Gordon wins with 4th new crew chief

Steve Letarte is the latest to help the NASCAR star driver to victory.
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Jeff Gordon proved that Ray Evernham wasn't the only genius when their celebrated driver-crew chief partnership ended in mid-1999.
Gordon won his first two starts with interim crew chief Brian Whitesell, then was with Robbie Loomis two seasons later when he earned his fourth series championship.
Now it looks as though Steve Letarte is next in line to not only work with the most accomplished driver in NASCAR's Nextel Cup series, but also to share in his resurgence.
"This is not interim," Gordon said of Letarte after the crew chief made the call Sunday at Martinsville Speedway that put Gordon in position to win the Subway 500. "Steve is here for, I hope, a long time."
Letarte replaced Loomis six races ago after Loomis announced he will join Petty Enterprises in 2006. Loomis immediately shifted to a consulting role for Jimmie Johnson's team, trying to helping Hendrick Motorsports' lone driver in the Chase for the championship.
Not in the chase
Gordon didn't make this season's Chase and has talked at length about using the rest of the season to start a turnaround to make him a contender again next season.
He hadn't made much of a dent in that pursuit until Sunday, finishing 37th or lower in three of his first five races with the 26-year-old Letarte calling the shots. Then came the breakthrough, sparked by Letarte's decision to keep Gordon on the track when the rest of the leaders pitted for tires and fuel with 141 laps to go.
Gordon never gave up the lead, winning for the first time since May 1.
"I'm so proud of this guy right here," he said, pulling Letarte into Victory Lane. "I can't think of a better way for him to get his first win than for him to make the call. ... If we hadn't gotten out front, I don't know if we could have won."
While many gushed over the guts of his winning play, Letarte almost shrugged.
Obvious call
"It just seemed like an obvious call," he said, because he had seen several other drivers stay on the track for position and not suffer obvious handicaps.
"I don't know if that means that I'm developing or it was just lucky, but like Jeff said, we rode for 300 and something laps and we had a good car, we just couldn't get by [the leaders]," Letarte said. "I heard Jeff make a comment that he thinks our car would be really good in clean air, so we just stayed out."
The call fixed that, and Gordon did the rest, using the clean air of the lead and his championship skill to pull away from Tony Stewart while on much older tires.
He held off Stewart in a three-lap dash for his 73rd career victory, then seemed intent on using the platform of victory to not only build the confidence of his novice crew chief, but also to set the groundwork for the start of his 2006 season.
"That's what building confidence and chemistry is," Gordon said. "It's that you've got to do it on a consistent basis and you've got to walk before you can run. Just going out and getting a win isn't enough. You've got to show that you're capable of running with the guys that have been fast all year long."
Appreciates change
After a season in which he's been uncharacteristically inconsistent, with more finishes of 30th or lower than inside the top 10, Gordon seems to be appreciating the change in his team and the fresh start it gives him even before next season.
"In some ways it was a relief not to make the Chase," he said after the race, "because we just needed some things to work on and I'm so proud and happy that we've been able to put Steve in place, get him this experience and now, a win.
"That's going to do a lot for him and his confidence, confidence with the team, and it's going to give us something to build on for next year. I love being competitive and I love being up front, and we can still go out and try to win races."
Challenges ahead
For Gordon and Letarte, the real challenge comes in the last four races of the season. Gordon's victory was his seventh on the half-mile Martinsville track, but the races ahead are at 1.5-mile Atlanta, 1.5-mile Texas, 1.3-mile Phoenix and 1.5-mile Homestead.
"We know that Martinsville is not resolving anything or fixing our problems," Gordon said. "We need a good, strong finish at those mile-and-a-halfs."
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