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CUP: Countdown To Daytona - On The Rebound
Written by: Tom Jensen   
01/31/2009
Harrisburg, NC
 
Jeff Gordon had a difficult time getting comfortable with NASCAR’s new generation race-car, which was used for a full season for the first time last year. (Jason Smith/Getty Images Photo) » More Photos

Editor’s note: This is the fourth of 10 stories in SPEEDtv.com’s “Countdown To Daytona” preview of the upcoming 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

For a lot of NASCAR drivers, qualifying for the Chase for the Sprint Cup by itself would have been enough to make the 2008 season a success. But for Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick, all of whom are past NASCAR champions, one thing was noticeably absent last year: A trip to victory lane after a Sprint Cup race.

Yes, the four-time Cup champion Gordon, 2003 Cup champion Kenseth and two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Harvick all made the Chase last season, but the lack of victories were a source of disappointment for each driver. And they vow it won’t happen again in 2009.

Gordon had a difficult time getting comfortable with NASCAR’s new generation race-car, which was used for a full season for the first time last year. “Even though the cars didn't change that much we were still going to new tracks with it,” Gordon said. “So it was a huge learning process for us last year and I feel like while we can always learn on what we've accomplished in the past that
doesn't mean we can ever go back to that. You've just got to take the philosophy of it and the basics of it, but then use what you know now, today, the technology, the experience and benefit from those things as you go forward.”

And although Gordon professes confidence about 2009, he said it’s too early to tell exactly how the year will go. “I know what we have here at Hendrick,” said Gordon, who has driven full-time for Hendrick Motorsports since 1994. “I know how special of a place this is. I know how hard our people work and how good everything is. I have confidence in what I can do, but until you go out there and start going through the motions and getting into the races and see what you really have and what you come out of the races with. Until those are positives, I'm always pretty much neutral with what to expect going into the season.”

As for Kenseth, he’s confident that the addition of new crew chief Drew Blickensderfer, who moves up from the Roush-Fenway Racing Nationwide ranks, will be a positive as he attempts to rebound from his worst season since 2001. In fact, said Kenseth, his new pit boss should hit the ground running.


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