Gordon: Getting Earnhardt in Chase 'very important'

Gordon: Getting Earnhardt in Chase 'very important'

By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(September 9, 2011)

RICHMOND, Va.—Within limits, Jeff Gordon and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates will do all they can to help Dale Earnhardt Jr. clinch a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

"It's very important for us at Hendrick Motorsports to get him in the Chase, not just because he's Junior, but because we want to get as many of our teams into that Chase as possible," Gordon told Sporting News on Friday at Richmond International Raceway.

"It means a lot to us, so we would like to accomplish that, and Junior's had a heck of a year and it's been a little rough the last several weeks, but I feel like he belongs in there."

Before the race, the four Hendrick teams will collaborate on their setups to help give Earnhardt the most competitive car possible.

"I think if you look at how we can help him, yeah, we can help him by giving him as much information as we possibly can like we always do in our debriefs and communication," Gordon said. "It's always nice when one of us or a couple of us hit on some things that make the cars go faster—it helps everybody have a little more confidence in their setup for the race."

Once the race starts, Gordon will pay attention to Earnhardt's position and that of the one other driver who has a realistic shot at knocking his teammate out of the Chase—Brad Keselowski. Blocking Keselowski or letting Earnhardt make an easy pass for position is not out of the question for Gordon.

"In the race, we're certainly going to be mindful of what's going on," Gordon said. "Other than blocking and stuff like that, if he (Earnhardt) is faster, then you might give up the position a little easier than you would before.

"There's certain things that you can do that are small things to help, but the thing is that they have to run good and run better than the guy they are battling. It's really a battle between them and the other guys that they are racing to try to get in the Chase."

Gordon would draw the line at dumping Keselowski to assure Earnhardt's Chase post.

"Number one, I know Junior—he doesn't want to be given a gift," Gordon said. "That's not his way of making it into the Chase."