Jeff Gordon was named the first quarter winner of the 2007 Driver of the Year award. Gordon led the Nextel Cup Series points after the first eight races with only two finishes lower than fourth. Gordon had four poles, one win and three second-place finishes in the voting period.

Streak Stays Alive For Gordon

Four-time champion puts his car up front again

By JIM UTTER, jutter@charlotteobserver.com

RICHMOND, Va. – Jeff Gordon is on a roll and the only thing that may prevent it from continuing this weekend is his recent struggles at Richmond International Raceway.  Gordon has won the past two Nextel Cup races and Hendrick Motorsports has won the first three races utilizing the “car of tomorrow” this season.  The four-time champion has also opened up a 203-point lead in the points standings over second-place Jeff Burton.  But entering tonight’s Jim Stewart 400 (7:30 p.m., Fox), Gordon has not finished better than 30th in his past four races at the track.

“I’ve liked this track and I’ve run well here in the past, but we’ve had such major brake issues the past four races.  We’ve improved the aerodynamic, horsepower, grip over the last couple years that we’re going so much faster,” Gordon said.  “For some reason, trying to maintain that speed throughout the race has caused used us, more so than some other guys, some major brake issues.  “Not that we’re running out of brakes or don’t have enough brakes, we are building up pad on the rotor and it creates a vibration.  The last three or four times we’ve been here, all I’ve had is a vibrating brake pedal and we could never work on the car.”

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