Happy return

It doesn't look like losing 100 points in the drivers standings is affecting Jeff Gordon's demeanor. After getting penalzied in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Sonoma, Gordon happily and eagerly returned home to his family and newborn daughter, Ella.
Usually Gordon said he likes to get home and sleep after a West Coast road trip. This time, all he wanted to do was play with Ella.
“As much as I like to be with them, they’ll probably be happy when I leave for Loudon so they can get some rest," said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.
Even though Gordon lost 100 points, he still leads the Nextel Cup Series standings. The next race for the Cup Series is at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon.
Gordon has won three Cup races in his career at New Hampshire. In addition, he has 13 top-10 finishes in 24 career starts there, but he hasn't won a race at New Hampshire since 1998.
“We’ve had some runs where we’ve led and battled for the win, but we’ve also struggled,” said Gordon, who finished third at NHIS in September 2006. “But I was happy with the performance of this DuPont team last year here in the first race of the Chase. We led laps and the car was really good on long runs."
The New Hampshire race is a Car of Tomorrow race. Gordon has yet to finish outside of the top 10 in the previous seven Car of Tomorrow races and won two of them. He won the Cup races at Phoenix and Darlington.
“It will be a learning experience for everyone when we arrive at the track on Friday,” said Gordon. “During the Friday practice session, we’ll concentrate on our qualifying setup. A good qualifying effort helps with the pit selection and puts you in position to lead a lap to gain bonus points."