HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, it’s all up to Jeff Gordon.
But leading up to the green flag, the driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS is utilizing his Hendrick Motorsports teammates as much as possible.
“Obviously I'm very fortunate to have three great teammates that all are very competitive, great drivers, great teams,” he said. “All that is very valuable information throughout a race weekend to tap into.”
It starts with Dale Earnhardt Jr., who visited Homestead in August for a Goodyear test, representing Hendrick Motorsports as NASCAR worked to dial in the tire and aerodynamics package.
“What we're really going off of a lot right now is that Dale Earnhardt Jr. tested here and has data, and so we can compare the data and the setups from last year to this year and get some pretty good information that gives us a good direction for where we need to go for Friday, for Saturday and for Sunday,” Gordon said.
The four-time champion already acknowledged that he tapped into fellow champion Jimmie Johnson’s experience with blocking out outside distractions as he prepares for one last shot at a title.
He’s grateful for the help that all of his teammates have provided as the final race approaches.
“You've got six-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who has been a great friend over the years, a great teammate, and I've been tapping into that -- he asked me to,” Gordon said. “He's like, ‘Man, whatever you need, whatever you need.’ He's been incredible to me, to our team, to the whole organization, and that's the kind of person that Jimmie is, and I'm going to do my best to take advantage of it.”
As much as his Hendrick Motorsports comrades have been instrumental leading up to Sunday, Gordon knows that when the green flag waves, it will all be on him.
Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick echoed those sentiments.
“The crew chiefs and all the teams helped him work and share information leading up to this race, because once they get into the race he's got to beat (three) cars,” he said. “There's not a lot they can do on the track to help him. All the help that we can give him will happen before the car rolls out on the grid Sunday.”
Gordon is ready for the challenge.
“We didn't get here just because of Martinsville,” he said. “I mean, we've been knocking on the door of getting better and better and better and being a team that could race our way here as well as win that race in Martinsville, and that gives me a lot of confidence for what we've got for Sunday.”