Jeff Gordon 'proud' to drive throwback scheme at Bristol
Jeff Gordon's car for Saturday night's race at Bristol looks different. But it's incredibly familiar.
Gordon is driving a rainbow paint scheme very similar to the iconic one he drove in the 1990s. The only noticeable difference is that the car bears the name of Axalta instead of DuPont. The company became Axalta as part of an acquisition in early 2013. Gordon is retiring at the end of 2015 and Saturday's race is his final start at Bristol.
"I thought driving the rainbow paint scheme was in my rearview mirror, but the fans overwhelmingly fought for it and wanted to see it one more time," Gordon said Friday. "Thanks to Axalta for making that happen. What I love is if you get close up to it, it shows some of their modern technology and coatings. It’s a little fancier than it used to be. It’s very cool. I was very proud this morning to not only see all the cool gear from what all the fans were sporting out there, but to hop in that car. You forget how this car made an impact back in the day. As I got in the car I don’t get to see it on the track, I’m driving it."
"You can’t miss this car on the track. It just stands out. Luckily when we ran this car in the early to mid-90s it stood out. It turned a lot of people into fans that are still life-long fans. Those people are the ones that are so grateful to have this car back on the track, but I am too. I was really proud to get behind the wheel.”
Gordon's right. It does look really good.
Bristol also announced Friday that one of its sections of grandstands would be named for Gordon next year. The Jeff Gordon Terrace will join other sections of grandstand named for drivers like Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip and others.
Gordon is currently on track to make the Chase, though he would get in on points. He's winless this season and said that he feels that Hendrick Motorsports is behind a little bit. Joe Gibbs Racing has been the strongest team of the summer. Kyle Busch has won four races since his return from his Daytona injuries and Matt Kenseth has two wins as well.
"I think that we know that we are behind," Gordon said. "I think we are behind as an organization. I think we are behind as the No. 24 team. I think that if we can run to our potential or even what I think we are capable of right now I think that we make the Chase. What happens when we get in the Chase who knows? When you get a reset there are some tracks that are very good tracks for us in the Chase. Does that put us in the championship contender mode? I don’t know we’ve got a lot of work to do to do that. We are missing some speed and we are working hard to try to find it."
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
