Rick Hendrick on Jeff Gordon

This is the Statt Mann Baby!! Time to Scatt a little bit.

Jeff Gordon

As the drums beat louder on the Jeff Gordon for Champion bandwagon, here’s an interesting take on Jeff’s down years, especially 2005 when he missed the Chase for the Championship playoff series.

It’s from team owner Rick Hendrick who may know Jeff better than anyone.

“When Jeff wasn’t running his best it wasn’t Jeff Gordon, it was us not giving Jeff what he needed,” Hendrick said.

“We’ve had a couple of down years but maybe some of it might have been him going through his divorce and not being settled but the majority of all the situations was we weren’t able to give him what he needed.

“But his life is balanced and the team is in sync and he’s been an unbelievable cheerleader to keep his team pumped up and I guess right now it’s fun to be around him – of course it’s always been that way – but right now he’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him.”

This all might be why Jeff Gordon doesn’t care as much about the idiots throwing criticism at one of the best American drivers ever.

Peace.

See more at www.speedfreaks.tv

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Gordon crash spurs safety changes at Vegas (Sports Illustrated) A frightening crash by Jeff Gordon last spring has prompted Las Vegas Motor Speedway to install a new SAFER Barrier along the inside wall on the back straightaway of the 1.5-mile track.

2008 Limited Edition Coin Released to Benefit Jeff Gordon Children's Hospital (The Auto Channel) Concord, N.C., August 25, 2008 – The Jeff Gordon Foundation is pleased to announce the release of a 2008 LIMITED EDITION Jeff Gordon Children's Hospital Coin.

Fontana II: Jeff Gordon preview (Motorsport.com) FONTANA, Calif.

Gordon Addis (Standard Democrat) SIKESTON -- Pallbearers at services conducted today at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel for Gordon D. Addis, 55, of Paducah, Ky., who died Aug. 22, 2008, were: Jeff Brothers, Jerry Goheen, Roy Poe, Robbie Cochran, James Cochran and Richard Cochran. Honorary pallbearers were Bob Brinkley and Keith Keene.

Racing's future starts in midgets (The Huntsville Times) Where can you find the next Jeff Gordon or Tony Logano? Last Friday, Huntsville Speedway offered its fans a place to look when the track invited the Huntsville Quarter Midget Association to put on an exhibition.

Inside Motorsports | (The Charlotte Observer) Here We Go Again… You may get tired of me bringing up my pet idea to change the Chase for the Sprint Cup system, giving a driver a 500-point bonus for his first win in the regular season and then again in the Chase. But under that format 19 drivers still would be in position to earn one of the 12 Chase slots with two races left to the cutoff. Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth would not be in ...

AT&T to Roast NASCAR Driver Jeff Burton in Celebration of his 500th Cup Series Start (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance) To commemorate his 500th NASCAR Cup Series start, AT&T Racing driver Jeff Burton will be honored at a roast on Saturday, Aug. 30 at Auto Club Speedway.

Merkley-Smith race heats up on TV airwaves (KTVZ Bend) As Democrats meet in Denver, the race between challenger Jeff Merkley and Sen. Gordon Smith keeps heating up, as do the flood of negative TV ads by both candidates.

Biffle lurking in top 10 (The Montana Standard) BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — Most drivers near the top of the Sprint Cup points standings get more attention than Greg Biffle these days. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are having magical seasons, and Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth are more in danger of missing NASCAR's soon-to-start 10-race playoffs.

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