Jeff Gordon 2006 Preview

The Rainbow Warrior entered the 2005 season with high expectations, and the slogan "Drive for Five" but to everyones suprise Jeff found himself fighting to remain in the top fifteen. Yes..Jeff Gordon had a relatively down year when compared to his past seasons. We are accustom to seeing the #24 competing for the win every week but in 2005 it seemed as if his cars were never set up to his liking and by the end of each race he was fighting to stay afloat. He did have the occasional good run and of course won a few races (can never keep Gordon out of victory lane) including the Daytona 500 but still to him and his team 2005 was a nightmare. Now..its 2006..and the #24 team has a new Crew Chief, swagger and slogan; "Drive for Five....Again".

Team: Rick Hendrick Sponsor: DuPont Crew Chief: Steve Letarte

2005 Stats:

4 Wins
2 Poles
8 Top Fives
14 Top Tens
11th in Final Standings

Jeff Gordon has never had an off year in his career so it will be interesting to see how his team does this year(Geez..4 wins is a bad year?). I don't think it matters if there's chemistry, as long as Steve Letarte sets up the car good Jeff will take it to the front. I suspect that the #24 team will once again win their fairshare of races in 06 plus should be tough to keep out of the top ten in 2006.