Jeff Gordon followed his win at Martinsville with a second place at Atlanta. Credit: Autostock

Gordon on a roll as he looks forward to 2006

HAMPTON, Ga. -- As the Chase for the Nextel Cup rages around him, Jeff Gordon refuses to be shaken from his primary late-season goal of preparing his Hendrick Motorsports team for a 2006 championship run.

But if Gordon and new crew chief Steve Letarte's performances with the No. 24 Chevrolet are any indication, a 2005 bonus may be in the offing.

Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 Official Results Pos. Driver Make 1. C. Edwards Ford 2. J. Gordon Chevrolet 3. M. Martin Ford 4. D. Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 5. M. Kenseth Ford • Complete Results, click here Chase for 11th-place Pos. Driver Points Behind 11. J. McMurray 3782 -- 12. J. Gordon 3740 -42 13. E. Sadler 3722 -60 14. K. Harvick 3711 -71 15. J. Nemechek 3693 -89 • Complete Standings, click here Top finishersDale Jr. and Jeff Gordon talk about their finishes Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

"We're just having a lot of fun right now," Gordon said Sunday after scoring his third top-10 finish in his last four races. "We're in 2006 mode right now. Those other guys are in Chase mode and I'm not sure if that makes any difference, but we're just happy to get a top five."

Finishing 11th in the final standings, three races from now, is a reasonable goal as well after Gordon ran second to Carl Edwards in the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Gordon is 42 points behind Jamie McMurray in the race for the 11th spot, which carries a $1 million bonus as a reward as well as a trip across the stage at the year-end awards ceremony in New York City.

Gordon said he would not be distracted, however.

"I haven't even paid attention to 11th-place in points," Gordon said. "In my opinion, we're not in the top 10 battling for the championship [so] it doesn't really matter to me where we finish -- it's where we finish each race to get ourselves prepared for next year."

With only four top-10 finishes in the final 16 races leading up to the Chase -- and the best of those only a sixth-place effort at Bristol -- Gordon and Letarte have a lot of reasons to be enthused.

"I'm just so happy that we've been making gains and it feels like we're going in the right direction and giving me some cars that give me a good feel and I can get aggressive with," Gordon said. "That's the difference in running up front or running in the middle of the pack like we've been for most of the year.

"So yeah, I guess if you're running good you're going to move up in the points. If we could get to 11th, we'll know that's all we could do. But that's certainly not something that I've been looking at."

But what Gordon has noticed is the way he and Letarte, who has spent years in the Hendrick organization, most recently working as Gordon's car chief under former crew chief Robbie Loomis, have been able to communicate and execute positive changes.

"Steve made some great calls with adjustments and getting the car better all day long," Gordon said. "He just continues to impress the heck out of me. He's just doing a great job getting information from me and making great adjustments.

	Jeff Gordon likes the way Steve Letarte calls a race. Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Jeff Gordon since Steve Letarte took over as crew chief Race Start Finish Loudon 2 14 Dover 25 37 Talladega 12 37 Kansas 3 10 Charlotte 10 38 Martinsville 15 1 Atlanta 24 2

"He's keeping the guys pumped up. I don't know how to say more because obviously last week, I feel like he won us the race [at Martinsville].

"This week, we didn't have the track position there at the end like we did last week, but we had a car that got better all day long and that's as impressive to me as our win at Martinsville."

As the building process continues, and as much success as he's had lately in the stretch, Gordon knows his latest test is this weekend's Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Gordon got a rough start at Texas, with four consecutive finishes worse than 25th from 1997 to 2000, supplanted by four consecutive top-fives before finishing 15th there last spring.

"If we make gains, then we're moving in the right direction and I feel like we've really been making gains here lately," Gordon said. "To me, next week is a much truer test for us. Texas is a real downforce track."

And as eager as he is to get there, Gordon is even more excited about next season.

"I feel like our 2006 started when this Chase started," Gordon said. "By not making the Chase, we were able to really regroup and make a bunch of changes -- not just personnel changes, but with the race cars themselves as well.

"We've had a couple of tests come up since the Chase began, and those tests have been very valuable for us. When the season is going on, you can't make major changes because you've got too many guys that you're battling with for points and you don't want to make huge changes.

"Once we missed the Chase, we were able to just go out there and change all kinds of things. It's kind of a trial and error. We can try something major and if it's no good, it's not really going to affect us that much."

	Jeff Gordon hasn't had much success at Texas. Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Jeff Gordon at Texas Category No. Starts 9 Wins 0 Top-5 4 Top-10 4 DNF 2 Poles 0 Avg. Start 12.0 Avg. Finish 17.4 Laps/Led 2557/133

But if 2006 still carries a certain amount of uncertainty, one thing's for sure -- Gordon's absence from the Chase for the Nextel Cup only makes him fonder of the format.

"I'm a big fan of it even though I'm on the outside looking in -- I'm still a big fan," Gordon said. "I think it draws a lot of excitement [and] I think it makes just being in the top 10 special.

"It makes winning the championship that much tougher [because] you're battling a lot of strong guys all the way down to the final race. That's a lot of pressure and intensity that goes all the way."

But from week to week, Gordon said his personal strain is not much less.

"I raced Mark [Martin] hard," Gordon said of Sunday's third-place finisher. "I know in a normal race, you just race that hard. But in the back of my mind, I knew that these guys are racing in the Chase.

"But then I had to remind myself that we're racing to try to win and try to get ourselves in there for next year. So it's tough being on the outside, I can tell you that.

"It's not where you want to be. I'm looking forward to trying to get our program to where we can compete and not only be in the top 10 next year -- but [competing] for that championship.

"These guys are out there having a lot of fun and I want to be a part of it."