NASCAR Cup Series

Mediocre Chase could turn around for Gordon at Kansas

Published Oct. 1, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Before time trials, Jeff Gordon called qualifying his team's weakest link.

If posting the third fastest lap (174.430 mph) on Friday is a problem, just imagine what Gordon and the No. 24 DuPont team might be capable of on Sunday.

In nine starts at Kansas Speedway, Gordon has two wins and an average finish of 8.9.

"I do like this track," Gordon said. "It's a nice track. As a driver, what you like is the transitions to straight-aways to corners, (the) grip level and I like all those things about Kansas. For us, the cars have changed so much over the years and even throughout this year. Setups and things change, so it's about really making sure that you've got the best team underneath you that you can possibly have and I feel like right now we have a little work to do.

"We come in here with confidence with the team and the racetrack, but needing to build some confidence when it comes to our performance as a whole."

Considering it's been 57 races since Gordon's last victory, it‘s understandable why he‘s more reserved. Still, 14 of Gordon's 82 wins — including his last at Texas Motor Speedway — were earned on intermediate tracks such as Kansas Speedway.

Gordon is currently eighth in the standings, 83 markers behind leader Denny Hamlin, despite finishing sixth and 11th in the first two races in NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup. While Gordon was in the same position last year, he had a 122-point deficit to overcome and finished third in the standings.

Perhaps, that's why he remains optimistic.

"We're still in it and that's the thing. We didn't take ourselves out of it in the first two races," Gordon said. "(They) didn't go quite the way we were hoping that they would, but we hope that our strong tracks and performances are coming up. Still a lot of racing left.

"We're coming in here doing everything we can to try to win and get a great finish and qualify well. The thing is you have to keep yourself in it until you get to Talladega or Martinsville or something like that and then just need a good finish. There's no doubt about that. We're doing everything we can to get to happen this weekend. Our strength this year had been more at the mile-and-a-half (tracks) and this has been a good track traditionally for us in the past. We expect to run good here. If we don't, it's definitely going to be a step in the wrong direction for us."

RPM'S CONUNDRUM

Richard Petty Motorsports' Kasey Kahne and Paul Menard locked in the front row for the Price Chopper 400 on Friday with laps of 174.644 mph and 174.469 mph, respectively.

Ironically, neither driver will be racing for RPM next season. Polesitter Kahne will spend a year with Red Bull Racing before moving to Hendrick Motorsports in 2012. Menard will take his sponsor, crew chief Slugger Labbe and spotter Stevie Reeves to Richard Childress Racing.

"It shows that myself, Paul and our teams are still really interested in running strong and not backing down at all just because we have other things we are going to do in the future," said Kahne, after posting his 19th career pole winning lap. "At the same time, it shows that RPM is giving us great race cars.

"Roush Yates is giving us great engines. We have the package, we just need to put it all together. We have struggled. We had that deal in Atlanta that maybe made us miss the Chase and we haven't run well since. It feels got to get on the pole today and hopefully it gives us some momentum for Sunday's race. Hopefully we can carry that."

Five Ford qualified among the top 10 on Friday. Bill Elliott, who qualified 11th in the No. 21 Wood Brothers' Ford, was the fastest driver who wasn't guaranteed a starting spot.

BAD LUCK BLUES

Mark Martin's misery continued at Kansas Speedway when his fuel pump drive failed before making his first lap in practice.

The No. 5 Chevrolet changed engines during practice and Martin qualified 28th despite never running a lap. Nevertheless, Martin will start 42nd due to the one-engine rule.

Last week at New Hampshire, Martin qualified third but his time was disallowed due to an illegal shock. Martin started from the rear and finished 12th.

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMM ...

It is curious given the history between Joe Gibbs Racing and Richard Childress Racing that NASCAR would select Waddell Wilson for the National Stock Car Racing Committee appeals panel to hear the No. 33's case since his son works for JGR.

NUMBERS GAME

Of the 12 cases that have made it to the final stage of NASCAR's appeals process, eight were upheld, three were reduced and one penalty was overturned.

SAY WHAT?

Matt Kenseth on newcomer Trevor Bayne driving his old number 17 in the Nationwide Series:

"To be honest with you, I've never met Trevor. I don't know him. I know he spun me out at Darlington, and I never heard from him. But, other than that, I don't really know him. I'm sure they're still looking for drivers, looking for something to get going over there. I don't know a lot about it, to be honest with you.

"We've been trying to put together a Nationwide deal so I could run some more. I've been wanting to for a long time. I kind of know how Darrell Waltrip always feels when he talks about me in the 17, because you see somebody else driving the 17, and it's kind of weird. I'd rather be in it myself, but, other than that, I don't know much about it."