In a whirlwind week, Gordon prepared for his return to NASCAR action
July 22, 2016
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
SPEEDWAY,
Ind. – When Jeff Gordon saw the two-word text from Rick Hendrick, he
knew he’d better sit down to call his former boss.
“Call me,” Hendrick texted to the four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, who was vacationing in the south of France.
“If
I can scroll through my phone and look at the texts that I’ve gotten
from Rick that said “Call me,” I can tell you that you sit down when you
call him on those instances,”
Gordon said on Friday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
When
Gordon heard the purpose of the call, that Hendrick wanted him to
substitute for ailing Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Sunday’s Crown Royal 400 at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway (3
p.m. ET on NBCSN), his initial reaction was that Hendrick was joking.
“Rick
said to me, ‘Are you coming to Indianapolis?’” Gordon recalled. “I
said, ‘Yes, I am. I’m coming on Saturday.’ He said, ‘You’d better bring
your uniform.’...
“Honestly,
I didn’t even have to think twice about it. When Rick calls and has
that confidence in me and asks me to step up and do something for the
organization, whether it’s
as a driver or other responsibilities ... after everything he’s done
for me, the way the organization’s been there for me over the years—I
certainly didn’t anticipate this.”
Even
if concussion-like symptoms hadn’t sidelined Earnhardt from the No. 88
Chevrolet, Gordon would have been in a car at Indianapolis—as a
celebrity pace car driver.
But
the five-time Brickyard winner will put those plans on hold until next
year, as he competes for the first time against the No. 24 Hendrick
Motorsports Chevrolet he drove
for 23 years—a car now piloted by Sunoco Rookie of the Year leader
Chase Elliott.
The
nuts and bolts of putting Gordon into Earnhardt’s car didn’t constitute
a turnkey operation. Fortunately, HMS had archived the seat and
steering wheel Gordon had used in
what was supposed to be his final Sprint Cup race, last year’s season
finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
But
Gordon had never used a digital dashboard, which is the standard on
Sprint Cup cars this year, so immediately after his return to the United
States on Tuesday, he visited
the Hendrick shop and began tweaking the array of gauges and lights on
the digital dash.
Nor
has Gordon driven the current competition package at Indianapolis. When
the Sprint Cup series raced at the Brickyard last year, it was with an
experimental high-drag package
with a large spoiler, a configuration that was not incorporated into
the 2016 rules.
So Gordon studied film and throttle traces from the 2014 event, which produced his fifth victory at Indy.
“I kind of like ’14—it was a good year,” Gordon said.
He
conferred extensively with crew chief Greg Ives and team engineers. He
studied GoPro video from a test at Indy that featured Elliott and Jimmie
Johnson.
“Then
I took that information and went to the simulator the next morning in
Huntersville (N.C.) with GM (General Motors/Chevrolet), and they put
those set-ups and this aero package
in the car in the simulator, and I was able to drive it. ...
“They’ve
advanced a lot. I thought that and I’ll be able to verify that (in
Friday’s practice) that it was very close. Much closer than in the past
of the braking points, turn-in
points, car handling, all those types of things. I’m hoping that really
pays off for me.”
From
NASCAR’s perspective, Gordon had to satisfy three requirements before
he could return to a Sprint Cup car. He had to pass a physical, pass a
drug test and have a current
baseline impact test. Gordon satisfied all three requirements.
How
long he’ll remain in the car remains an open question. Gordon is
scheduled to drive Sunday at the Brickyard and a week later at Pocono.
Beyond that, he preferred not to speculate.
On Friday morning, Earnhardt posted encouraging news on his Twitter
account, saying:
“Today
is the 1st day in many that I sensed improvement. Seen small gains
during my physical therapy as well. Light at the end of the tunnel.”
“Right
now it’s through Pocono,” Gordon said. “We were very encouraged by Dale
Jr.’s tweet today and comments and the way he is feeling and hope that
continues to progress and
that he is back as soon as possible. ...
“We
just want him to be there when he is ready and when the doctors say he
is ready. I will do whatever I need to do, but I’m also thinking ‘What
is going to get the team the
most points and give them the best opportunity to advance into the
Chase?’ You’ve got the two sides, the owner and the driver side of (the
Chase).”
Gordon
also revealed on Friday that he had been approached about replacing
injured Tony Stewart in this year’s Daytona 500 but had to decline
because of his commitments as a
booth analyst for FOX Sports.
But
with the FOX portion of the season behind him, Gordon will make his
798th Sprint Cup start on Sunday, in a race he never dreamed he would
drive.
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