checkered flag and finished the season 3rd in the points standings.

source: www.gordonline.com

Final Standings
Race Results

In Car Audio

Direct MP3 Download
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Jeff-Gordon-2009-11-22-Ford-400-Homestead-Miami.mp3]

Photos


Shop Champion Jimmie Johnson's Official Store!

Post Race Comments

A DIFFICULT NIGHT, BUT A GOOD ONE JUST THE SAME FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS
“No, it was. Our thoughts certainly are going out to Rick (Hendrick) and his family right now.  I know how much he’d like to be here.  I know how much family means to him.  So we just want to let him know, congratulations, and that we’re certainly thinking of him.  I know how proud he is to be one-two-three.  I know how much it meant to him.  He kept sending me texts and calling me and everything all week long going, ‘We really need that one-two-three!’ (laughs).   So he put a little pressure on me and this team that I don’t think we were really thinking about other than just trying to come here and win. And so that did put a little extra pressure on us.  And then what can you say about Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus and all the guys at the Lowe’s Chevrolet team.  I never thought I’d see anybody win four in a row.  And who’s to say they won’t go win five in a row next season?   We’re really proud of them.  I know as a member of Hendrick Motorsports it’s an honor to see our organization excel like that.   And it takes all the people; everybody out there to make it happen.  And I’ve got to say thanks to the fans.  It’s been a great year.  We really appreciate everything that the fans have done for the sport this year.”

HOW SPECIAL IS THE FEAT THE NO. 48 TEAM PULLED OFF?
“Man, you know, they’re just good.  As a group, as a total group, they’re just good.   And that’s what you see when you see championship caliber teams. You see them come together as one and all working in the same direction with a lot of confidence in each other.  And you can say oh, well, things went their way.  Well things go your way when you’ve got a good race car and when you have good pit stops and when the driver and the crew chief are communicating and doing their jobs well.  It just trickles on down.  And those guys have done it better than anybody else.  I think more than four years, to be honest with you, because I think they’ve been the best team probably the last six years.  It just took them a couple of years to figure out how to win that championship.  Once they figured that out, whew, man, watch out.  And as a competitor it’s a little bit frustrating as well as inspiring for us to try to figure out how we could go out there and win a championship for ourselves.  But right now we’re just going to enjoy this moment being one-two-three and those guys winning four in a row and go into the off-season with something to smile about and a lot of work left ahead of us.”

ON JIMMIE JOHNSON WINNING FOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS IN A ROW
“I never ever thought I’d see it done, to be honest with you.  I think it’s absolutely incredible and I think it’s something that I don’t know if I’ll see in my lifetime ever happening again.   But they’ve shown that it’s possible and they’ve also shown just how good they are and that’s why they’re where they’re at. It’s quite a feat.”

YOU AND RICK HENDRICK ARE NOW CAR OWNERS WITH FOUR IN A ROW, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT?
“Yeah, I just don’t look at it that way because I’m still so focused on driving . And I’m still biased to the No. 24 team as a driver.  But I’m very fortunate that Rick (Hendrick) has made me a part of the organization the way he has and I’m thankful for that.  And I’m happy to share in that success.”

AS A CAR OWNER, HOW CONCERNED WERE YOU THAT JIMMIE JOHNSON MIGHT BE TAKEN OUT WHEN JUAN PABLO MONTOYA AND TONY STEWART WERE MESSING IT UP?
“I had no idea what was going on around those guys or how close it was.  I was so focused on our own race.”

YOU’VE MESSED IT UP WITH JUAN YOURSELF A LITTLE BIT. WAS HE JUST AGGRESSIVE?
“Juan is aggressive.   He’s a great driver and I think that sometimes he tries to show a little bit too much to people that he’s not going to get pushed around or taken advantage of.   In this series, sometimes you’ve got to know when to back off and when to push somebody’s buttons and when not to; and who.  I think he found out tonight.”

TONY STEWART IS OBVIOUSLY THE SAME WAY
“That’s my point.  You’ve got to recognize who you can get into those battles with.   And sometimes some guys are going to surprise you and other times it’s just guys you don’t do that with.  If you want to get the best finish you can possibly get, not getting into it with somebody is the way to do it.  Sometimes you might look a little nonaggressive by doing it that way, but in the long run, that’s what gets you to the end of the race and get’s you maximum points by the end of the day.  I think Mark Martin is a perfect example of it.  You don’t see him pushing and shoving and causing controversy and he’s one of the best drivers out there.  And I think that Mark is the kind of guy when somebody runs him down and is better than him, he lets them go.   But when his car is good, he expects the same from you.”

YOUR CAR WAS GOOD EARLY ON AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED?
“When the sun went down we just really struggled.   We were really loose.  And we tried to fix it but all we did was make the middle tight.  We finished sixth.  We finished third in the points.  We did what we had to so, but it wasn’t real pretty.”

ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THIRD IN THE POINTS OR ARE YOU HAPPY THAT HENDRICK WAS ONE-TWO-THREE?
“I’m happy that we’re one-two-three, but I want to be No. 1.  My team wants to be number one.   We’ve got to try to figure out how to get that.”

Phoenix II In Car Audio

by 1 Comment

November 16 – – Jeff Gordon’s championship hopes will be put on the shelf for another season once the green flag waves on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  Gordon struggled with handling during the Checker 500 at Phoenix International Raceway and finished a distant 9th.   At the front of the field, Jimmie Johnson led the most laps en route to his 7th victory of the season to all but clinch his fourth consecutive Cup series championship.  Gordon expressed frustration with the setup on his car throughout the Phoenix race as he posted his 24th top-10 finish of the season.   He’ll conclude a consistent — albeit unsatisfying — season next weekend in South Florida.

source: www.gordonline.com

Standings
Results

Jeff Gordon - Official Store Deals

Audio

In Car Audio
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Jeff-Gordon-2009-11-15-Checker-Auto-Parts-500k-Phoenix.mp3]

Post Race Comments
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Jeff-Gordon-2009-11-15-Checker-Auto-Parts-500k-Phoenix-Post-Race.mp3]

Photos

Texas In Car Audio

by Leave a Comment

November 9 – – If Jeff Gordon falls a few points short of the NASCAR championship, he’ll likely point to Texas as the deciding factor.  After Jimmie Johnson’s early crash opened a window of opportunity for Gordon to trim the points deficit, he struggled to a 13th place finish and still trails by 112 points.  Had Gordon scored the victory, the deficit would have been just 46 points.  Nevertheless, there are still two races — and more than 700 miles of racing– to go in the season.

Gordon started on the pole and led the opening laps.  On lap 3, Jimmie Johnson spun on the backstretch after contact from Sam Hornish and drilled the inside wall.  Johnson sustained heavy front and rear end damage on the Lowes Chevrolet and brought his car to the garage for extended repairs.  Gordon led until lap 13 when his car became loose in the corners.  Kurt Busch took the lead one lap later.  Kyle Busch took the runner-up spot on lap 19.   As the action progressed on the track, Jeff Gordon’s car chief Jason Burdett went to the garage area to help with repairs on Johnson’s car.

Gordon fell to 5th on lap 40 after Tony Stewart passed. Gordon came to pit road for a green flag pit stop on lap 55.  Crew chief Steve Letarte opted for track bar and air pressure adjustments to tighten the car up in the corners.  A slow pit stop hindered Gordon as he ran 11th after the stop.  On lap 88, Sam Hornish lost control and hit the inside wall on the backstretch to bring out the caution flag.  Gordon came to pit road for tires and a track bar adjustment.  He gained two spots and restarted in 9th place.   Juan Pablo Montoya passed Gordon on lap 99, putting him back in 10th spot.  On lap 116, Johnson returned to the track in a rebuilt car to gain points.  However, Gordon continued to struggle with the handling and dropped to 14th on lap 125. Gordon came to pit road for adjustments on lap 146 under the green flag.  After the pit stop sequence, Gordon ran in 16th.  A debris caution on lap 167 saved Gordon from going a lap down.

A wreck on lap 175 collected Carl Edwards and Montoya.  Gordon spun in turn two but luckily did not hit anything.  He came to pit road for tires and for repairs on the splitter brace.  He muddled around in 18th position before the next caution on lap 205.  Gordon went a lap down with 29 laps to go as the handling didn’t improve under the lights.

source: www.gordonline.com

Standings
Results

In Car Audio

Direct MP3 Download
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Jeff-Gordon-2009-11-08-Dickies-500-Texas.mp3]

Photos

Talladega II In Car Audio

by Leave a Comment

November 2 – – Jimmie Johnson all but clinched his fourth consecutive Cup series championship with a 6th place finish at Talladega Superspeedway, in a race where he ran out of the lead pack in 30th for the balance of the day. Jeff Gordon took the opposite strategy and led the Amp Energy 500 on several occasions, but he ran out of fuel under caution with 3 laps to go. He was pushed back to pit road, but restarted deep in the field. Gordon was swept up in a last lap crash and now trails Johnson by more than 200 points with just three races remaining. “I’m glad we ran out of fuel when we did so we could get back out there and destroy our car,” Gordon said sarcastically after the race.

source: www.gordonline.com

Standings
Results

Audio

In Car Audio
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Jeff-Gordon-2009-11-01-Amp-Energy-500-Talladega.mp3]

Post Race Comments
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Jeff-Gordon-2009-11-01-Amp-Energy-500-Talladega-Post-Race.mp3]

Photos

Charlotte II In Car Audio

by Leave a Comment

October 18 – – Jimmie Johnson dominated the weekend at Lowes Motor Speedway en route to the victory.  He led every practice session, captured the pole position, and scored his 3rd win in his last 4 races.  Johnson opened a 90-point lead over Mark Martin, and a 135-point lead over Jeff Gordon as he is firmly in command toward an unprecedented fourth straight championship.

Gordon started 9th and fell to 13th before the first caution for Sam Hornish’s spin on lap 3.  He slipped back to 15th on lap 10, just before Hornish’s second spin of the night.  He held 15th until a caution period for rain on lap 35.  Gordon gained two spots on pit road and restarted in 13th place on lap 44.  He took 11th from David Ragan on lap 50 as the handling began coming in.  Four laps later, he took 9th from Ryan Newman with a pass coming off turn four.  Newman re-assumed the 9th spot on lap 83, as Clint Bowyer also took a position from Gordon sending him back to 11th.

Green flag pit stops came at lap 95 with Gordon taking four tires.  He fell back to 13th battling handling issues in race traffic.  A caution for Kyle Busch’s spin in turn four slowed the field on lap 119.  Gordon changed two tires and departed pit road with the lead.  Gordon led the field thru the next caution period when Juan Pablo Montoya spun on lap 164.  Gordon opted for four tires and fell to 2nd after Denny Hamlin won the race off of pit road.  Gordon took the lead from Hamlin within a lap of the restart, and led until a debris caution on lap 189.  Gordon lost two spots on pit road after taking two tires and restarted behind Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson.  Gordon fell back on the restart and dropped to 4th on lap 204 after Kasey Kahne passed.  He fell to 5th on lap 243 when Bowyer passed.

Gordon came in for a four-tire pit stop under he green flag on lap 246, and ran in 5th when the stops cycled through the field.  On lap 285, he pulled to the inside on the backstretch and let Kurt Busch and Joey Logano pass, which dropped him to 7th place.  Max Papis’ blown engine on lap 291 brought the caution flag out, and the lead lap cars came to pit road.  Gordon opted for two tires and departed in 3rd place.  He passed Kahne on the restart before a caution flag for Carl Edwards’ blown engine.  That allowed Gordon to line up alongside Johnson for the restart with 18 laps to go.  Gordon took the lead with 15 laps to go, but lost the top spot to Johnson two laps later.  Gordon then fell to 4th with 10 to go.  He held off Joey Logano on the final lap to finish in 4th.   Johnson pulled away for his 3rd win in the last 4 races.  Simply unstoppable X4.

source: www.gordonline.com

Race Results
Driver Standings

Audio

In Car Audio MP3 Download
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Jeff-Gordon-2009-10-17-Nascar-Banking-500-Charlotte.mp3]

Post Race Comments
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Jeff-Gordon-2009-10-17-Nascar-Banking-500-Charlotte-Post-Race.mp3]

Photos

California In-Car Audio

by Leave a Comment

October 12 – – Jimmie Johnson led the most laps en route to the victory in the Pepsi 500 at California Speedway.  It was Johnson’s 45th career win and gives him the points lead in the Chase for the first time.  Jeff Gordon finished 2nd after briefly challenging Johnson for the lead during several late-race restarts.   Gordon moved up to 5th in points, but still trails Johnson by more than 100.

Gordon started 10th and used the outside line to his advantage on the opening lap to move up to 8th.  By lap 8, he gained two more spots and ran in 6th place.  Gordon moved into the top-5 on lap 21 with a pass on Greg Biffle coming off turn four.   He brushed the wall on lap 30, before coming in for a green flag pit stop 10 laps later.

Gordon ran 4th when the pit stop sequence cycled through.  However, he lost the position to Denny Hamlin before the 50-lap mark.  As the run progressed, Gordon re-assumed the 4th spot from Hamlin.   The first caution came at lap 65 for Jamie McMurray’s cut tire.  Gordon came onto pit road in 4th held the position.  He dropped back on the restart before rallying back to 3rd on lap 75. Two laps later, Jimmie Johnson passed to send Gordon back to 4th.   On lap 79, he dropped to 5th, and slipped to 6th after Kevin Harvick went by on lap 81.  A caution for Ryan Newman’s cut tire brought the field to pit road on lap 84.  Gordon lost two spots on pit road and departed in 8th position.

He worked through race traffic and moved back into the top-5 on lap 90.  At the 100-lap mark, he passed Mark Martin to take back the 4th position.   A debris caution on lap 117 brought the leaders to pit road, where Gordon moved up two spots.  He restarted in 2nd place on lap 121 alongside Denny Hamlin.   He fell to 3rd as Johnson passed within two laps of the restart. Gordon dropped to 4th on lap 130 as Juan Pablo Montoya went by.   He took 3rd from Hamlin on lap 145.  Gordon stayed out during a pit sequence to lead a lap — the first lap he led in the Chase.  However, after the pit stop he slipped back to 4th while voicing his displeasure with the tires on the car.  A debris caution on lap 183 brought the leaders to pit road, where Gordon made a mistake and slid through the pit box — thus slowing the time.   He departed pit road in 6th place.

On the restart, Montoya and Hamlin made contact with Hamlin hitting the inside wall and sending him to the garage.   Gordon moved to 4th with 54 laps to go, but ran distantly behind Johnson and Montoya.  Gordon took 3rd from Martin on lap 215, before pitting under green with 25 laps to go.  Gordon ran 2nd to Johnson after the pit stop sequence cycled through.  A debris caution with 15 laps to go slowed the field and set up a restart with Johnson and Gordon alongside each other.  Gordon started on the inside and took the lead on the backstretch.  Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne spun on the frontstretch, bringing out the caution with 11 laps to go.  The restart came with 7 laps to go with Gordon on the outside.  Johnson took the lead from his teammate coming off turn four before a wreck in turn 1 collected six cars, including Jeff Burton, AJ Allmendinger, Marcos Ambrose, Reed Sorensen, Kasey Kahne, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.  The final restart came with 3 laps to go with Johnson pulling away from Gordon for his 45th career victory.  Gordon’s 2nd place effort was his 8th runner-up finish of the season.

source:  www.gordonline.com


Race Results
Driver Standings

Audio

In Car Audio Direct MP3 Download
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Jeff-Gordon-2009-10-11-Pepsi-500-California.mp3]

Post Race Comments
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Jeff-Gordon-2009-10-11-Pepsi-500-California-Post-Race.mp3]

Photos

Kansas In Car Audio

by Leave a Comment

October 4 – – Jeff Gordon finished 2nd in the Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway after a late race four-tire change allowed him to move through traffic. He struggled with handling at the outset, but made up positions in the last 30 laps. However, he was about a half second behind race winner Tony Stewart at the finish. “We were better than Tony at the end but not enough,” Gordon said. “We needed to get out front sooner to maintain it. As I got closer to Tony, my car got tighter.”  He moved to 7th in points, and trails by 103 in the standings. It’s a short week for Gordon as he’ll jet to California for several mid-week appearances.

source: www.gordonline.com

Race Results
Driver Standings

Audio

In Car Audio MP3 Download
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Jeff-Gordon-2009-10-04-Price-Chopper-400-Kansas.mp3]

Post Race Comments MP3 Download
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Jeff-Gordon-2009-10-04-Price-Chopper-400-Kansas-Post-Race-Comments.mp3]

Photos

Post Race Transcript

Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods Post-Race Transcript

An Interview With:

JEFF GORDON – 2nd finisher

THE MODERATOR: We are pleased now to be joined by today’s second place finisher.  He moves up to seventh in the point standings in the Chase, and that’s Jeff Gordon.  He drives the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet.

JEFF GORDON: That’s it? Can’t you read it different?  Just tell me I’m fifth.

THE MODERATOR: Seventh in points, drives the 24 DuPont Chevrolet, but certainly a strong one out there this afternoon for your race team.

JEFF GORDON: Yeah, it was definitely a strong finish.  We really struggled at the beginning of this race.   I was pretty disappointed that the car was doing the things that it did.  I’m really, really proud of this team and Steve for not giving up.  I mean, I was a bear on the radio because I was so mad about it.  And we just never gave up on it.  We kept tuning on it, and Steve made some great adjustments and we had great pit stops and found ourselves in position there at the end with some guys and two tires to take advantage of it.  To come back and finish second is certainly a great, great day for us.

Q: Before the race, Montoya said it was at times frustrating because no matter what you do, Mark Martin
is always right there, first, second, third, fifth, and you seemed to be a little surprised that you had only gone up to seventh.  Is it kind of annoying or frustrating when you do as well as you do and you don’t make up a lot of ground?

JEFF GORDON: I mean, a little bit, but you don’t expect to go from where we were in points all the way up to first.  I mean, it’s just that you have a good today like today and you’re not really sure where everybody finished, and you’re kind of hoping for the best, that you made some big jumps.

I mean, I’m pretty sure we made a big jump from a numbers standpoint,  it’s just maybe we didn’t go up a lot in positions.

But that’s what happens when you get off to the start that we did at New Hampshire, when you finish 15th and all the guys that you’re racing in the championship finish ahead of you.   Then even a day like today is not going to necessarily turn you around and all of a sudden be in the top two or three.

We’ve just got to keep doing this.  That’s what I’m excited about.   Keep having finishes like today and effort like today, and we’ve still got a lot of races left.

Q: Just talk about chasing Tony and just what was going through your mind as you were round and round and round and just can’t get to him?

JEFF GORDON: When I got into third behind Greg, I knew we had a good car, and I was trying to put down the best laps that I could and started not really making any gains.  Then I searched around a little bit and hit on a couple things and gained on Greg, and I was able to get by him a little bit quicker than I thought I was going to.  And so at that point, I was like, ooh, maybe I do have a shot at Tony.

As I got closer to him, my car just really started getting tighter and tighter and tighter, and at that point I tried searching around a little bit, but there just really wasn’t anything I could do.  Tony was running a really solid line and had a good car.  He had clean air. As long as he didn’t make any big mistakes, I wasn’t going to catch him.

I got a little bit of hope there one time;  he slipped coming off of 4 and I gained on him, but after that I couldn’t gain any more.

Q: Jeff, with the fact that you guys finished six, seven spots ahead of the 5 and the 48, that brings you guys back up a little bit closer.   How important is that to just kind of keep chipping away like that?  You may not make great gains on them, but if you keep chipping away at them, you can be in a position to close the gap.

JEFF GORDON: If we can just do it in another seven weeks, man, I’ll be happy with that.

Right now we’ve got to focus on our team and our program and our finishes, and we can’t control what those guys do, or Greg or Tony or any of them.  We got a little bit behind in New Hampshire. We’ve got to make sure that’s the worst finish that we have in the Chase. That’s the only chance that we have, and that’s asking a lot, but that’s now our goal.  It’s the position we put ourselves in.

Racetracks like today are good tracks for us, but I’ll tell you, when they dropped the green, I thought we were going to get lapped.  We were really far off.

I’m as optimistic and excited right now about the fact that we made adjustments and got ourselves to a second place finish as I am just that we had a good day.  I mean, we’ve got a lot of work still left to do.

Q: Over a 25 lap run like we had at a track like this, can you sort of describe the difference in the feel of the car with the two tires versus four?  How does that work out?

JEFF GORDON: It kind of goes in cycles.  We took two earlier, and it actually worked pretty good for us until the end of the run.  So I think that four tires are a little bit better right from the getgo for a couple laps, and then I think they seem to level off once they get up to temperature.  And then once you get to the end of the run when the fuel load goes away, then it really starts to go.

I mean, we were better than Tony there at the end, but not enough.  We made some adjustments to make our car good on the restart and tried to jump up through there, and it worked.  It did what we needed it to do.  But we needed to get out front sooner in order to maintain, and we didn’t.  So that’s why we finished where we did.

But going back to the two tire thing, it’s risk versus reward, and look at how it worked out for Tony but look how it worked out for the other guys.  You’ve got to be willing to take that risk, if you’re not the first guy out there when they drop the green, what’s going to happen, because for a bunch of guys it didn’t work out.  You’ve got to kind of weigh that out, and for us four tires was the way to go.  But two tires earlier worked decent.

If we had known we were going to get out front, then maybe it would have worked.  But you don’t know that, and I’m not sure, you’ll have to ask Steve why he made the decision he did, but I’m glad he made the four tires call.

Q: Jeff, you were talking about how finicky this car is.  What is the cure for that? Do you try to figure this stuff out in practice?

JEFF GORDON: I’m telling you, that first run I didn’t think any communication skills in the world was going to fix that thing.  I didn’t think any adjustments I thought we were going to have to come down and change four spring shocks and sway bars.  I don’t know how that car came to us, I really don’t.

I definitely give Steve a lot of credit for not panicking.  He made adjustments, but they weren’t just crazy adjustments.  It does tell you how finicky this car is.  We made some adjustments where the car came around a little bit, still wasn’t great, and it never really was spectacular all day.  Even there at the end, I was good in 1 and 2 but not in 3 and 4.  We’ve got to go back and analyze what we did throughout the weekend, where we started the race, what adjustments we made.

I was so mad I didn’t pay attention to adjustments to be honest with you.  I just told them what it did and drove the heck out of it, and somehow we finished second.   I’m looking forward to going back and talking to them.

I know what I did wrong.  I know I made a mistake.  But we’re sure excited to be running good again and especially going to some tracks we like, like California and some other places.   I’m having the time of my life, I know that.

JEFF GORDON:  I think that’s why they made the Chase.  Right now Tony would be pretty much on cruise control with the championship.  So they made the Chase to have a playoff type system, and all year long it’s been anybody that can win races and comes on strong, and now that’s what we’ve got.

I think that it’s even though the Hendrick cars started off the first two races strong and we were strong today, that doesn’t mean that this thing is over.  There’s a lot of racing left to go.  There’s a lot of great competition, and the competition is as even as I’ve ever seen it.   Even though we’ve had some dominating performances, to have so many different guys in the Chase running up front at different racetracks is impressive.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks for putting on a great show.  Good luck at California.

-credit: nascar

Dover II In-Car Audio

by Leave a Comment

September 27 – – Jimmie Johnson mastered the Monster Mile with a sweep of the Cup Series races at Dover International Speedway in 2009. Johnson led the most laps en route to the victory in the AAA 400. He closed to within 10 points of Mark Martin for the series points lead as he tries for an unprecedented fourth consecutive championship.

Jeff Gordon’s day was an exercise in frustration as he appeared on the way to a runner-up finish.  However, a pit road problem in the closing stages pushed him back in traffic, before he rallied to finish a distant 6th.  He moved from 10th to 8th in the series standings, but trails Martin by 122 points with just 8 races remaining.

The race was marred by a spectacular crash on lap 32. Several cars slowed entering the corner.  Joey Logano checked up after Kasey Kahne slowed, which brought Tony Stewart into the rear of Logano’s car.  The rookie driver spun down the track, then back up and was hit again by Reed Sorenson, which sent Logano barrel-rolling down the track.  The wreck also collected Robby Gordon and Martin Truex Jr. and required a nearly 24-minute red flag for cleanup.

Johnson lost the top spot briefly to Kurt Busch during the first half of the event, but took firm control before the halfway mark.  Johnson won all races off of pit road — the advantage of having the first stall — and coasted to the victory ahead of Martin.

source: www.gordonline.com

Race Results
Driver Standings

In Car Audio

MP3 Download
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Jeff-Gordon-2009-09-27-AAA-400-Dover.mp3]

Photos

Post Race Comments

“I’m really disappointed.   I feel like we had a second-place car and when you have a second-place car you’ve got to finish second or contend for the win.  We had a problem with a gun on pit road and I don’t know what you do about that but we’ll try to fix it for the next time.  It’s just nice to run good.  The No. 48 was in a league of their own but I felt like we were second best.”

WAS THE LAST RUN INDICATIVE OF HOW DIFFICULT IT WAS IN TRAFFIC TO PASS?
“I already knew that earlier in the race.  It was very challenging.  It was like driving a different race car when you get fifth or sixth on back.  We had already made adjustments to the car to be up front like we had been.  You take that risk when you adjust the car.  We were trying to make it better and compete with the No. 48 and then you get behind, I think we were seventh, eighth or ninth or something like that.  We were just a sitting duck.  We couldn’t go anywhere.”

A SIXTH-PLACE COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE AFTER SEEING THAT SCARY WRECK AT THE BEGINNING.
“It certainly was an improvement over last week.  It can always be worse.  You have to remind yourself of that but right now I don’t want to remind myself of that.  I will tomorrow or the next day but right now I’m just disappointed.  We just can’t get things to go our way.  That’s what it takes to win a championship.  We’re certainly not out of it yet and we’re going to keep fighting hard like we did today and like we did last week.  We’re eighth in points and we’ll just keep on going.  I think the next two tracks are really good tracks for us so I’m looking forward to those.”

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO CHANGE THAT AND MAKE IT CLICK, IS A LITTLE BIT OF LUCK AS WELL?
“I believe you make your own luck.  Putting yourself in position, communication, preparation and just hard work.  I don’t know what happened to the gun.  We’ve got to find out why that happened and we’ll try to fix that for next week.”

YOU PICKED UP TWO SPOTS IN THE STANDINGS BUT YOU ARE STILL 122 POINTS OUT, IS THAT INDICATIVE OF HOW TOUGH THIS CHAMPIONSHIP IS?
“Certainly.  We saw Mark Martin win and finish second here and he’s tough.  Jimmie Johnson dominated today and finished fourth last week.  I think a lot of people thought that Hendrick Motorsports could be the team to beat and right now they certainly are.  We’re racing them plus other guys.  We’ve got work to do.  That’s part one.”

HOW PHYSICALLY TOUGH WAS TODAY’S RACE?
“It was pretty tough.  To me this tire was not as sketchy as the ones we’ve had during the past but it was certainly different the way it picked up rubber under the cautions.  It really made the restarts challenging to get grip and then the double-file restarts made it a challenge as well.  I’m surprised we didn’t see an outside groove really materialize like we have in the past.  This tire turns good and has pretty good grip so it allows you to run around the bottom a lot more.  I don’t know that might be something to think about for the next time.  It certainly worked good for Jimmie.”

New Hampshire II In Car Audio

by Leave a Comment

September 20 – – A 15th place effort was not the way that Jeff Gordon wanted to begin the Chase for the Championship.  He’ll have to climb out of a 100+ point deficit due to the substandard finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Gordon started 10th and moved to 7th on lap 3 by using the outside line.  He took the 6th position from Martin Truex Jr on lap 10, and moved into the top-5 on lap 14.  Gordon patiently worked through lapped traffic and took 4th from Denny Hamlin on lap 52.  Twelve laps later, he dove to the inside of Kurt Busch on the backstretch and moved to 3rd.  The first caution waved on lap 66 for Kasey Kahne’s blown engine.  Pit stops ensued with Gordon departing pit road in 5th position after overshooting his stall coming in.

On the restart, Gordon dropped to 7th as the outside line had the momentum, and Jimmie Johnson zoomed past on the inside.  Gordon held 7th as the air pressures stabilized, before a debris caution on lap 85.  The leaders elected to stay on the track.  Gordon faded to 12th within two laps of the restart.  On lap 115, he took 11th from Brian Vickers, and re-entered the top-10 on lap 119.  Gordon moved up to 9th on lap 125 from Ryan Newman.  A debris caution brought the leaders to pit road on lap 135, with Gordon departing in the 8th position.  He held 8th on the restart and ran there for 20 laps before Erik Darnell brought out the caution.  Gordon opted for fuel only and was the 2nd car off of pit road.  He restarted in 9th due to drivers staying on the track.  A multi-car incident on lap 169 collected Paul Menard, Elliott Sadler, Michael Waltrip, John Andretti, and Robby Gordon.

Gordon restarted 10th and moved to 9th before Jeff Burton’s spin on lap 176.  David Stremme’s wall contact brought the caution and the leaders to pit road with just over 100 laps to go.  Gordon opted for right side tires and restarted in 14th place.  He struggled with the handling and opted for wholesale changed during the next pit stop on lap 250.  He dropped to 18th before a debris caution with 23 laps to go.  Gordon opted to come to pit road for fresh tires in the hopes of making a final charge.  Gordon restarted 19th with 18 laps to go.   He moved up to 15th at the finish.   At the front of the field, points leader Mark Martin held off Denny Hamlin and Juan Pablo Montoya to win his 5th race of the season.

source: gordonline.com

Race Results
Driver Standings

In Car Audio

MP3 Download
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Jeff-Gordon-2009-09-20-Sylvania-300-New-Hampshire.mp3]

Photos

Richmond II In Car Audio

by Leave a Comment

September 13 – – Jeff Gordon will enter the chase for the championship trailing Mark Martin by 30 points.  Gordon didn’t score the victory in the Chevy 400 at Richmond International Raceway, but he led laps and ran with the leader nearly all night before late race contact hindered his efforts.

Gordon started 7th and passed Brian Vickers for 6th on the second lap. Scott Speed’s spin on lap 5 brought out the caution, with the leaders opting to stay on the track.  On the restart, Gordon battled side-by-side with Kasey Kahne before taking the 5th position.  Gordon moved to the inside of Jimmie 58320916Johnson and took 4th on lap 16.  His forward march continued with a pass on Martin Truex for 3rd on lap 24.  The second caution came on lap 45 when Tony Stewart spun coming off turn four and collected Reed Sorensen.  Gordon came to pit road for tires and departed in 2nd place, as he benefited from an opening in front due to John Andretti having been lapped.

Gordon took the lead from Hamlin on lap 67 with an inside pass entering turn one.  He held the lead through a caution period on lap 107, but battled a tight handling condition in traffic.  Hamlin re-assumed the top spot on lap 150, but relinquished the lead to Gordon during pit stops on lap 180.  The duo swapped the lead three times over the next 15 laps, with Hamlin taking the lead on lap 195.  Hamlin led lap 200 — the halfway lap — but Gordon came back to take the lead on lap 203.  Regan Smith’s blown tire on lap 204 brought out the caution.  Hamlin won the race off pit road to re-take the lead, which he held thru caution flag pit stops on lap 281.  Jeff Burton’s cut tire with 80 laps to go slowed the field and resulted in pit stops.

On the restart with 74 laps to go, Gordon was tapped by Clint Bowyer — who made an ill-advised run into the corner and locked up his tires — exiting turn two.  Gordon was forced up the track and dropped back to 6th before the caution waved one lap later.  Brian Vickers took 6th from Gordon with 65 laps to go as his hopes for a victory all but evaporated.  He passed Kyle Busch with 58 to go to move back into the 6th position.  Brad Keselowski’s blown engine with 20 laps to go brought the leaders to pit road for the last time.  Gordon exited in 4th for the restart with 14 laps to go.  He pulled to the inside of Mark Martin with 9 laps to go and moved up to 3rd place.  However, he was distantly behind race winner Denny Hamlin and runner-up Kurt Busch.

In the final chase spot, Brian Vickers edged Kyle Busch by four points to qualify for the 12th and final transfer spot. Martin will have the points lead heading to Loudon, New Hampshire for the first chase race next weekend.

source: gordonline.com

Standings
Race Results

In Car Audio

MP3 Download
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Jeff-Gordon-2009-09-12-Chevy-Rock-and-Roll-400-Richmond.mp3]

Photos

Post Race Comments

“We were fighting hard for the 10 bonus points. It was a great effort, we had a great car.  This was the best one I’ve had (at Richmond) in a long time.  We know we have some points to make up, but I think this team is ready to do that. I don’t like giving up points to anybody.  You don’t want to allow anyone to have an edge.  We know we’re going to have to go out and win some races.”

MP3 Download
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Jeff-Gordon-2009-09-12-Chevy-Rock-and-Roll-400-Richmond-Post-Race.mp3]

RECENT POSTS