Jeff Gordon Quotations

Tony is a true American racer. You can put him in any car on any track, and he'll be fast. He's good on the short tracks, the intermediate tracks, the restrictor-plate tracks and the road courses.

Years like that make you hungrier, make you humble. You have no idea how disappointing it was.

Years like that make you hungrier, make you humble. The criticism has come a little bit stronger, come more often. I understand why. We've won four championships, a lot of races. We've prided ourselves on being competitive every year. When we're not, we recognize as well as everybody we're having an off year.

We're just happy to we have some things that have been positive and going our way. We haven't looked like we've had the best performance out there but we have had some good situations.

We're focused on our program, making our stuff as good as we can make it and then we'll find out how we stack up against the competition.

To pay somebody back means you're probably going to get paid back again somewhere down the road.

We're still not where we need to be on these types of tracks, but it's a learning process. We're learning from everything we're trying with the cars -- whether it works or not. Not every adjustment we make will work, but it gives us more data to make better decisions.

We've got a points system that's built on consistency, and then we change how it's structured to make this exciting 10-race stretch, but then it's still about consistency. The guy could finish top-five every weekend in those last 10 races and still win that championship. It's very possible that it could happen.

There are some people that maybe have gotten caught up thinking I'm just a guy that lets things go. I feel like it takes a lot to make me mad, but I still get mad. Lately I haven't been afraid to show it.

We have a pretty good handle on this place.

When you put him in that position, how does he go from being one of the guys to all of a sudden being the boss? How is he going to deal with the guys? That's the part I've been impressed with. He came right in there and took control and got the guys that support him to support him more and the guys that didn't to either support him or they were out the door.

We needed a long run. We didn't need that last caution. That last caution hurt us a bit.

We won the 150, and we're on the front row and we won the Daytona 500 last year and the Talladega race. I think that's enough for guys to know we're on the radar screen. I would hope that people would think we're one of the guys to beat.

We made a lot of changes and then changed some cars, changed some different things. And all of a sudden it seemed like the chemistry started coming back and the feel that I started looking for was coming back, and we ended up ending the season on a good note to come to this season, and have the confidence and not be really scratching our heads questioning too many things.

Last year was a very humbling experience. I don't want to ever go through that again.

Obviously, with what Roush (Racing) accomplished last year, it's doable. We're one of the organizations that can pull that off.

My goal every year is to win the championship and when you don't do it ? or even make the Chase, as was the case last year ? it leaves you feeling a little empty. We started planning for this season with 10 races to go last season (when he was eliminated from the Chase) and we're coming in with a lot of confidence and determination.

Obviously, anything in the tri-oval or the corners is completely out of line and shouldn't happen. You've got a ton more momentum than the guy in front of you and you don't even check up, you just run straight, square into the back of him and you start to see the guy get out of control.

Only time will tell as to what we're really going to be capable of this year. But right now I feel like we're as good as anybody out there.

I wish they would have fixed the race track at the same time they fixed the curb. There are some things in the race track, some really big bumps and roughness, that would have been nice to have gotten through that area a little better.

I would definitely say right now we're as hungry and fired up as we've ever been. We've got youthfulness, (and) we've got excitement back in the team.

If they've already decided to move to another team, then you know where their commitments lie and where they want to be. As an owner, I wouldn't want somebody driving my car if they don't want to be there.

I did not want to get into Martin. ... I understand why he was upset ... hopefully we'll talk and go on.

I did not make a conscious effort to go over to Matt or park near Matt. I got out of the car and Matt walked over to my car. I was angry and I showed it.

I'd like to think that we're one of the favorites. But whether we're the guy to beat or not, we'll find out in the closing laps.

I don't know what it was. I was just trying to hold on, because I was completely sideways and my teammates (were) behind me.

I don't carry any grudges. I know that in order to finish in the top five you have to make as many friends as you possibly can and stay out of trouble out there. I had a pretty incident-free race out there today.

I am going to take part blame for that. I think Tony should take part of it as well. ... I think it could have been avoided by both of us. It was an unfortunate incident that hurt us both a lot.

I am going to take part blame for that, (and) I think Tony should take part of it, as well. We went into turns one and two and had been real tight. We slid up the race track, left the middle wide open. I thought that I could clear him and just about the time he got to my right rear, my car just took off pushing. It was an unfortunate incident that hurt us both a lot.

I am real happy with a top-10. We were way off. I just can't say enough for the DuPont Chevrolet team. If it weren't for the effort of the team and never giving up, we would have been way way back. We got lucky that one time racing Jeff Burton so Mark Martin wasn't able to lap us. We stayed on the lead lap and fought for everything we could and got a top-10. I don't know how we didn't because we certainly didn't have the car to do it tonight.

I'm all for it. I think bump-drafting has just gotten out of control.

I felt like there should have been some severe ones and there were.

Having those last 10 races together really gave us a lot of momentum coming into 2006. I think we found some things that were important to work on over the winter. Now, we have to make them work for us.

He's always got that positive attitude. He works hard. He doesn't ask to be treated different or given anything special. Everything that he's gotten, he's earned from hard work, and I think he brings the same work ethics into the crew chief job.

There aren't any issues other than it's just really, really fast. We're trying to push the limits of the car and the tires.

He wasn't real happy with me, but we finally worked it out.

He was one of those guys that right away, you knew he was gonna do a lot more than sweep the floors. I knew five years ago that Steve would be a crew chief. I didn't know if it'd be with me or some other team. But I always hoped that it would be for me.

He was one of the most competitive guys out there. There were days when he'd push you and shove you right out of the way and frustrate you, then there were other days where you just saw his talent and you had a blast racing with him. I think certainly the fans miss the excitement that he brought. I don't think there will be anybody to replace Dale. I believe he was the best race-car driver I've ever raced against.

He was making a few holes for me, but he was also holding me up. It's fun racing, but at the same time it was costing us a lot of time and positions.

He was a hard guy to hate even when we were trying to get a contract.

He just continues to impress me. I feel like he won us the race last week. This week we had a car that got better all day long, and that's as impressive to me as our win at Martinsville.

Just the four is really impressive. To do a fifth would be unbelievable.

I think it could have been avoided by both of us and it cost us both a lot.

I think it's an evil. There are ways to pass without it. It just takes a little bit longer. I've never been for it, but I've got to be a part of it. I don't have a choice. I want to win.

It didn't hurt having my teammate (Busch) pushing me from behind. There at the end it got pretty interesting.

I think with our track record here at Daytona, with the performance that we've got going for us already this week, I'd like to think that we're one of the favorites. But whether we're the guy to beat or not, we'll find out in the closing laps of the 500.

I thought we might have had something for him. The car just stuck so good through (Turns) One and Two. I thought I was going to get a run on Tony down the back straightaway, but then the caution came out.

I thought there was no way Jimmie could win the race, or I wouldn't have left. All of a sudden I hear he wins, and I go, 'You've got to be kidding me?' That was just a phenomenal win.

I think we're united in a lot more ways. I feel like we were always a family, but I feel like we have a tighter bond with the family. We've all experienced a loss.

I think Bristol already brings that out in guys, because there's such tight corners and the track is fast, and I just think you're going to see guys battling to get into that chase who are going to be pushing the envelope really, really hard.

I think anybody that feels like we've slipped on the restrictor-plate tracks hasn't seen restrictor-plate racing for the last couple of years. I mean, I think that no matter what our seasons are like, what's happening with our team, we always seem to be pretty steady at restrictor-plate tracks.

It has always been a tough place to pass on. It's still going to be tough, but every time we come here it seems...it gets a little bit easier.

I was just trying to hold on because I was completely sideways and my teammates behind me were trying not to get into me. They were racing one another. They got pretty excited. Unfortunately I didn't get as excited as I wanted to for the lead.

I was just telling Steve that I think we're going in the right direction here. I just reminded him not to let any of the outside stuff bother him.

I think there's plenty of young talent out there. It's just whether or not somebody wants to give them the chance. That's the bottom line.

Kyle had a very good car and could get by all of us. My guys got me out (of the pits) first.

Our performances haven't been as bad as our finishes. We've had several races where we were completely off on our setup, but we've had numerous situations where we ran strong during the event but didn't have the good results to show for it.

Our 2006 started when the (2005) Chase started. We were able to regroup and make a bunch of changes -- not just personnel changes, but changes with the race cars themselves as well.

Starting up front here is definitely an advantage. It allows you to be patient in dealing with the traffic. And traffic is something you can't get away from here. It always seems like there are 42 cars right behind you and another 42 cars right in front of you.

Many county employees, and myself, chose to make Chester County their career because of the retirement package that was available. The new proposal does not serve and reward faithful employees.

I wish we were in a little bit better position. But you're definitely going to see all that we have to give this weekend, next weekend and the weekend after that.

I was hoping it was just a tire. We know we have a better car next week.

I think having those no-bumping zones out there did make a difference. There was certainly some desperation for the guys who had to race their way into the 500, but I think we saw a heck of lot less crashes than we would have seen without NASCAR making that change.

I think from what I've seen so far, the guys are doing a fantastic job. We've just been seeing this trend more and more over the last six, eight years of rookies just being able to come in and perform well, win races and put consistency together and also come in with strong race teams.

I still think we have a great shot at this championship.

I thought I was going to get a run on Tony down the back straight, but then the caution came out. I wish I could have gotten a little closer to his bumper, it might have gotten a little more exciting. I wish that last caution hadn't come out, because I think I could have gotten a fender under Tony.

I'm still nervous about the championship. The way our season's gone, no matter how good we're running you don't know what's going to happen. This was a race we needed to put together. And I'm glad it happened here at Bristol.

I'm hoping we can put something together. We've got to get some course management. We've got three weeks until district. If we going to have any chance at state, we've got to beat Newport.

That's been kind of the way A.J. wrestles. You don't know what's going to happen unless you stay out there for six minutes.

I would like to get a call from Goodyear to do a tire test because they haven't called us to test for a while. I feel like we have paid the price a little bit. We have called them and asked them why we aren't tire testing.

I would love to see Jimmie get in position where I could get behind him and help him all I can. I am going to work as hard as I can to get myself into that position. He certainly has helped me plenty of times, and I want those guys to win the championship and I'm going to do everything that I can to help them.

My car just took off. I thought man, we've got a shot at this thing.

When the biggest name in your sport doesn't survive a crash, it's a wakeup call for everybody.

We're all trying to win races and we're all out trying to occupy the same amount of real estate. I would expect we're going to see more and more of it.

We have to keep our fans watching not just at home on TV but here at the racetrack too. This is where you sell people on the speed and excitement of racing.

Usually when you make up 52 points it's easy. It's not difficult. It's because something happens. You don't make it up because a guy ran bad and you went out there and led every lap and won the race.

Typically, Michigan has been a good track for us. In June, though, we stunk.

Yeah, sometimes he needs a little bit more patience. I think that with NASCAR's implementing of the no bumping and aggressive driving, it's only going to help him to be more patient and to come into his own. But as young as he is, for him to be out there doing what he's doing, I'm pretty impressed.

Yeah, it tears our confidence down a little bit and it makes us scratch our heads, and sometimes we don't always go in the right direction. But we never stop searching for what we've got to do to turn it back around. Sometimes, you've got to take big steps to turn it around and, sometimes, it's just right there and you're just missing one little ingredient.

You know, we really are going to have to be as on top of our game this weekend as we've ever been. You know, certainly we're capable of that, I know that we are. We haven't shown that this year, so I'm hoping that when it is all on the line that we do step it up. I know the team is capable of doing that.

When I first came in the sport, it was sort of like his time to be the top guy. I don't think he was expecting a young guy ... to come out as strong as we did and become as popular as we did. He and I kind of had a rivalry starting in 1994 and it carried on for a number of years.

We fought back all we could. Unfortunately, we got caught up in that last deal with Kurt Busch. That really got us behind. I think we had a shot at a top-10 with that tore-up race car.

We know that after Richmond (the 26th race) comes, we've got to be in the top-10 and when we are, we'd better be set on 'kill' to go out there and lead laps and win races.

We'll go to Richmond and see what we can do. It doesn't matter right now (where we race). Everywhere we go, we either stink or we're good. Apparently what we've done in the past doesn't mean anything right now.

You learn from your mistakes. I think (Johnson) made a couple of mistakes then I think he was over-criticized for some things that really weren't his doing. I think he's always been a smart race-car driver, and that's what it takes to win races at this type of track.

We didn't see a whole lot of bump-drafting throughout the day until right there at the end. We didn't end up under caution or red, so that was a good thing.

When you win four championships, you create a lot of expectations that you are supposed to be in the mix every year. This year we fell short, but no matter what people believe or what the perception is, we are doing everything possible to get back in there next season.

Was it Charles Dickens who said it was the best of times and the worst of times? That's how I feel. Either they're real good, or they're real bad. There's no in-between. We can't seem to settle on our fourth and fifth men, either. We've tried a lot of different combinations, and we're just not settling on a fourth or fifth man who can shoot a consistent score.

We had a top five that would have been a great finish and it was taken away from us. I'm sure he didn't mean to do it and all that stuff, but I wasn't happy about it.

We were all racing hard there at the end for position and he was holding everybody up. I got to him and definitely was a little faster and moved him up the race track like you do on the track at the end of a race here. We went down into one and he decided to wreck me instead. It is pretty disappointing. We had a great car. I am sorry that happened. I like racing with Matt, I certainly didn't enjoy racing with him today. I showed him my displeasure. I get fired up too. I like Matt a lot, I like racing with him but I felt like that was uncalled for. We will keep racing hard against him in the future.

We like going somewhere else where there's new kids. It's good for our program.

We were riding high for a long time. It overshadowed the areas that we were weak. It doesn't mean you're going to make the Chase or win a championship. Take anything positive and use it for your team to work together and build confidence. It's good for anybody, doesn't matter who it is.

When my tire blew, that instantly sent a message to me to be more patient. And even when there were times I had to be aggressive, I didn't have to do it with the front bumper.

We just haven't performed this year. We're pathetic. Everywhere we go, we either stink or we're good. So I don't know what will happen at Richmond.

We're not in the top 10 battling for the championship -- it doesn't matter to me where we finish. It's where we finish each race to get ourselves prepared for next year.

We had a 14th- or 15th- place car at best, and then we lost two laps when we cut that tire. But all the Hendrick cars were off.

There are a lot of things going on, and I want to wait till we come out with the press release. We've definitely got things in the works; I've done a little bit. But I want to do something bigger, and I want to see what the biggest need is.

While it's still early to tell, 2005 could very well be the vintage of the decade for Washington state. Mother Nature was definitely on our side this year, delivering one of the warmest summers we've had in recent years, cool and constant fall weather and a frost-free harvest. This allowed the fruit to hang on the vine longer and enhance flavor development.

When we took off, the car wasn't the same car.

We've had to deal with it. It hits home. In racing it's like family; we're a community no matter what the series.