| | This week we are in Atlanta for "Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Just Down the Street from Red's Barber Shoppe near the Bend in the River 500."
Actually, it's just the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500. I embellished. Still, I wonder if they can get all that on the trophy?
We've got a rule change for the Chevrolets. We've got two wins by Ford and a win by Pontiac. We've got a new points leader for the first time since last May. And we're still looking for the tight racing we have all come to love.
You veteran fans know all about Atlanta. The track is very fast and the walls are very hard. 500 miles is 325 laps. To tell you the truth, 325 laps equals 500.5 miles.
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DARK DAYS
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Since winning last year in Charlotte, Jeff Gordon hasn't finished better than 10th in the past eight races. Here's a look at what's kept the three-time champion off the pace:
Oct. 17, Talladega: After two straight wins, finishes 12th.
Oct. 24, Rockingham: Finishes 11th, but is a lap behind the winner Jeff Burton.
Nov. 7, Phoenix: Finishes 10th, which soon becomes high-water mark for struggling team down the stretch.
Nov. 14, Homestead: Another 10th-place finish, but 24 is a lap down at the end.
Nov. 21, Atlanta: Ends the 1999 season with a blown engine; Finishes 38th.
Feb. 20, Daytona: Starts the 2000 season with a broken oil line fitting; finishes 34th.
Feb. 27, Rockingham: Down two laps early; finishes 10th.
March 5, Las Vegas: Ill-handling car keeps his crew busy in the pits; finishes 28th.
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The defending champion is Jeff Gordon, a three-time winner at this track. He's won three Winston Cup championships. He's finished off the pace in three 2000 races and is 23rd in points.
Gordon hasn't had a top-five finish since he won at Charlotte last October. He was 34th in the Daytona 500; 10th at Rockingham, and 28th last week in Las Vegas. But we've seen this before from the Rainbow Warriors. In one four-race stretch last year, Gordon finished 38th (Talladega), first (California), 31st (Richmond) and 39th (Charlotte). Then he went second, second, second, first.
I don't think you'll see that kind of turnaround this season, but I do expect to see a turnaround. And it should start this weekend.
Gordon is a proven winner. But in 2000, he is with a brand new team. The colors and the number may be the same, but the plan and the people are different.
I don't think anyone truly expected Gordon to come charging out of the offseason and win a bunch of races early in the season. He has a new crew chief, not to mention a new body style. Both Robbie Loomis and Gordon they are learning about this Monte Carlo and each other on the job.
I like what Loomis said on RPM 2Night this past Tuesday. He believes he has the best driver in the garage, but the team hasn't shown that on the track. Atlanta might just be the track to show it.
Aerodynamic changes aside, Atlanta is a good track for Gordon. His first Busch series win came there on March 14, 1992. He made his Winston Cup debut there later that same year. He has celebrated all three of his Winston Cup championships there.
There could also be some extra motivation for Gordon and his guys this weekend. Ray Evernham will be in the spotlight, announcing a driver for his Dodge in 2001. Gordon doesn't mind Evernham being in that spotlight on Friday. But, come Sunday, Jeff would like to steal that spotlight for his team. Gordon would like nothing more than to prove that while Evernham is focused on winning in the future with his new team, his old team -- with some new people and parts -- can still win right now.
At this point in the season, it's easy to bash Gordon. And needless to say, some fans are loving what isn't happening.
Gordon and Mike Skinner (21st) are the only two drivers who finished in the top 10 in points last season, who aren't in the top 10 right now. Gordon was a non-factor in Las Vegas, but you didn't see his crew give up.
The 24 team worked hard under caution to try and make the car better. When I spoke with Gordon during the final rain delay, I got the feeling he wanted the race to continue, not because he believed he could win from where he was, but because the additional laps meant more time to work on the car. You can't improve your car while it's sitting under a tarp on the truck.
Maybe the DuPont team never would have made that car any better, but maybe it would have. Either way, those guys just wanted the chance to keep trying. And that should be the new motto for this team.
Right now, it's not a case of "Refuse to Lose."
It's a case of "We Know We're Better Than This and We've Got to Keep Trying!"
And they will.
Atlanta, Darlington and Bristol -- a trio of tracks where Gordon has run and won -- is just ahead. Sure, right now he is not the threat he was just 12 months ago. But would you bet against him going to Victory Lane in the coming three weeks?
And while the 24 bunch is "getting their legs," you've got to look around and realize the competition is getting stronger, too. To that end, each week when I leave for the race track, I walk out the door thinking will it be Bobby Labonte or Tony Stewart this week?
Is that the team to beat this week? The Gibbs Guys? Yes, they probably are this week.
But again, keep close tabs on the Roush cars. It doesn't figure to be the rout it was last week, but Jack Roush does have two career wins in Atlanta as a Winston Cup car owner, the most recent coming in November of 1994 when Mark Martin won the Hooters 500.
Roush had three cars in the top-six last November (Martin, Burton and Chad Little), and the same three drivers in the top-nine last March. Roush cars run well in Atlanta.
This week, Burton will try to make it two in a row. But you might want to keep one eye on that 24 car. He might just end up with the best parking spot at the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store.
Oh, and by the way, the flight home from Las Vegas, was just fine, thank you! | |
ALSO SEE
Gordon keeps himself, team calm during slow start
Labonte knows the key to Atlanta is speed
Cracker Barrel 500 Breakdown
Weber's mailbag
Ask Bill Weber
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