| | Associated Press
CONCORD, N.C. -- Jeff Gordon is driving better as the Winston Cup season winds down and he gives much of the credit to teammate Jerry Nadeau.
Gordon, a three-time series champion, has started turning to Nadeau for advice on setups and strategies. It's working.
They conferred before qualifying runs for Sunday's UAW-GM Quality 500, and Gordon ended up winning the pole while Nadeau will start third at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
"Jerry has been helping me out a lot lately," Gordon said. "I am really happy to have him as an addition to Hendrick Motorsports because he and I drive similarly -- we're very aggressive."
Nadeau has had an edge on Gordon at bigger tracks this season.
"At the high-speed places like Atlanta and here, they've run a lot better than us, especially in qualifying," Gordon said. "His team likes to take some gambles, and mine is a lot more conservative. So we started talking with them and they've helped us out a lot."
After Gordon finished out of the top 20 in all four races in August, he started to turn things around in September. He won the Chevrolet Monte Carlo and finished all five races in the top-10.
When the green flag drops on Sunday, Nadeau said, the help ends.
"If all the screws and nuts fall into the right place, I think we've got a good shot to win," Nadeau said. "So Jeff Gordon is on his own on Sunday. I've helped him out enough."
Waltrip's worries
With only six races left in his Winston Cup
career, Darrell Waltrip is worried about how he'll be viewed when
he's no longer a race car driver.
"You never want to lose your identity," Waltrip said. "My identity has been a huge 18-wheeler with my name down the side of it, a race car with my name on top of it and a helmet that I put on every Sunday.
"That really reduces it down, but that's your identity. And when you take that away, then you're going to wonder in your mind and in your heart that, if after that's gone and you're not a part of this show over here, where do you go from here?"
Waltrip, a three-time Winston Cup champion, is going into the
broadcast booth after a 28-year career.
He called his new venture his "saving grace."
"I think if I had to throw my helmet down and put it in the bag
in Atlanta in November and say, 'Adios, I'll see you guys down the
road,' that would be hard to deal with," he said.
"But fortunately, I'll be right back in the thick of things. I
won't be on the race track every Sunday, but I'll be in your living
room every Sunday, and that will be equally as much fun."
Marlin remains an 'Original'
As many teams scramble to line up new sponsorship
deals for next season, Sterling Marlin is extending the one he has.
Coors Brewing Company said Saturday it would sponsor the No. 40
car for a seventh season, four with Marlin.
Longtime owner Felix Sabates has sold the team to Chip Ganassi
Racing and the manufacturer is changing from Chevrolet to Dodge
next season.
Switching to Chevy
Jeff Green and Jason Keller, teammates at
ppc Racing, are switching from Chevrolet to Ford next season.
The announcement was made Saturday before the two Busch Grand National drivers competed in the All Pro Bumper to Bumper 300. Green is first in the series standings, 516 points ahead of second-place Keller.
"We were looking for some very individual attention targeted to
ppc Racing, our drivers, our engineers and our staff," team
co-owner Greg Pollex said. "Ford Motor Co. offered us that
opportunity."
Ford has not had a major presence in NASCAR Busch Series
competition over the last few years.
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