LONG POND, Pa. – After posting his 90th career Sprint Cup victory last week, it might be natural for Jeff Gordon to begin thinking about reaching 100.
“I just hope we can get to 91,” Gordon chuckled. “You can’t think about 100 until you get to 99 the last time I checked. I’m pretty excited to be at 90.”
Gordon, who leads all drivers with six victories at Pocono Raceway, will celebrate his 43rd birthday on Monday and is not without physical challenges, primarily from back pain which forced him to miss a practice at Charlotte in May.
“I don’t think my back is ever going to be the same after what happened at Charlotte,” he said. “I have to be much more careful and do more stretching. Is it going to flare up again? It could. I’m trying to be more cautious with the things that contribute to that. But yeah, it’s not great, that’s for sure.”
Gordon was second-fastest in Saturday’s Happy Hour, followed by Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. Earnhardt was fifth-fastest despite a recurring vibration and pole-sitter Kyle Larson was sixth-fastest.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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