Jeff Gordon doesn't even want to think about NASCAR without Chevrolet

  
Chevy, Chevy, Chevy: Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon rumble through Manhattan (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

     FORT WORTH, Texas
    Jeff Gordon has yet to conquer Texas Motor Speedway, but he's been oh-so-close, and Sunday could be his.
    Now Gordon obviously isn't the biggest story here, not with what all is going in Washington and Detroit lately.
    But maybe Gordon can help rally the sport back into the headlines with something spectacular this weekend.
    Gordon worries about General Motors, the way the general economy is going. "I'm definitely concerned about it. It's as much for General Motors as it is for all American car makers, looking at how many people they employ in our economy.
   "I'm way more concerned from that aspect than I am from a racing standpoint.
     "I don't want to drive anything other than a Chevy. Certainly they've been so good to me, and we’ve won a lot of races and championships with Chevrolet. So I don't want to go any other direction, or drive anything else to victory lane.
    "But I think there's a much bigger issue right now, with the economy, and from a business standpoint for them and our nation, and global, than there is for racing. We'll deal with that if we have to.
   "I am worried about it more just from the economy of our country, not our sport.  That, to me, is much further down the list -- how it impacts racing.
   "It's how it's impacting our economy -- and all the employees working for GM and all the car manufacturers…. and what's happening in the economy in general, and how we can stimulate it to get it back. 
    "I can only tell you, as a Chevy dealer, that we've got the best products we've ever had from them. They're building great cars…but with what's gone on in loans, and what's going on with just people purchasing. 
    "That's obviously what we've got to get turned around."
   President Obama's moves into Detroit? "I don't think the government would be making those decisions if they thought it was the wrong decision," Gordon says. "They're just too big companies, and mean too much to the U.S. economy to just forget about them. 
     "That's obvious to all of us. 
    "But my only responsibility is why they're involved in racing, and what they do for us, and how we can support them through tough times."

   
Jeff Gordon has good memories of New York City (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)