RICHMOND, Va. -- Jeff Gordon sounded terrible.

"This week has been allergies, man," the four-time NASCAR champion said in a husky voice Friday morning at Richmond International Raceway. "Sunday at Talladega it hit me. I sound terrible, congested and everything, but I feel fine. It's just my allergies messing with me. I'm pretty bad when pollen and all that starts getting in the air. It messes with me pretty good. But it doesn't seem to affect me when I'm in the car."

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I don't believe it's anything serious, it's just something that's causing the pain. ... But there are also some other things that come from trauma, from a crash, or maybe just from years of beating it up.

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JEFF GORDON

Regardless, a stuffy nose is the least of Gordon's health concerns these days. Chronic back pain that prompted the Hendrick Motorsports driver to undertake a stretching and exercise regimen has flared back up, and Gordon had another MRI performed this week in an attempt to pinpoint the source of the discomfort. Last weekend at Talladega, Gordon said the pain had not subsided and his back spasms weren't getting any better. This week?

"It's not really changed," he said. "This will be a tough weekend, because of the G-forces and the braking you use here and the long runs we have here. It will be tough on my back. It will be a strain. We'll just have to fight through it."

Gordon said his physicians learned some things from the MRI, but he wasn't prepared to release any information Friday.

"We found some things and have a better diagnosis of it. When I know how we're going to treat it, I'll let you guys [in the media] know," he said. "I don't believe it's anything serious, it's just something that's causing the pain. There's a little bit of arthritis, which is not totally unnatural. But there are also some other things that come, from what they can understand, from trauma, from a crash, or maybe just from years of beating it up. Heck, I might have picked up my luggage or something and tore something up in there. So I don't know. But we have a better diagnosis of it, and I've got some experts that are giving me all the best scenarios."

Gordon's back will be one of several challenges he faces at Richmond, a track where he's recorded four consecutive top-10s but not won since 2000. Since his skid-snapping victory at Texas, he's suffered through two difficult outings -- a 25th-place finish at Phoenix stemming from a pit-stop problem, and a crash-induced 37th-place result at Talladega. For the first time since the second race of the season, he's out of the points lead. He'll start Saturday night's event in second, five points behind Kurt Busch.

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