Gordon closes in on NASCAR history

He will try to become the first driver to win three straight at a new venue.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) -- Jeff Gordon welcomes the return to a track where he has done so well. He also understands it will count for little today when he goes for a bit of NASCAR history.
Gordon will try to become the first Winston Cup driver to win the first three races at a new venue -- in this case, Kansas Speedway, site of the Banquet 400.
"Just because we won here the first two years, that doesn't mean anything," he said. "People are always making adjustments and trying to get better."
Starting seventh
Gordon qualified seventh but gained a spot when pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson crashed Saturday. Johnson, who set a track qualifying record of 180.373 mph on Friday, was not injured but will drop to the back of the pack before the race after switching to a backup car.
"I almost saved it," Johnson said. "I should have just looped it and avoided hitting the wall and just slid down the backstretch."
Kevin Harvick won the first two Winston Cup races at Chicagoland Speedway, which also opened in 2001, but finished 17th this year.
Ryan Newman finished second to Gordon in the first two Winston Cup races at Kansas Speedway.
"I don't feel like this track owes me anything," Newman said. "We've run good both times we were here, the first time in a backup car before my rookie season. We just need to get one spot better."
Newman leads the circuit with seven wins but has failed to finish five times. He is fourth in the standings, 489 points behind leader Matt Kenseth.
"You can't let the frustrating parts get to you," Newman said. "You've just got to go on and try to make the next week better than the last."
Driving threat
When Newman is on, as he has lately, he is formidable. Since finishing 23rd in the Southern 500 at Darlington on Aug. 31, he has two wins and no finishes lower than ninth in four races.
"Ryan has certainly shown that he's capable of winning races and dominating races," Gordon said. "They're a very smart team. They've just got to figure out their failures."
Gordon, going after his second win this year, was second in the standings after the New England 300 on July 20. But his 24th-place finish in that race -- after a front-row start -- began a frustrating string. He finished 28th or worse in five of his next six races but enters today with fifth-place finishes in his last two outings, at Dover and Talladega.
Gordon's win in 2001 came on the way to his fourth Winston Cup title, and he still had championship hopes after his victory in 2002. This year, he is sixth, 520 points behind Kenseth with seven races to go.
"There's not as much pressure," Gordon said. "But it's also not as much fun."