Getting up to speed
New teammate, car giving Gordon a fresh perspective
By RICK MINTER Cox News Service
As the 2008 Sprint Cup season hits its stride, Jeff Gordon is still learning about a new car and a new teammate.

Photos by NASCAR Jeff Gordon's No. 24 crew works on the Chevrolet during a pit stop last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Gordon led twice for 19 laps before an accident ended his day with a 35th-place finish.

The Car of Tomorrow still throws him a curve, occasionally. So far, the teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., hasn't.

During a recent media event held in advance of Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Gordon said he has been pleasantly surprised by the way Earnhardt Jr., the sport's most popular driver, has become a true team player. That's been particularly true in the team meetings held after practice sessions at racetracks.

"I didn't know how the team debriefings were going to go, but he fit right in," Gordon said. "I'm pretty excited about having him on board, and I feel like he and [his crew chief] Tony Eury Jr. have plenty to offer, and we have plenty to offer back to them. I see nothing but good energy."

Jeff Gordon: 22nd in the Cup standings.

Gordon said that during those team meetings, Earnhardt Jr. has acted like anything but a superstar.

And that has been a relief for Gordon and the two other members of the Hendrick Motorsports team, Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears.

"We all questioned, 'What's this going to be like?' " Gordon said. "I think the way that Junior has handled it has probably been the biggest surprise and why it's working so well. It's because he's down to earth. He's humble.

"He's appreciative and just there trying to be a teammate.

"He's not a guy that's got an ego. He's not sitting there saying, 'I'm the man. You guys need to listen to me. Here's

what I think.'

"He's kind of like a new kid, having fun, describing the car. That's what you want."

Earnhardt Jr.'s new relationship also has had an effect on fans, Gordon said.

"I've had more Junior stuff coming to me [in autograph sessions] than I ever had before," he said. "Before it was like a sin to ask me to sign an Earnhardt die cast or hat. I see some people saying, 'Hey, they're teammates. It's OK.' "

But that doesn't mean the ontrack rivalry between the two has gone away.

"The only difference I see is we have team debriefings and he's there," Gordon said "Once we got out on the track, I haven't seen anything different.

"We've always gotten along good and had respect for each other.We've never had any issues on the track."

The main concern Gordon had on the track in the early part of the season involved getting his Car of Tomorrow to drive better.

He said the car has a higher center of gravity and is heavier, especially on the right side, characteristics that can lead to excessive wear on the right-side tires.

"We're trying to get grip in the car, yet at the same time, we're abusing the rightside tires harder than we ever have," he said. "From a setup standpoint, you need to be more on the conservative side."

But, as he found out last year, conservative setups often produce slower cars, so he and his crew have taken a more aggressive approach, chassis setup-wise, this year.

"We made some mistakes last year, especially in the Chase," he said. "We knew what Jimmie [Johnson] and some of those guys were doing with their setups, and they were more aggressive than ours."

This year, that's not the case.

"We're showing up at the track with an aggressive setup, and we're just working around the aggressive setup," he said. "It isn't about me being more aggressive, trying to make bold moves. It's about us as a team being more aggressive getting the car to rotate through the corner."