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Talladega II In Car Audio

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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
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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]

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California In-Car Audio

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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
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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

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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

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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]

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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

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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

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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]

Atlanta II In Car Audio

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September 7 – – Jeff Gordon battled handling issues throughout the Pep Boys 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway en route to an 8th place finish.  He moved up to 2nd in points heading to Richmond — the final race before the chase for the championship begins.

Gordon started 4th and dropped to 6th within the first two laps before the tire pressures came up.  On lap 6, he took the 5th position from Kurt Busch.  He ran down Kyle Busch and moved into 4th a few laps later.  On lap 20, Gordon took 3rd from Jimmie Johnson.  The first caution came on lap 37 for Sam Hornish’s spin, which allowed the drivers to come in for adjustments.  Gordon, like all of his peers, dealt with handling issues during the opening run.   He came onto pit road in 3rd place and departed in the same position.

He took 2nd place for Kasey Kahne within two laps of the restart before falling back to 4th after getting loose in turn two.  On lap 48, he dropped back as Johnson and Denny Hamlin passed, and Mark Martin took a spot on lap 49.  Gordon fell to 9th on lap 50 as Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch went by.  Gordon fell to 16th on lap 60 battling a loose condition.  Sam Hornish’s second spin of the night brought out the caution and the leaders came to pit road.  Gordon restarted in 16th place on lap 65.  Within one lap of the restart, he used the outside line to move up to 11th. His forward momentum stalled and was back to 14th on lap 80.  Carl Edwards’ engine problem on lap 83 slowed the field for a caution period. Gordon gained four spots on pit road to move up to 9th place for the restart.  He pedaled up to 6th on lap 88 by taking advantage of Hamlin who spun the tires coming up to speed.  Gordon moved back into the top-5 with a pass on Kurt Busch on lap 89. Hamlin regrouped to take 5th on lap 91.

Max Papis’ wall contact on lap 105 brought the caution out.   Gordon held 6th through the round of pit stops.  On the restart, Gordon moved up to 4th on the outside line.  He took 3rd from Martin Truex on lap 116, before Johnson pushed him back to 4th one lap later.  He regrouped to take 3rd from Kyle Busch on lap 125.  A debris caution slowed the field on lap 131 as Gordon complained about a loose handling condition.   The pit crew turned a 12.7 second stop to push Gordon into the lead.  He chose the outside line for the restart and dropped to 2nd as Hamlin got a strong run off turn two.  Gordon went back to the front on lap 140 with a pass on Hamlin in turn one.  However, he slipped to 3rd on lap 167 after Hamlin and Kevin Harvick passed.  Two laps later, Brian Vickers went around Gordon on the outside line.  Dale Earnhardt Jr passed by on lap 176, and Mark Martin went by on lap 182.  Gordon came in for a four-tire change on lap 189 under the green flag.  Johnson’s spin on lap 201 brought the caution out with Gordon in 8th. He gained two spots during pit stops and restarted 6th on lap 204.

Gordon moved to 2nd on the restart, but slipped back to 4th as the tire run continued.  On lap 221, Earnhardt Jr and Martin passed to put Gordon back to 6th.  With 100 laps to go, Gordon ran in 8th while battling loose handling issues.   A caution for Kurt Busch and Reed Sorensen’s crash brought the field to pit road.  The pit crew once again did its job by gaining two spots.  He moved to 4th on the restart with 72 laps to go.   However, as was the case throughout the race, Gordon fell off as the run progressed.  He dropped two spots back to 6th with 60 to go.  Joey Logano’s spin with 57 to go brought the field back to the pit road.  Gordon exited pit road in 11th place due to a dropped lugnut.  He re-entered the top-10 with 47 laps to go, and took 9th from Kyle Busch four laps later.   Brian Vickers took a position from Gordon with 29 to go, sending him back to 10th.  Clint Bowyer’s spin with 16 to go set up some drama for the finish of the race.  Gordon lost a position on pit road and restarted in 11th with 11 laps to go.  He moved to 8th shortly after the restart but didn’t challenge Vickers for position.  At the front of the field, Kasey Kahne took the lead from Kevin Harvick on the final restart to win his second race of the season.

source: gordonline.com

Race Results
Driver Standings

In Car Audio

My apologies folks, for some reason the driver feeds went down for awhile and the middle of the race is missing.

MP3 Download
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Jeff-Gordon-2009-09-06-Pep-Boys-Auto-500-Atlanta.mp3]

Photos

Post Race Comment

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT IMPALA SS, FINISHED 8TH:

“It was really crazy. There were a lot of things going on. I can’t even keep up with all the different things that happened. There were times I thought we had the car to beat then I thought we were going to go a lap down. We were trying to keep up with the changing conditions whether it was track, tires or whatever it was. Man, we were all over the place and never could seem to find any consistency. It was a good fight, a good top-10 and it was good to lead some laps.”

Bristol II In Car Audio

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August 23 – – Jeff Gordon’s 23rd place finish in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway closed out an inconsistent summer stretch in which he has posted just two top-5 finishes in the last 7 races. At Bristol, Gordon worked his way up to 8th from his 33rd place starting position, but battled a loose handling — and damaged — car in the second half of the race. He went two laps down before gaining one back late in the event. At the front of the field, Kyle Busch held off Mark Martin for his fourth win of the season.

Gordon started 33rd and fell back to 35th within three laps. The first caution came on lap 11 for Joey Logano’s cut tire. Gordon came onto pit road for a four-tire change. He restarted in 32nd place on lap 16, and followed Michael Waltrip in traffic on the outside line to move to 28th place on lap 25. He eventually got around Waltrip and moved to 25th on lap 30. Gordon held the outside line but couldn’t move forward due to race traffic. The second caution waved on lap 64 when Denny Hamlin cut a tire. Gordon had advanced up to 24th position by running an extremely high line in the corners. Pit stops ensued with Gordon exiting in the 24th spot. On the restart, he held the high line and got a strong run up to 22nd. He entered the top-20 on lap 85 with a pass on Robby Gordon.

Gordon moved to 19th by lap 100, but began losing grip off the corners. He fell to 21st over the next 30 laps and needed a caution flag for more adjustments. He got the caution he needed on lap 135 after A.J. Allmendinger broke a brake rotor. Gordon came to pit road and had the benefit of an opening in front due to Regan Smith having been lapped. He restarted in 20th place on lap 141 and quickly gained three spots. He moved to 16th on lap 151. A caution for Bobby Labonte’s spin on lap 163 brought the caution. Gordon came to pit road for a tire change in an effort to fix a tight handling condition. He moved to 17th on lap 173, and took 14th on lap 177 due to the fresher tires. The high line was again preferred as Gordon moved to 12th on lap 187. Three laps later he passed Greg Biffle to move into the top-10. At the 200 lap mark, Gordon was up to 8th position.

Martin Truex took the 8th position from Gordon on lap 220. The caution waved on lap 255 for debris from John Andretti’s car. Gordon came to pit road in 9th place and departed in 12th. He briefly moved into the top-10 before dropping back to 13th on lap 280. Five laps later, he fell to 15th while he continued to battle loose handling issues. Dale Earnhardt Jr passed on lap 293 to put Gordon back in 17th. By lap 310, he fell to 21st, and was back in 25th on lap 319 as the leaders approached to put him a lap down. Jimmie Johnson passed on lap 330 to put Gordon one lap down. His problems were exacerbated as Brian Vickers was lapped, meaning that Gordon was not the first car one lap down. The caution waved on lap 356 after David Gilliland hit the wall. Vickers received the free pass to get back on the lead lap. Gordon restarted in 24th and battled to be the first car one lap down. However, he fell to 26th as the laps wound down. With 100 laps to go, he was mired in traffic in 26th place and had no chance for the free pass. Gordon went two laps down on lap 406. He got one of the laps back by staying out under a brief caution for a passing rain cloud.

Martin Truex’s cut tire brought the caution with 20 laps to go. Jeff Burton received the free pass just ahead of Gordon. The restart with 15 laps remaining saw Kyle Busch pull ahead of Mark Martin. With 9 laps left, Michael Waltrip’s wreck brought the caution, but David Stremme was ahead of Gordon to get the free pass. At that point, Gordon’s fate for the night was sealed with a 23rd place effort.

source: gordonline.com

Race Results
Standings

In Car Audio

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[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Jeff-Gordon-2009-08-22-Sharpie-500-Bristol.mp3]

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Michigan II In Car Audio

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August 17 – – After several shaky races over the summer, Jeff Gordon re-asserted himself with a strong 2nd place finish in the Carfax 400 at Michigan Speedway.  Gordon and crew chief Steve Letarte used the race as a preview for several Chase races — including the October race at California Speedway.  If the performance at Michigan is any indication, Gordon will be a contender for the victory.  However, there is still work to do to challenge reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, who dominated the Michigan race only to come up short on a fuel gamble for the second time this season at the 2-mile track. Brian Vickers and Gordon both ran the final 51 laps on a tank of fuel.  Vickers took the checkered flag more than a second ahead of Gordon after Johnson pitted with 3 laps to go.

Gordon started 21st and dropped back to 25th in the opening laps while running the low line.   As the tire pressures came up, Gordon moved forward. By lap 6, he was back up to 21st position.   The caution flag waved for rain showers on lap 7, which resulted in a red flag.  After a half hour delay, the cars returned to the track.  Gordon pitted for fuel only under the caution flag and restarted in 16th place.   He moved to 13th on lap 18 and set his sights on the top-10 as the field began stringing out.  Gordon claimed 11th on lap 23 and moved into the top-10 on lap 26.  Gordon took 9th from Martin Truex on lap 29 as his forward march continued.  The leaders began pitting on lap 41, thus allowing Gordon to move up in the running order.  Because he pitted earlier in the race, Gordon could stay on the track for additional laps, and inherited the lead on lap 44.

Gordon’s lead was short-lived as he pitted for tires and fuel on lap 45.  After the pit stop sequence, Gordon ran in the 7th position.   Robby Gordon’s cut tire on lap 54 brought out the second caution flag.  Gordon opted for a two tire change and exited in 2nd place behind Matt Kenseth.  He restarted in 3rd because Paul Menard did not pit.  On the restart, Gordon moved up to 2nd behind Kenseth. Jimmie Johnson took the runner-up position on lap 62, and Mark Martin pushed Gordon back to 4th on lap 70 as four tires played out its advantage.  By lap 88, Gordon dropped to 7th place due to the older tires on the left side of the car.  Gordon came to pit road on lap 97 for a four-tire change complete with a track bar adjustment.

Gordon cycled through the pit stop sequence and held onto the 7th spot.   He moved up to 5th at the halfway point as the handling improved on the car.  On lap 107, he took 4th from Clint Bowyer.  A debris caution slowed the field on lap 115 and brought the leaders to pit road.  Gordon, who took four tires, departed in 7th place due to several drivers taking two tires.   On the restart, David Ragan got loose coming off turn two just behind Gordon.  Ragan spun sideways and collected Kurt Busch who impacted the retaining wall on the backstretch.  On lap 132, Gordon pulled low in turn one to take 6th from Tony Stewart.  The caution waved one lap later for Ragan’s spin on the frontstretch.   The restart on lap 140 saw Gordon take off from the outset.  He moved to 4th within one lap, and took 3rd from Martin on lap 143.  Two laps later he passed Kenseth for the runner-up spot.  A passing shower brought the caution flag out on lap 146.

Pit stops ensued and Gordon lost 9 spots after taking four tires.  He restarted in 16th due to six cars staying on the track.  Gordon moved up to 15th on lap 154, but was distantly behind the leaders due to the field stringing out.  David Stremme’s talent evaporation for the second consecutive weekend brought out the caution flag on lap 157.  Gordon stayed on the track to gain track position — at the expense of having plenty of fuel to make it to the end if the race went green.  Gordon restarted in 8th place and used a strong run on the outside line to take 6th on lap 161.   He took 5th from Kenseth with 35 laps to go.  Two laps later, Gordon moved around Kevin Harvick to take 4th place.   With 30 to go, he passed Martin and moved up to 3rd.  Johnson ran out of fuel with 3 laps to go and handed the lead to Brian Vickers.  Gordon moved up to 2nd but distantly trailed Vickers at the white flag.  Vickers took the checkered flag for the first time since his last lap victory at Talladega in 2006.  Both Vickers and Gordon ran the last 51 laps on a tank of fuel.  Gordon moved up to 2nd in the points standings due to Johnson’s 33rd place finish after the late stop for fuel.  “I knew I saved a lot leaving pit road,” Gordon said.   “I feel like that got us a lap.   When the caution came out, I shut the engine off and got another one.  We wanted to conserve a little, but then Dale Jr started coming really hard.”

source: gordonline.com

Race Results
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In Car Audio

Direct MP3 Download
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Jeff-Gordon-2009-08-16-Carfax-400-Michigan.mp3]

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Post Race Press Conference

“It was a really good run. I mean, we started 21st.  Just slowly but surely worked our way up to the front.  We got in the top five there that one time.  We took two tires.  That got us a little bit behind.  We were playing a little bit of catch up from that point on.  We had a good car.  We didn’t have the best car.  But like you saw today, the best car doesn’t always win.  We did everything we could to get the best finish we could.  I really felt confident we were going to make it, even though Steve told me we were four short when we left pit road that last pit stop.  I shut the engine off so much.  I felt like I got us six laps.  At least with the caution, I felt like I did.  Felt pretty confident I didn’t have to conserve a whole lot.  Dale Jr was pressuring me a lot at the end.  I was waiting, to see if the 43 and 83 ran out.  One did, one didn’t.”

Q.  Jeff, very early in the race, lap 27 or 30, it seems you and Mark Martin were running identical speeds.  What was your setup?   How is the information sharing among your teammates?

A.  “The information sharing is fantastic.  Felt like this weekend we came really well prepared with our notes from the last race and the run that we had and our teammates. I mean, we all have our different driving styles, likes and dislikes.  You rarely ever start with the same setup.  But I would say that we were pretty close to the 5 and the 48.  I felt like we ran about like them.  We weren’t able to maintain the track position that one time we got it, because we were on two tires instead of four.  I felt like we were one of the best cars on fresh tires, then we’d really get tight.  Those guys were maybe just a little bit freer than us and better than us in the long run.  I felt like the three of us were really close.  There at the beginning I saw Dale Jr get real loose.  I don’t know about where they were with their setup, but I know they had to make some big adjustments.  I was pretty impressed that they were saying, Hey, the 88 is the car to beat, he’s coming hard and fast.  Obviously they made some good adjustments.  I’d say we all had really good cars, and probably not too far off on the setups.”

Q.  Jeff, how is the back?  Second now in Sprint Cup points with three races to go before the Chase.

A. “My back is fine.  I would rather be third in points right now and had that win today.  That’s all that really matters at this point for us.  We’re having a great year.  We’re showing that we’re strong, a great team.  I just would like to have a few more bonus points going into the Chase, a little bit more momentum.  This certainly is going to help towards the momentum if we can go to Bristol next week and keep putting a strong finish out there and effort.  That’s going to mean as much to me as anything.”

Watkins Glen In Car Audio

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August 10 – – The rain-delayed HelluvaGood at the Glen was a day of ups and downs — well, mostly downs — for Jeff Gordon.  Before the race, Gordon took the blame for a poor qualifying effort, yielding a 31st place start.  The team’s goals for the day were to have fun and play strategy to gain track position, hoping for a lucky caution.

Gordon clawed his way through heavy traffic and took advantage of an excellent first pit stop to reach 16th place by lap 22.  On lap 23, the David Stremme’s talent evaporation resulted in a spun in the inner loop, damaging Gordon’s and Kevin Harvick’s cars and forcing an extra pit stop.

Gordon once again chewed his way from 31st to 20th at lap 41 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed, but couldn’t move his damaged car forward.  On lap 62, Sam Hornish ricocheted off the inside barrier in turn 9 after contact with Kasey Kahne and helicoptered into Gordon’s car, slamming it into the barrier in a head-on crash that ended Gordon’s day.  Gordon exited under his own power and was saddled with his first DNF of the season with a 37th place finish.

At the front of the field, Tony Stewart held Marcos Ambrose at bay to win his 5th career race at Watkins Glen — the most of any driver.  Stewart expanded his points lead to more than 250 points on Jimmie Johnson, and more than 340 points on Jeff Gordon.  Maybe there is some silver lining in the Chase system after all.

source: gordonline.com

Standings

Race Results

Crash Takes More Toll on Gordon’s Back – nascar.com

Audio

In Car Audio Direct MP3 Download
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Jeff-Gordon-2009-08-10-Helluva-Good-Dips-a-the-Glen-Watkins-Glen.mp3]

Pre-Race
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Jeff-Gordon-2009-08-10-Helluva-Good-Dips-a-the-Glen-Watkins-Glen-Pre-Race.mp3]

Post Wreck
[audio:http://www.scannerbytes.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Jeff-Gordon-2009-08-10-Helluva-Good-Dips-a-the-Glen-Watkins-Glen-Post-Wreck.mp3]

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Post Race Comments

“It wasn’t that hard of a hit its just my back can’t stand too many hits. I really was concerned for Sam (Hornish). He took a heavy hit into the wall, a heavy hit by me and Jeff Burton. I saw him go off into the grass and I knew he was going to come out in front of me and I was just hoping to squeeze by and didn’t make it. It just made a rough weekend for the DuPont Chevrolet even worse. Now we just leave here and focus on Michigan.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL RIGHT NOW?

“I’m hurting. Everything feels good except my lower back where I’ve already had issues. It will just take a couple of weeks for it to heal. By then we’ll go to Bristol and get through that then we’ll be alright.”

WHEN YOU KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO HIT HIM, DO YOU BRACE DOWN OR RELAX?

“The first thing I was trying to do was make it by him. Actually I sped up a little bit. I saw him slide off there and I was trying to get off the corner as fast as I could to get by before he got out there but as soon as I saw him and bounce out I knew I was going to hit him. I just braced myself and got on the brakes and waited for the impact.”

HOW IS YOUR BACK? ARE YOU OKAY?

“It’s just not what I needed you know. You take three or four steps forward up to this point, and you take a hit like that and you take a couple steps backwards. So yeah, it was a heavy impact. I’m just glad Sam (Hornish) is all right. I saw him get wide there off the carousel and I knew he was going to hit the tire barrier and ricochet off and I was just hoping I’d get by him before he got out to me and man, I nailed him and spun him around like a top and my car just came to a halt and it really took a toll on my back again. So I hate that, but I was real proud of this DuPont Chevrolet team. We didn’t have a great weekend going and the car wasn’t perfect, but we were playing out the strategy and got caught up in that first incident. It’s just one of those days. But we were going to ride it out and make something out of it. I think Steve Letarte had some tricks up his sleeve with the pit strategy. Just wrong place, wrong time.”

WHAT WILL YOU HAVE TO DO THIS WEEK TO GET READY FOR MICHIGAN NEXT WEEK WITH YOUR BACK?

“Oh, Michigan is pretty easy. If we were going to Bristol next week, I’d be concerned. So we’ve got a couple of weeks to hopefully heal. We went through this at Dover when I hit at Dover and hurt my back as well. Every time I hit something it takes a toll on my back, but it seems to recover. But when you’re braking that hard it’s already pretty tight and then you hit like that and it spasms a bit. But we’ll be all right. Rough hit really for Sam. I saw him get taken wide there off the carousel and once I saw him starting to go around I knew he was going to get the outside wall and I kind of knew with what we saw with Jason Lefler in the Nationwide race. I was just trying to pick where to go. I don’t know if there is any safe place to go from where I was sitting. I just nailed him. I tried to squeeze by him on the outside and there was just no way. Nailed him and spun him around like a top. It took a toll on my back. Nothing else hurts, everything else is good. It’s jsut the back. Then I got into the outside wall the other side and was just sitting there in the track hoping nobody was going to hit me again.”

ITS BEEN A TOUGH WEEKEND FOR YOU.

“Sure. The only saving grace is that there are no road courses in the Chase. You want the bonus points. You want a good run. You want momentum. We just haven’t been good here in quite some time. I think our car was actually decent today we just didn’t qualify good enough to show for it. We moved up quite a few spots which is already tough to do on a road course. You don’t see anybody passing unless they’ve got fresh tires out there. I got caught up in that first incident and that really messed up our strategy. We were making some ground up until that happened. I’m proud of the guys. We made improvements as the weekend went on. We’ll just have to wait until the next time we come back here to show just how many improvements we really made?”

ARE YOU SORE?

“Oh man, my left side and my back is super sore. It’s going to take probably a couple of weeks for it to heal completely and then we’ll be back to new. This happened at Dover when I hit the wall in Dover it was similar. This is a little bit different angle and it’s hurting. Luckily we’ve got Michigan coming up next weekend. It’s pretty easy on things.”

WHAT’S YOUR FIRST REACTION AFTER SOMETHING LIKE THAT?

“Well first reacation is man that hurt and then you hope you don’t get hit again. I was just bracing myself. I saw cars that were still coming by pretty fast. As long as the car wasn’t on fire I was good to sit in there until everybody went by. Then I just wanted to get out and see what kind of pain I was in with my back. I knew I was hurting and then was wondering is Sam (Hornish) was okay because he took a couple of heavy hits there. I saw Jeff Burton was in it too so just making sure everybody was alright and then get back here and go home.”

HOW MUCH DO YOU PROTECT YOUR BACK NOW? “There’s nothing you can do. You got to get out there and you’ve got to just hope you don’t get into situations. It’s not life-threatening or anything its just painful. I’ve had MRI’s and everything else after these things and everything looks fine. It’s just some spasms that go on. You’ve just got to calm that down but it doesn’t just calm down by itself in a day. It really does take a couple of weeks.”

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