Pennsylvania
500 - Pocono
Raceway
Qualifying-
Jeff Gordon qualified in 5th spot for Sunday's race at
Pocono. Tony Stewart won the Bud Pole for the event with a
lap of 52.207 seconds around the triangular-shaped track.
Jeff Gordon circled the track in 52.479 seconds, at 171.497
mph. Teammate Jerry Nadeau qualified right behind Jeff, in
sixth spot.
Practice-
Jeff was 4th quickest in Saturday's Happy Hour Practice. If
things go well, expect a top-five finish from the team
Sunday. If things go really well, and the team can adjust
the car to make it better throughout the day, Jeff might be
the second driver to get three wins.
Race-
Jeff and Jeff came home 2-3 in the Pennsylvania 500
presented by AOL. Jeff Burton finished 2nd, and Gordon
finished 3rd. His finish Sunday was his third top-5 in 4
races.
"This is a great run for us, and I feel like this team has really turned things around," Gordon said. "I see the chemistry really coming along. Pocono is a place where there's long straightaways, so you have to have a good motor. You've got to have a good aero package, but there's corners, not really the same as Indianapolis, buy maybe kind of similar. I think if there's any place you can compare to Indy, it's Pocono. I think this is somewhat of a preview."
Gordon returned to his old form today. He stayed among the front-runners all day, but a broken transmission that didn't have fourth gear kept him out of contention for the win at the end. It looked as though Gordon would finish in 4th place, but when leader Jeremy Mayfield's right front tire went flat in the second turn of the last lap, Gordon was able to get past his slower car. Rusty Wallace, who was in second, eventually won, and Dale Jarrett finished in 4th spot. Mayfield finished in 5th even with a blown tire.
Jeff Gordon moved up two positions to 8th in the standings, 307 points behind leader Bobby Labonte.
|
|
||||||
