CONCORD, N.C. -- With his final NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race in the books, Jeff Gordon was able to walk away from the night’s event satisfied with his performance.
“I was really happy with the car and the way a lot of things went for us. Everything has got to go your way to win this race – the race car, the restarts, the pit stops, the strategy, everything,” Gordon said. “All-in-all a solid day and night.”
Though it was his last All-Star Race, the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet SS wasn’t in the mood to reminisce just yet.
“(We) have so many races ahead of us before the season is over,” Gordon explained. “I think Homestead is going to be the one that really impacts me the most. But I am just really glad we had a good performance.”
Gordon did take a few moments to look back on the All-Star Race’s driver introductions, where fans showed their support for the Sprint Cup veteran, holding up “Thank you, Jeff!” posters.
“It was really amazing – that pre-race to see all of those signs,” he smiled. “I was surprised, I didn’t know that was happening and I got out there and was pretty overwhelmed by that.”
The four-time champion knows it’s small moments like that, that will make his final full-time season complete. When the season is over, it’s the small actions by fans, family and friends will be amongst his greatest memories.
But for now, the driver is squarely focused on the next race ahead of him – the 600-mile event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
And he’ll take lessons from the All-Star Race with him.
“I think the biggest thing we can learn from this (All-Star Race) is don’t pay attention to what goes on during the day because the track is slick and there is just no grip and you can’t even try to set up the car,” Gordon said. “At night you just have to go with your instincts and go with your notes from the past and put the best set up you can and we did that – I think we had a nice setup in the car and that is something that we can really work with for next week.”