Daytona 500 Q&A with Jeff Gordon
Posted: Monday February 15, 1999 05:39 PM
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No apologies: Considering the result, it was hard for Gordon to second-guess his risky move with 10 laps remaining. AP |
DAYTONA BEACH (CNN/SI) -- Jeff Gordon led for just six of the first 189 laps on Sunday, but then in lap 190, he made his move. Ten laps later, Gordon ended up in Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway for the second time in his career.
After becoming only the sixth Winston Cup driver to win the Daytona 500 from the pole position, Gordon sat down with CNN/SI's John Giannone to talk about his second Daytona 500 win in the last three years.
Giannone: Jeff, can you talk about the move on lap 190. What did you see from the drivers' seat that made you think that you could get through?
Gordon: Well, I saw an opportunity and I took it. When you are in the Daytona 500, especially in the closing laps, you have to carry momentum and you have to make sure that you never have to take your foot off the gas pedal, because if you do, you're going to go backwards.
I got a great run on Rusty and I dove to the inside. When I got down there, I saw there was a car rolling very slow in front of me (Ricky Rudd) and I was just was praying that he was going to be out of the way by the time I got there. I was closing fast, but then I didn't realize that another car (Mike Skinner) made it three-wide. It was pretty wild there at the end. I think all of the people here enjoyed it and hopefully all the people at home did, too, because I certainly thought it was very exciting.
Giannone: One person who didn't exactly enjoy it was Rusty Wallace. After the race, he said he thought the move was foolish and dangerous. He said that not only could you have killed somebody, but it was the kind of move that makes you lose respect among your fellow drivers. Your response?
Gordon: He didn't give me much room. He could have very easily given me more room. He was the one pinching me down to the bottom. He saw that it was happening. But I'm sitting here with a Daytona 500 win and he's not, so of course he's going to be disappointed.
Giannone: It ended up being a 10-lap one-on-one, in essence, with Dale Earnhardt. It seemed like that you were genuinely thrilled afterwards at the fact that you were able to compete with Dale in those last 10 laps.
Gordon: That's because I was able to win. He is one of the toughest competitors that we have, especially when it comes to restrictor-plate racing here at Daytona. He does amazing things here. It's tough to get up there to him and it's even tougher to keep him behind you. So anytime you can do that, you have really worked hard and when you pull off a Daytona 500 victory racing to the finish, it makes the win that much more special.
Giannone: I know that he wasn't here this week, but you met up with (team owner) Rick Hendrick (who is suffering from leukemia) last Sunday. How much more special is it to win it with him in the area?
Gordon: It was great. It was great to have him here at the track. I know that was a big boost for him and he enjoyed it, but he overdid it a little. He was being tugged on from every different direction. Unfortunately, he couldn't be with us in Victory Lane today. He was with us again in spirit. I talked with him on the phone and he was pretty excited. I hope before the year is out, maybe on a less-hectic weekend, we can take him to Victory Lane.
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