DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Just hours before Thursday night's Duels at Daytona International Speedway, Jeff Gordon said it still hasn't sunk in that he will lead the field to the green flag in the Daytona 500.
"Well, it will once we survive the Duels tonight," he smiled.
Gordon said that with his spot secure, the key is to protect his car on Thursday. And the best way to do that? Stay up front.
"If you're in the middle or three-wide halfway or three-quarters of the way through this race it's probably not a good place to be," he said. "I think everybody understands that this is their Daytona 500 car and they don't want to tear it up. So, it seems like everybody is in a similar mode."
Ultimately, converting his pole position into a trip to Victory Lane on Sunday is what is at the forefront of Gordon's mind.
The driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet SS said that in addition to last year's Brickyard 400 victory with his family in attendance, one of his favorite memories in all his years of racing was winning the 2005 Daytona 500.
And just pulling back in to Daytona International Speedway brings back all those positive memories.
"When I describe it to other people that have maybe never been I always say to them there is just nothing like race day for the Daytona 500," he said. "You just feel the energy. You feel a little bit more anxiousness and nerves as a competitor. But you feel that you are part of a very special event and you are getting that energy from the fans, from the media, from your team, from everybody. There is just something different about it and it is just really hard to describe what creates that other than it's the Great American Race."
Gordon noted that when he came home after winning the pole, his wife and kids had made posters and even baked a cake to help celebrate.
Their support and the importance of the Daytona 500 are why kicking off his final full-time Sprint Cup Series season with another momentous win would mean so much.
"To do it in my final one I think would just make it far more emotional than ever before," he said. "There is excitement and there is pride that you have to win this race. But this year I think all these thoughts of my whole career kind of coming into one moment, one season. I think if I win anywhere it's going to be kind of like that this year. To do it in the Daytona 500 would be unbelievable, almost surreal for me to even think about it right now."
And in the Great American Race, Gordon hopes to turn a surreal moment into a real moment.