 |
| Sonoma has been good for Gordon |
The four-time series
champion hopes to add one more party to the schedule this weekend with a win on
the road course in Sonoma, California.
Gordon will head to the
left coast Thursday to begin preparations for this weekend's Toyota/Save Mart
350, where he will attempt to become the first driver to reach double digits in
road course victories.
"It will be a busy
but fun week," said Gordon, a native of nearby Vallejo, Calif. "We'll
have some fun with Ella's party before heading out to an area I love for so
many reasons. It's 'home' for me and where I was born, so a lot of family and
friends will come out to the track. I love the wine country, too, which is one
of the reasons why I have (the Jeff Gordon Collection Wine).
"And that track has
been great to us."
Gordon leads in
virtually every performance statistic at the 1.99-mile track. In 19 starts, his
five wins are three more than any other driver. He also ranks first in poles
(five), Top-5 (12) and Top-10 finishes (15), as well as laps led (437). In
fact, Gordon has eight more Top-5 than any driver scheduled to compete in
Sunday's race and he has led 266 more laps than anyone else at Sonoma.
"(The track) is
very challenging," said Gordon, who is now just 13 shy of 23,000 laps led in
his 20-year career. "To me, it's a track where you have to be really
precise and patient. At Watkins Glen, you have to attack really hard and be
aggressive. I feel like Sonoma is the exact opposite of that, and I think that
suits me a little bit better."
While the two road
courses are polar opposites, Gordon said he enjoys the change in direction.
"While we haven't
had the same success we once had on road courses, I look forward to those
events," he said. "The road courses bring a different set of
challenges, and those challenges are fun.
"Challenges (are
what) I always look forward to as a driver."
No comments:
Post a Comment