Gordon not ready to be counted out

There are some who question if Jeff Gordon still has the fire that propelled him to four NASCAR Cup Series championships.

Heading into Sunday's Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway, Gordon insists the will to win remains as strong as ever.

"I don't like to finish second or anywhere after that," the Vallejo native said. "That is what motivates you. I have never won a Sprint Cup before, so to me it is like never winning a championship.

"The four that we won are something that we are very proud of, but it is under the old format. I feel like we are as hungry as we have ever been to win this championship."

Gordon's last championship came in 2001, three years before the debut of the Chase, a 10-race playoff format and six years before Sprint signed on as series sponsor. He hasn't always been a fan of the Chase, as he would have won titles in 2004 and 2007 under the old points system.

Still, the 16-year Cup veteran has come to appreciate what it means to win a championship under the existing format.

"Do I wish that we had the old points system? Sort of," he said. "It worked very well for me but that is a personal thing. I think it is better for the sport under this format. I think my driving style and our team as consistent as we are, we would have a better shot at the championship under the old format. But, that is something that we have to work on, not NASCAR."

Gordon makes a good point with his 20 top-10 finishes heading into Fontana this Sunday, tied with Tony Stewart for the most this season. Still, he was eighth in the series' point standings after disappointing finishes at the first two Chase races in New Hampshire and Dover. In addition, he watched teammates Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson win those races.

"It's very frustrating that we are not living up to our full potential," Gordon said. "We certainly are working hard and we have had some things that haven't gone our way.

"But at the same time, we could have been a lot worse in New Hampshire and we could have been a lot worse in Dover. We are still in this thing in our minds, and a lot is left to happen."

Still, Gordon knows consistency may not be enough to beat his teammates, who had combined for nine wins in 2009. Gordon has just a single win at Texas.

He had been down that road before in 2007, a year Gordon set a NASCAR record with 30 top-10 finishes in 36 races, but ultimately lost the series title to Johnson.

"We know that if those guys continue the way that they are, we have to win to gain points on them," he said. "That's certainly a lot to ask for. But in my opinion, it's still doable. The nice thing is when your teammates are running that good, you have all the data and information at your fingertips to be able to pull from."

Working as one unit has made Hendrick Motorsports the sport's dominant team. As for Gordon, he's one of the sport's all-time dominant drivers with 82 career wins (sixth on the all-time list), 67 career poles (fourth all-time) and four championships (third all-time).

Gordon became the youngest driver ever to win the USAC Midget title at age 19 and later set a NASCAR record with 11 Nationwide Series poles in a season before teaming with car owner Rick Hendrick. The two have been together ever since as Gordon made his Cup Series debut at the 1992 season finale - also the final race of Richard Petty's career.

"He's really a great boss and he doesn't put any kind of unusual pressure on the team," Gordon said about Hendrick. "He just really tries to gather the best people, he listens to them, what they need to make every aspect of the race team better, whether it be the engine department, the chassis department or the people."