CUP: Jeff Gordon Will Start MIS Race From Rear

Sprint Cup

CUP: Jeff Gordon Will Start MIS Race From Rear

Jeff Gordon suffered a rare engine failure in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Friday at Michigan International Speedway...

Tom Jensen | Posted June 13, 2009 Charlotte, NC

Crew members work on the #24 DuPont/National Guard Chevrolet after an engine failed during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway. (Photo: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jeff Gordon is starting to hate Friday afternoons.

For the second time in three races, Gordon’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Impala SS will start a Sprint Cup race from the back of the field because of an incident that occurred on Friday.

Three races ago, Gordon crashed during qualifying for the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway. Yesterday, the engine in his car broke during practice for the LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway. And when a driver goes to a back-up car or a replacement engine, he starts the race from the back of the field, which is what will happen to Gordon on Sunday.

But as Tony Stewart aptly demonstrated last week at Pocono Raceway, it is possible to start 43rd and still win the race. It’s just a fair bit harder. And it puts additional pressure on the driver and the team to be mistake-free throughout the race.

“I feel like there is always a lot of pressure on anybody on this team to step up and do their part and I’m just one of those guys,” said Gordon. “We all make mistakes, including myself, and you have to support everybody on the team when it happens. Then you have to go out there and do your best not to overdrive or panic or anything like that and slowly but surely work our way back to the front.”

That said, Gordon knows that it can be done. Actually, it’s happened on four different occasions already this season.

“You saw what a great job Tony Stewart did last week coming from the back,” said Gordon. “And it’s the same thing for us because we know we can do it and we’ve got the car and the team that can do it and we have to make good decisions all day long.”

Stewart, of course, drives a car with a Hendrick Motorsports chassis and a Hendrick engine, two more reasons for Gordon to be optimistic. It also helps that Michigan is one of the widest tracks on the entire NASCAR circuit, and therefore one of the easiest places to pass.

“I think that we are seeing that there are certain teams that are strong that are able to pass, and are able to work their way to the front and sort of separate themselves from the competition,” said Gordon. “I think at this track more than any you are capable of doing it.”
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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