It doesn't count, but it's still a victory for Gordon (cont'd)

"Right now, I think that because of the pressure we felt from being winless last year, it's important for us to gain some momentum and confidence that we're doing the right things, for Steve and the calls he's making, for me and the moves I'm making, just to be successful, in synch as a team," said Gordon, who will start third in the 500. "I think that's what [Thursday] does. It just puts a smile on everybody's face. Everybody is patting one another on the back and really excited about Sunday's race. However you can get that is important, and I think [Thursday] we were able to achieve that. We've got to keep it going, though."

In Letarte's mind, last year the No. 24 team paid for the successes of 2007, when Gordon won six times and nearly won his fifth championship. Nobody wanted to tinker with a program that seemed at the top of its game. Then the new car went full time, and Gordon had difficulty getting comfortable on intermediate tracks, and an outfit that had been one of the best in NASCAR began pedaling backward. If anything, Gordon's winless season gave Letarte license to overhaul.

"It's very hard to evaluate a program when you have a successful program like we had in '07, where last year it was easier to come in and change anything and everything when you really have no success to lean on," Letarte said. "It's no different than we did in '05. We missed the Chase. It was very easy to change anything. Nothing was sacred. There was nothing sacred. I think maybe me, including other people, but I'll take the brunt of it, maybe I got back on my heels and made some things a little too sacred that didn't need to be. We've since changed all those. Anything can change to make the car go fast. We'll change any of the above to make it go fast."

They did it in spite of an offseason devoid of any testing on sanctioned NASCAR tracks. So far, Gordon likes what he sees. And he continues to support his crew chief, a popular target of derision among No. 24 faithful who grew increasingly restless last year.

"You know, he's feeling the pressure, because he knows what's going on in the media, [with] the fans. He knows whether we're winning or we're not winning," Gordon said of Letarte. "I don't need to speak for him. We're doing everything we can to work together as a team. I believe 100 percent in the guy, in the moves he's making. I think 2007 proved it. We got behind last year. We can't get that back. But what we can do is learn from it, grow from it, and use that to motivate us. This reminds me of 2000. In 2000, even though we won three races, I felt like it was one of our worst seasons. We came out of that and won the championship the next year because it motivated us. It showed us what we're capable of, how hard we had to dig down."

Besides, there was enough blame to go around. Gordon willingly takes some of it. "Last year I didn't feel like I was on my best game," the driver said. He cites as example his last start at Daytona, this past July, where he believes he had enough car and track position and still couldn't do anything with it. He wound up 30th. He's trying to take better care of himself, working to improve his strength and flexibility, and nursing a sometimes troublesome back. The ultimate goal: no excuses.

There certainly weren't any Thursday, when he looked like the old Gordon again. As he came off the final corner, other contenders were stacked up behind him, glancing high and low and looking to make a move. They didn't matter. "We got it. We got it," Gordon said confidently over the radio as he approached the checkered flag. "Way to go. That's the way to start 2009, baby!" If there is a common theme running throughout these Speedweeks, it's a subtle one centering around Gordon, who's driving as if the events of last year never happened. Will it carry over to California, and Las Vegas, and Atlanta and beyond? Who knows.

But for one week, at least, Jeff Gordon is back.

"We have a great race car and a great team right here in Daytona," he said. "We've got to capitalize on that, and seize that moment. I don't want to let these guys down."

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.