From the June, 2006 issue of Stock Car Insider
Who's Hot?
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| We've been ragging on Jeff Gordon hard of late. Of course, he's probably been ragging on himself too. After a lackluster start to the 2006 season that had him 11th in points, Gordon finally has tasted victory lane for the first time in yesterday's Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. Gordon's win yesterday is his 9th career win at a road course making him the most decorated road course driver in NASCAR's history. After starting 11th, Gordon was able to rocket himself through the field and take over the top position in just 50 laps. The entire #24 DuPont team was solid throughout the entire race. Jeff never missed a mark, never spun out, restarted perfectly after every caution while his team posted some of the fastest times of the day on pit road. This kind of a performance is reminiscent of Gordon during his previous championship seasons. The big question is can Gordon and his team maintain this championship form as they head into the remaining 10 races before the Chase for the Championship? Next week, NASCAR heads to Daytona for the Pepsi 400 where Jeff Gordon has been dominate. In 28 races at Daytona, Jeff has 6 wins, 11 top 5 finishes, and 16 top 10 finishes. For the math challenged, that means on average Gordon finishes in the top 10 in over half the races. If Gordon wants to qualify for NASCAR's Nextel Cup Chase for the Championship, he'll need to maintain his average at Daytona and finish with another top 10.
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