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CUP: Name Of The Game Is Chasing Wins
Written by: Rea White
SceneDaily.com   http://www.scenedaily.com
11/05/2009
Fort Worth, TX
 
Jeff Gordon won the Cup race at Texas in April, his first victory at the track, but admits that he can’t count on what he used in that win this weekend. (Photo: LAT Photographic) » More Photos

Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon brings an interesting perspective to this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Gordon won the Cup race at the 1.5-mile track earlier this season, his first victory at the track, but he says that he can't simply count on what he used in that win working once more. The sport simply changes too quickly for that. So Gordon and his Steve Letarte-led team know that they need to bring an improved car to the race.

“To get another win …, we’ll need to take another step forward," Gordon said. "If we showed up this weekend with the same setup we used in April, we’d run 15th. That’s just the way the sport is. Everybody is constantly learning, and the competition is constantly getting better and quicker.”

So goes the modern era of NASCAR Cup racing.

This weekend at Texas, many more teams will be able to focus on just trying to win the race. After all, only a limited number of competitors still have a real shot at the 2009 Cup title. With Hendrick's Jimmie Johnson carrying a 184-point lead over teammate Mark Martin into the race, and Gordon another eight points back, things have spread out quite a bit in recent races.

With only three races to go, teams know what it will take to have any chance to make up ground on Johnson - or to find more success this season.

"We're in a big hole," Martin's crew chief, Alan Gustafson, said. "The deficit is getting bigger, and the opportunities we have to make it up are getting smaller. That's not good. Two of the last three weeks have really cost us. It is what it is. We have to fight as hard as we can.

"There are still some good things to race for even if it's not the championship. We need to find as much motivation as we can to do the best we can."

It's the same motivation most of the teams share.

For lots of teams – both those inside the Chase For The Sprint Cup and those outside of it - this season now comes down to chasing wins.

A victory, especially
one that comes this late in the year, can spark a team’s offseason and provide a little more momentum, a bit of a confidence boost, in those few months between seasons.

It can also help make it easier to accept whatever other disappointments have marked this year.

“It’s not the situation we had hoped for as far as the big picture goes this time around, but there’s still a lot on the line and much to try to accomplish,” said Penske Racing’s Kurt Busch, who is sixth in the standings and 312 points behind Johnson.

“We were hoping to be up there battling it out for the championship, but with only three races remaining this season and being at such a deficit, we’re heading into Texas focused on trying to win races before the year is over. We realistically can climb several spots in the standings during the final weeks, but the big emphasis will be placed on doing what it takes to add to our race win column for the season.”




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