Jeff Gordon heads to this weekend?s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway as the highest ranking driver without a victory. A dubious distinction for the driver in a tenuous sixth position, but one that may keep the three time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion safely in the “Chase for the Championship” NASCAR's version of the playoffs.

"We've put some top-fives together some of them were earned with a good car and some were earned with strategy of some sort," said Gordon, who finished third last weekend at the road course in Sonoma, California. "The DuPont crew has been amazing in the pits and my crew chief, Steve Letarte, has done a great job calling the races. We just need to work on getting the car to do what I need it to do to go faster."

In an attempt to find some of that speed, Gordon and his Hendrick Motorsports team tested earlier this week at the 1.5mile Kentucky Speedway. Thanks to not being on the Sprint Cup schedule, teams are allowed to bypass NASCAR testing rules to run on the bumpy high banked oval, making it a good place to work on both outright speed and the handling of their cars.

Whether the team learned anything at Kentucky may take time to show in the results, though Gordon is optimistic, saying, “We tested this week hoping to find that little bit of extra speed, and hopefully what we learned will translate into us being more competitive in the races. If we secure that Chase spot, then it's a whole new game."

This weekend, Gordon heads for the 1.0mile paperclip oval in Loudon, New Hampshire, a fast track where brakes and tire management will be just as critical as overall speed.

Gordon has had success at New Hampshire in the past, winning three times, taking three pole positions and finishing second in both of last year's events.

"We had two good runs here last year," said Gordon, who finished less than a car length back of Denny Hamlin in the first NHMS race last year. "This has been a good track for us in the past, so that gives us some confidence heading into this weekend. But we can't rely on the past. We have to go out there and make it happen on Sunday."

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