Gordon hopes his Texas struggles change with pole

FORT WORTH, Texas -- If you believe in statistics, it doesn't look good for Jeff Gordon heading into Sunday's Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

But then, if you believe in statistics, it's already been a terrible year for Gordon and his No. 24 Chevrolet team that is fielded by Hendrick Motorsports.

Dickies 500

Race Lineup

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet
2.	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevrolet
3.	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet
4.	Jamie McMurray	Ford
5.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet
6.	Matt Kenseth	Ford
7.	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet
8.	Tony Stewart	Toyota
9.	Reed Sorenson	Dodge
10.	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet

• Race Lineup | Chase qualifiers

Gordon believes in none of the above. And so he stated on Friday before going out and winning the pole for this Sunday's event.

"I just know the car feels good," said Gordon, whose No. 24 Chevy also was quickest in Friday's Cup practice at TMS. "We know we've made big gains since the last time we were here."

That's encouraging for Gordon and his crew chief Steve Letarte -- since Gordon finished 43rd for only the second time in 542 career Cup starts in that race last spring. It was the third time in his career he's finished dead last in a Cup event, with him also doing it once when only 42 cars were fielded at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1997.

Throw in the fact that Gordon has not won since doing so at Charlotte in October of 2007 -- 38 races ago -- plus the fact that Texas Motor Speedway is one of only two tracks where Gordon has never won, and one can see why the driver is suddenly bubbling with optimism about an event at a place where he traditionally has struggled.

"We were comfortable right from the beginning of practice," Gordon said. "We just needed the car to turn a little bit better and get the speed out of it. That just kept coming slowly but surely."

Gordon said this season has not quite been the bust that he and others sometimes make it out to be.

"It's certainly not as big of a failure as sometimes we make out of it because we haven't won so far," Gordon said. "Any time you make it into the Chase, any time you're sixth in the points this late in the season, it's not a bad season.

"But obviously we want to win, and we aim to win every weekend -- and it's been frustrating that we haven't been able to achieve that. It's been an up-and-down season for us; it hasn't been a stellar, great season like we had last year [when he won six races and finished second to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson in the points championship]. What I'm proud of is the fight that this team has shown over the last 10 races. I feel like we've made a lot of improvements with the car, and the points have shown for it. The win column hasn't yet shown for it, but we've still got three to go." (Continued)