HAMPTON, Ga. -- Friday evening at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon reaffirmed that last Sunday's vicious crash in the closing laps of the UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway had done nothing to blunt his competitive spirit.

Gordon was asked if becoming a father to daughter Ella some eight months ago after being wed seven months before that gave him second thoughts about his career. He replied they did not, even though the crash was particularly upsetting to Gordon's wife, Ingrid.

"She was pretty upset about that one, and her reaction, I react to, as well," Jeff Gordon said. "I'm a racecar driver, a racecar driver and a racecar driver until I walk into the bus after a race and see Ingrid and Ella, and then you switch over to father -- and you see the look on her face and you get the big hug and squeeze.

"And there's the reaction -- and then it sinks in, that it does affect you and it affects them. Ingrid has always known that I'm committed to what I'm doing here and as a racecar driver all I can do is push as hard as I can to try to win races and be competitive until the day I decide not to do it -- or I can't do it.

"So that's always going to be my mind-set, and while [the accident] certainly brought family much closer to me, and the thought if it, more so than ever, it also made me more thankful of how safe my racecars are -- and the fact I was able to walk away from that -- in one of the nastiest wrecks I've ever had."

Gordon has repeatedly said the accident was "the hardest I've ever hit in that direction," but he also continues to say it won't change his focus.

"Yeah, it definitely weighs on your mind," Gordon said. But at the same time, I guess I'm a positive thinker, and I always try to think of the positives. It's not going to change how I'm going to race, obviously -- [Friday night] showed that (read more).

"I think it's just part of my nature, I get in the racecar and I put the helmet on and flip the switch and all other things just go out of my mind."

Allison matriarch passes

Kittie 'Mom' Allison

The matriarch of the Allison family, Kittie "Mom" Allison, 101, passed away on Thursday evening, at the Little Flower Catholic Assisted Living Community in Charlotte, N.C., where she made her home for the last few years.

She and Edmund "Pop" Allison had 13 children, including Cup veteran drivers Bobby and Donnie Allison, 25 grandchildren and more than 30 great-grandchildren.

According to an item on bobbyallison.com, Mom Allison, a devout Catholic, was born and raised in New Jersey, but lived in Miami, Fla., most of her life and raised her children there.

She and Pop moved to Hueytown, Ala., to be near their family and racing in the 1970s. A Lifetime Member of the Winston Cup Ladies Auxiliary in Racing (WAM), Mom was always on the racing scene and flew to many tracks with son Bobby to watch him and Donnie race.

There will be a Viewing and Rosary Service at Browns Service Funeral Home-West at 2885 Allison-Bonnett Memorial Parkway in Hueytown on March 11, with viewing at 6-8 p.m. CT with the Rosary being said at 7:30 p.m.

The Funeral Mass will be at St. Aloysious Catholic Church in Bessemer, Ala., at 751 Academy Drive, at 10 a.m. on March 12 with burial following at Highland Memorial Gardens in Bessemer.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Little Flower Assisted Living; 8700 Lawyers Rd.; Charlotte, N.C. 28227 or St. Aloysious Catholic Church; 751 Academy Dr.; Bessemer, Alabama 35022 or Victory Junction Gang Camp.

Hot Skinner

For the second consecutive week, Bill Davis Racing's regular Craftsman Truck Series driver, Mike Skinner, placed a Sprint Cup car that was outside the locked-in top 35 into the show, as he put the No. 84 Red Bull Racing Team Toyota into the 34th starting position for Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500.

"That was our first and foremost mission -- to make the race -- but we have a long ways to go with this car," Skinner said. "There is a great group of guys here and I feel like we made gains [Friday], but we have a lot more gains to make.

Fast facts

What	Kobalt Tools 500
When	Green, 2:16 p.m. ET Sunday
TV	FOX, 1:30 p.m. ET
Radio	PRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 2 p.m. ET

Track Page | Tickets | Travel

"That is not our goal -- to come here and qualify in the back. So we are just going to work really hard and hopefully -- I know we aren't going to get to test before Bristol -- but hopefully we can go and do a little testing before Martinsville and maybe a little bit more before Texas.

"Maybe we can go somewhere like Kentucky or somewhere. Our first goal was accomplished so now we have to try to keep fenders on and build on it."

Despite his success, Skinner said that unless the vehicle had a Toyota badge on it, don't expect him to drive it.

"Unless it says Toyota on the back, I'm not going to be driving it," Skinner said. "I have a great deal with Toyota and the Tundra brand and the TRD [Toyota Racing Development] folks.

"I bleed Toyota through and through and if it doesn't say Toyota -- I probably won't be driving it."

Gordon likes top-35 dog fight

Jeff Gordon might be a four-time Cup champion who's never previously been within sniffing distance of being outside NASCAR's top 35 in the owner standings, which for the past two seasons has been the lock-in point for guaranteeing a position in each Cup event.

But after having bad luck in two of the three races so far this season, Gordon is in 22nd in the owner standings, 72 points clear of 35th.

"I'm trying to keep myself in the top 35, right now," Gordon said, forcing a laugh. "You know, there are some interesting little things going around the garage area right now, about who's in the top 35 and who's trying to protect and help other people stay in the top 35.

"You know what? This business has turned into just that -- it's a big business. And these sponsors pay a lot of money and you can't afford to lose them. We've seen that's the thing that keeps the team afloat -- and being in the top 35 and being in the race every week and not having to qualify in -- what risk are you willing to take to do that?

"And that's what we're going to find out. I think some guys are going to play it cool and smart and hope that that gets them in. Other guys are going to take big risks and hope that gets them in.

"It's an interesting story to watch -- just like it's interesting to watch qualifying when those guys are all qualifying at the back."

Vickers not liking tires

Red Bull Racing Toyota driver Brian Vickers was happy to qualify for his fourth consecutive race this season, which brings him closer to being locked into the top 35 when it comes time to use this season's owner points to determine those rankings.

But after qualifying 35th, he wasn't too happy with the different Goodyear tire being used this weekend, rather than the one teams tested with this past fall.

"We struggled a lot [Friday] just trying to get a handle on this car and this tire," Vickers said. "We left the test down here last year really happy and we came back and it was horrible. We unloaded and time-wise it really wasn't that bad, but it drove exceptionally bad.

"I know everybody has been fighting the tires a little [Friday], but we made some changes and made it a lot better. We couldn't seem to gain a lot in speed and we were still a little too loose all the way through."

Vickers said he worked well with his new, stand-in veteran teammate Mike Skinner, who is spelling A.J. Allmendinger.

"At the end of practice we worked some off of [Skinner's car's] notes and some things that helped them and applied that to our car. We were afraid to apply too much and I'm glad we didn't because we would have been way too tight -- because we were too tight anyway and almost missed the show."

Vickers said he was thrilled to almost be locked into the top 35, but he was taking nothing for granted.

"Nothing is guaranteed yet, but this helps a lot -- being in this race -- but you still have to finish it," Vickers said. "The first car home only loses three points to the first car out.

"We can't be the first car out; we have to finish the race. If we can have a good, solid day then hopefully that will give us a little comfort zone going into Bristol, but there's no guarantee on that."

Truex steps up for JR

Two-time series champion Martin Truex Jr. will compete in the No. 5 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in the Nationwide Series race next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, joining a list of top-tier drivers who have driven or will drive the car this year.

Truex is a 13-time series race winner who won series titles in 2004 and 2005 for Chance2, a team co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Teresa Earnhardt. Truex's first victory came in the very race in which he'll compete for JR Motorsports next weekend, the 2004 spring event at Bristol.

In 94 series starts, Truex has earned 37 top-five finishes, 57 top-10s and 10 pole positions.

This will mark the fourth time Truex will drive a JR Motorsports entry He scored a pair of top-10 finishes in three starts for JRM in 2006.

"We are extremely happy to have Martin in the No. 5 National Guard Chevrolet at Bristol, and we want to thank DEI for allowing him to drive for us," said Kelley Elledge, vice president and general manager at JR Motorsports and Earnhardt Jr.'s sister. "Martin is a great friend to Dale Jr., and he is a tremendous talent. Every time he climbs in a racecar, he has a chance to win."

"I have to thank JR Motorsports, DEI and the National Guard for letting me drive this racecar," Truex said. "With track time so important, driving the National Guard car on Saturday can only help me in the Bass Pro Shops car on Sunday, so this is a deal that hopefully will benefit everyone.

"Obviously Bristol is a special place for me. I won my first [Busch Series] race there, and it would be really cool to win again."

Biffle saves run

Former Atlanta winner Greg Biffle was none too pleased after his qualifying run, but he was pleased to bring his No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford back alive.

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"I've got a really fast car," Biffle said. "That just goes to show you, I came all the way out of the gas and touched the fence and had to just throw away that lap and try for the second lap and that was still 12th-quick, so I've got a really, really fast car.

"The track was just a little goofy [Friday] -- we just didn't get a hold of it. We were afraid of being too loose and we were too tight on our qualifying runs. We thought the track would come to us without freeing it up and it didn't really come to us enough, but now we know.

"We learned something."

Woods' devastating season continues

Wood Brothers Racing and Bill Elliott once again experienced the agony of a DNQ, the third this season for the Woods' famous No. 21 Ford in four attempts.

"It's just a really frustrating deal," Georgia native Elliott said. "I'm really at a loss because the guys are working so hard and we just can't seem to get things figured out. I really hate it for the Wood Brothers because they're such great people, but all we can do is go back to the shop and try to get better.

"We'll go to Bristol next week and give it another shot."

Junior not sure about Sunday

Even though Dale Earnhardt Jr. loves Atlanta Motor Speedway, he's not positive Sunday could the best race yet on the 1.5-mile oval.

"Well I don't know about that," Junior said. "They changed the tire and it's really slick and we're going around the corner pretty slow. I think it will be [more fun] for drivers to race like that without grip, but I believe it will be harder to make passes [because] a lot of guys running around the top where there's grip and being forced to run there because it's hard to pass on the bottom.

"It's a fun track, drivers love it. Everybody always says how great it is and it is -- it's a great racetrack. It's a shame it's not as popular with the fans and there's not grandstands down that back straightaway like there should be, full every weekend because that's how much we enjoy it.

"That's kind of frustrating. It's one of my favorite tracks, and I hate hearing all the time that it may lose a date or whatever and if there was a way a track was going to change dates Atlanta would be on that short list of tracks that might lose one or get moved and that's frustrating to hear [because] it's a great place to race."