Gordon To Chase Pole-Sitter Jarrett In Pursuit Of Fourth Straight At Darlington

Things have come very easily for Jeff Gordon.

In just over four seasons and at the tender age of 25, Gordon already has won 15 pole positions, 21 races and a Winston Cup championship.

He has a natural talent for driving a race car, and nowhere has that been more apparent than on the treacherous 1.316-mile oval at Darlington International Raceway, where Gordon goes into today’s TranSouth Financial 400 looking for his fourth straight Darlington victory.

Gordon will start 10th in the 43-car field, which will be led to the green flag by Dale Jarrett, the hottest driver on NASCAR’s premier stock car circuit.

“I don’t want to be behind here,” Gordon said. “Once you get behind cars, it’s going to be tough. You know Dale Jarrett is going to get up there and run like crazy.

“I’d like to get up there and put some pressure on these guys and lead some laps. It’s come down to Jarrett and me here before. I hope it does again. He dominated both races here last year. He had his problems and we won. It doesn’t always take the fastest car.”

Jarrett is aware that Gordon is right about those races last year. He ran out of gas and finished 15th in March and slid through some oil, hit the wall and finished 14th in the Southern 500 in September, falling short of winning a $1 million bonus.

“I don’t feel like any track owes anybody anything, but I feel like we had a car that was capable of winning the race both times last year,” Jarrett said. “I feel like we have something to prove here.”