Catchfence

AT RICHMOND: In 33 Sprint Cup Series starts at Richmond International Raceway, Jeff Gordon has posted two wins, 12 top-five finishes and 21 top-10s. He also has earned five pole positions and led 1,161 laps. Gordon’s average start at the .75-mile track is 7.7.

LAST TIME AT RICHMOND: Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont/National Guard Wounded Warrior Chevrolet, started second and scored an eighth-place finish in May at Richmond. He led 96 laps and spent the entire race running in the top 10.

STATS IN THE NATIONAL GUARD CAR: In every outing with the National Guard on the hood of his No. 24 Chevrolet this season, Gordon has scored a top-five finish. His best effort was a win at Texas Motor Speedway (April), while he also scored runner-up finishes at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, Michigan International Speedway in June and Chicagoland Speedway in July. He finished fifth at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in May.

WOUNDED WARRIOR: The National Guard will honor Wounded Warriors on the hood of the No. 24 Chevy this weekend at Richmond. The National Guard has a program in place that ensures that the medical and personal needs of soldiers who have been wounded as a result of deployment are met so they can focus on transitioning back into their professional and personal lives in their communities. This safeguards the long-term health and well-being of those who answer the call to duty. Visit www.NATIONALGUARD.com/JeffGordon to learn more.

GRAND MARSHAL: Specialist (SPC) Anthony M. Landowski, who was wounded in the line of duty in Afghanistan on May 17, will be the grand marshal for Saturday’s Chevy Rock and Roll 400. Landowski, a 22-year-old native of Ringgold, Ga., and a soldier from the Georgia Army National Guard, was serving as a combat medic with the 48th Brigade Combat Team from Calhoun, Ga., when he was injured by an IED blast. He was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat as well as the Combat Medic Badge for rendering aid while under hostile enemy fire. Landowski has been receiving care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for the past four months and desires to return to his unit. He anticipates returning to Georgia, where he ultimately will finish his associate’s degree and further pursue a career as a physician’s assistant.

LOOP DATA AT RICHMOND: According to NASCAR’s loop data, which was compiled during the last nine races at Richmond, Gordon ranks in the top 10 in several categories — third in laps led (407), sixth in laps run in the top 15 (2,343 laps), ninth in driver rating (92.5), ninth in fastest laps run (119) and 10th in fastest driver early in a run (118.895).

DRIVER STANDINGS: Gordon and the No. 24 Chevrolet team currently sit second in the Sprint Cup standings going into Saturday’s Chevy Rock and Roll 400, which is the regular-season finale before the Chase for the Sprint Cup. This season, Gordon has scored one win, 11 top-five finishes, 17 top-10s and has led 601 laps.

RICHMOND CHASSIS: Crew chief Steve Letarte has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 24-524 for Saturday night’s race at Richmond. Gordon drove this same car to lead 147 laps and finish fourth at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in March.

HENDRICK AT RICHMOND: Hendrick Motorsports, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has 10 wins, 43 top-five finishes and 76 top-10s in 50 Cup events (154 starts) at Richmond International Raceway.

NATIONAL GUARD JOINS THE NO. 24 TEAM: This season, Gordon and the No. 24 team are helping to bring awareness to the National Guard’s community initiatives, which will be showcased on the No. 24 DuPont/National Guard Chevrolet in eight Sprint Cup Series events. In addition to this weekend at Richmond, Gordon will partner with the National Guard at two other venues: New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 20 and Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 25.

CHEVY SALUTES AMERICAN HEROES: Friends and family members can share why their current soldier is an inspiration and a hero to them by visiting www.youreverydayhero.com from Sept. 10-28. Chevy will choose the top-five stories, and the public will vote on the site for its favorite story from Oct. 5-22. The soldier with the most votes will win a 2010 Chevrolet Equinox and will be a VIP guest at the Nov. 11 CMA awards, along with their immediate family.

*****

MUSIC CITY STOP: Before heading to Richmond, Gordon will stop in Nashville, Tenn., to attend the 131st National Guard Association of the United States conference. Gordon and National Guard teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. will meet with top leadership, including the National Guard’s first four-star general, Gen. Craig R. McKinley.

*****

JEFF GORDON, DRIVER, NO. 24 DUPONT/NATIONAL GUARD WOUNDED WARRIOR CHEVROLET (ON RECOGNIZING WOUNDED WARRIORS ON THE CAR THIS WEEKEND.): “I’m proud to honor all the Wounded Warriors out there on our DuPont/National Guard Chevy this weekend at Richmond. It’s great knowing the National Guard has a program in place that provides an injured or ill soldier with the proper medical and personal assistance they need to return to their families.”

GORDON (ON WHY HE’S BEEN SUCCESSFUL THIS SEASON.): “I feel like our sport is just such a huge team sport. Everybody has to contribute on the team to the cars being well prepared; communication is so important among all those members of the team, and we’re constantly trying to think of ways to be better at making the cars stronger, lighter and faster, obviously. And my role is (to figure out) what can I do to change my line, to change how I drive the car, to find just those little small things so that I’m contributing just like every other person on the team. But I feel like (crew chief) Steve Letarte has done a great job utilizing the engineering that we have at Hendrick Motorsports and being a great leader. I think that you’ve got to give him a lot of credit. Confidence could have very easily gotten down last year because we didn’t have a great season, and we’ve come back in 2009 really, really strong.”

STEVE LETARTE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 DUPONT/NATIONAL GUARD WOUNDED WARRIOR CHEVROLET (ON RETURNING TO RICHMOND.): “We’re excited to go back to Richmond. We felt as a team we almost had a shot at the pole (in May). We qualified second to the No. 83 car. We ran really well in the race, led a lot of laps. We were really aggressive on pit strategy, and it didn’t work out. We were stuck on old tires and finished eighth. We’re excited, though. We’re going to have the National Guard on board again. It seems like every time we run the silver and black paint scheme we run real well. We’re going to honor the Wounded Warriors on the car, and I think it’s going to be a great weekend. We’re going to run National Guard back-to-back at Richmond and Loudon. The one win we got this year was at Texas in that paint scheme. Hopefully we can get that car into Victory Lane again.”

LETARTE (ON APPLYING RICHMOND TO THE CHASE.): “Turns 1 and 2 at Phoenix are a lot like Richmond, and we struggled pretty severely at Phoenix earlier this year. Mark (Martin) won. He had a very good car. Jimmie (Johnson) had a very good car. We were OK, but we weren’t as good as we expected to be. But from Phoenix to Richmond, we improved a great deal so we think we’ve learned some stuff from Richmond, and we’re excited to apply that stuff to see if hopefully we can improve upon Phoenix.”

- Hendrick Motorsports, Press Release