Auto Club 500 - Jeff Gordon Notes

AT CALIFORNIA, GORDON CARRIES MOMENTUM INTO 375TH START

FONTANA, Calif. - With four straight top-10 finishes, including a win at Talladega last Sunday, Jeff Gordon enters this Sunday's Auto Club 500 at California Speedway with momentum on his side.

On March 21, Gordon exited Darlington Raceway 13th in the point standings, 160 points out of the lead. Four strong performances later, he sits third in the standings and has cut the deficit down to 111.

"We finished in the top 10 several times earlier this year, but we realized we weren't running at the level this team is capable of running," said Gordon, who is expected to make his 375th career start this weekend. "This DuPont team has really stepped up their game recently and we're entering this weekend's race with a lot of confidence, especially after last week's win.

"We had a shot to win at Texas and Martinsville. Unfortunately, things didn't go our way and we just made the most of it. Instead of getting down, I think it fired this team up."

Last Sunday's win marked Gordon's 65th career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory. The win also pushed his career NASCAR earnings past $60 million, the first driver in NASCAR history to reach that mark.

Gordon, a native of Vallejo, Calif., returns ‘home' to a track where he has had great success. He won the inaugural event at California Speedway in 1997 and went back to Victory Lane again in 1999. He remains the only driver with multiple NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victories at the 2.0-mile track.

Along with those two victories, he has scored four top-fives in seven races and has finished outside the top 11 only once. Gordon's worst finish of 16th occurred in 2002, a day where Jimmie Johnson gave Gordon his first victory as a car owner.

"It's exciting to win as a car owner, but it doesn't compare to winning as a driver," Gordon said. "The best part of my job is winning, and that's what we strive to do each and every weekend."

If he wins this weekend, it will mark the 19th time Gordon has won back-to-back races during his 12-year career. It would also extend his streak of multiple win seasons to 11, the longest current streak in NASCAR's premier division.

"We're not worried about streaks or records," Gordon said. "We just want to go into the upcoming off-weekend with momentum still on our side."