Jeff Gordon Quotes (142 Quotes)

He was one of the most competitive guys out there. There were days when he'd push you and shove you right out of the way and frustrate you, then there were other days where you just saw his talent and you had a blast racing with him. I think certainly the fans miss the excitement that he brought. I don't think there will be anybody to replace Dale. I believe he was the best race-car driver I've ever raced against.

I wish they would have fixed the race track at the same time they fixed the curb. There are some things in the race track, some really big bumps and roughness, that would have been nice to have gotten through that area a little better.

Yeah, sometimes he needs a little bit more patience. I think that with NASCAR's implementing of the no bumping and aggressive driving, it's only going to help him to be more patient and to come into his own. But as young as he is, for him to be out there doing what he's doing, I'm pretty impressed.

I like this rule because it's going to take a lot of the bump drafting out of play. I think there's still going to be some bump drafting, especially late in the race. But I think it will make guys have to think a little bit more about how they pass. That goes back to the type of drafting I learned early on. We used the air to push the cars around instead of the bumpers. I like that type of drafting, and I'm curious to see how we'll manage it.

Obviously, anything in the tri-oval or the corners is completely out of line and shouldn't happen. You've got a ton more momentum than the guy in front of you and you don't even check up, you just run straight, square into the back of him and you start to see the guy get out of control.

I'm real happy with the comeback. We got way off and a lot of it is my fault. You know, I asked the guys to make some adjustments on the car and it was totally going the wrong direction.

The retirement package that was available for my almost 32 years of employment will vanish before many others and myself are eligible to receive it, if this new plan is implemented.

I think Bristol already brings that out in guys, because there's such tight corners and the track is fast, and I just think you're going to see guys battling to get into that chase who are going to be pushing the envelope really, really hard.

I would love to see Jimmie get in position where I could get behind him and help him all I can. I am going to work as hard as I can to get myself into that position. He certainly has helped me plenty of times, and I want those guys to win the championship and I'm going to do everything that I can to help them.

He's known for pushing the limits, and you want a crew who (does that). But there is a limit, and you've got to know where that limit is.

When you put him in that position, how does he go from being one of the guys to all of a sudden being the boss How is he going to deal with the guys That's the part I've been impressed with. He came right in there and took control and got the guys that support him to support him more and the guys that didn't to either support him or they were out the door.

When you're in a race car, you're going through so many different emotions throughout that race.

A year like that makes you hungrier. It's not that we should win a championship every year, but we certainly should be in contention to win races on a fairly consistent basis.

He's tough here, there's no doubt about it. When I look at guys that run good here, I put him as one of the top guys.

Whether I have a first great lap or not, I pull in after the first one. There are very few places that we actually go to where the second lap is better than the first. Now Ryan is a rare breed. Usually not only does he get the pole on the first lap, but he gets it on the second lap, too. He usually backs it up.

The season has gone in cycles. Guys that ran really strong at the beginning of the year maybe haven't run as strong in the middle. There's no reason that cycle can't come to us as well, and I'm sure that there are teams out there that would prefer not to find out if that cycle comes our way.

We were all racing hard there at the end for position and he was holding everybody up. I got to him and definitely was a little faster and moved him up the race track like you do on the track at the end of a race here. We went down into one and he decided to wreck me instead. It is pretty disappointing. We had a great car. I am sorry that happened. I like racing with Matt, I certainly didn't enjoy racing with him today. I showed him my displeasure. I get fired up too. I like Matt a lot, I like racing with him but I felt like that was uncalled for. We will keep racing hard against him in the future.

I could just tell that the car had that feel, it had that comfort to me. I had a car underneath me where I felt I could get aggressive with it.

I think from what I've seen so far, the guys are doing a fantastic job. We've just been seeing this trend more and more over the last six, eight years of rookies just being able to come in and perform well, win races and put consistency together and also come in with strong race teams.

I tried to get a run on the high side of Brian coming to the white, I guess. That just killed me. He blocked me up high and then I tried to go low. I looked in the mirror and here came Jimmie. I got stuck on the inside and I knew I was done.

I like Matt. I like racing with him. I didn't like racing him today.

Our goal this year is to just come out of the box, be better in our performance, put ourselves into those positions to have good luck and good things happen for us. Chemistry with the team is obviously really important. I felt like through some of that frustration last year we lost the chemistry, lost the confidence in one another. I know I lost confidence in what I was doing out there. It's just about building that back.

I'll do a little prayer here and there if I feel the need to.

We won the 150, and we're on the front row and we won the Daytona 500 last year and the Talladega race. I think that's enough for guys to know we're on the radar screen. I would hope that people would think we're one of the guys to beat.

My car just took off. I thought man, we've got a shot at this thing.

When I first came in the sport, it was sort of like his time to be the top guy. I don't think he was expecting a young guy ... to come out as strong as we did and become as popular as we did. He and I kind of had a rivalry starting in 1994 and it carried on for a number of years.

NASCAR, 730 p.m. Saturday on TNT The final race to determine Nextel Cup's Chase for the Championship participants should be one of the biggest of the season, with Jeff Gordon's status the main story line. Will he or won't he Analyst Bill Weber says watch out if he does He's played mediocre ball at best all season, but he's still got a chance to make the playoffs. And if he gets in the question is ... No, I do not.'

When my tire blew, that instantly sent a message to me to be more patient. And even when there were times I had to be aggressive, I didn't have to do it with the front bumper.

I think it's an evil. There are ways to pass without it. It just takes a little bit longer. I've never been for it, but I've got to be a part of it. I don't have a choice. I want to win.

I thought there was no way Jimmie could win the race, or I wouldn't have left. All of a sudden I hear he wins, and I go, 'You've got to be kidding me' That was just a phenomenal win.

I thought we might have had something for him. The car just stuck so good through (Turns) One and Two. I thought I was going to get a run on Tony down the back straightaway, but then the caution came out.

It's not that we should win a championship every year. But we certainly should be contending for race wins -- and on a fairly consistent basis -- and we should be up and battling in that championship in some way throughout the year.

There was a lot of stuff going on. We avoided most of it, and then unfortunately there toward the end I couldn't avoid Mike Bliss . We had to fix the right front fender. We had a great car. We really did. We never really got to show it. We got it really good the second half of the race, and the whole time we were playing catch-up.

I guess it fits the crime.

I still think we have a great shot at this championship.

As bad as that was, we had to move forward in a positive way. If you look at James Dean or Elvis Presley after his death, it's the same thing with Earnhardt. That's the type of persona Dale Earnhardt had in our sport and the publicity of his death took it to another level.

As far as Katrina goes, I haven't seen the impact (on coffee prices yet),

You've got to be the best person you can be in your life.

Honestly, I've been going up in that trailer for 10 years now . . . and I feel like very little of it ever really makes an impact. I sat there many times with Dale, and I heard him make his points, and I knew he had a special relationship with Bill (France) Jr., and NASCAR and I felt like, sometimes he definitely made a difference, sometimes he got credit for it when I think they were already going to do something and half the time they didn't do anything.

We recognize we have to walk before we can run. We've had some pretty good runs this year especially on the short tracks. And Phoenix is somewhat of a short track, in our opinion.

We didn't need that last caution. I thought I might have had something for him on the caution before that. I just didn't get my tires up to temperature on those last few laps, but I'm real, real proud of the Dupont Chevrolet team.

I know where I'm going, but I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm going to the mountains. I haven't made any plans. I'm just going to play it by ear -- me and my girlfriend. We're also testing at Richmond.

I believe 100 percent in Robbie Loomis and in his abilities. When we're on, there's nobody better, and because of our lack of performance this year I really don't think that, you know, Robbie should be put to blame for that.

There are a lot of things going on, and I want to wait till we come out with the press release. We've definitely got things in the works I've done a little bit. But I want to do something bigger, and I want to see what the biggest need is.

You may be leading, then you might be at the back of the pack trying to work your way up. It's just a constant reminder not to give up, and to know that God, in my mind, is really in control.

It has always been a tough place to pass on. It's still going to be tough, but every time we come here it seems...it gets a little bit easier.

I don't feel I'm a step above anyone on this team. I'm just another link in the chain.

You're still going to see accidents, you always will. Especially towards the closing laps of a race.

I'll take part of the blame. I think Tony should take part of it as well.

It's amazing how EA continues to innovate and make the game more fun for gamers and the drivers year after year.