Gordon down but vows to fight back

Gordon, a four-time Winston Cup champion, will start Thursday's opening Gatorade 125 from a lowly 15th position after lapping the Florida oval at a disappointingly sedate 183.221mph in qualifying yesterday (Monday), which was only 29th fastest. This compares to pole sitter Jeff Green's 186.606mph lap.

"It's a little disappointing," admitted Gordon. "I thought the Dupont Chevrolet was going to pick up more than that. We've been gaining each time we were on the track, but we didn't pick up as much as some guys did there. We'll have to work our way through the 125, which I'm excited about because we ran so well in the Bud Shoot-out the other night."

Gordon has won the most prestigious race in American stock car racing twice before, and he believes his car will be quick in the draft - which will be key to Sunday's big race.

His preparations have been disrupted, however, as lawyers representing wife Brooke have attempted to subpoena several rival team owners at the circuit this week concerning their divorce proceedings. Her lawyers want to examine the contracts other car owners have with their drivers and sponsors to determine what Gordon is worth as a car owner. Gordon had to turn over papers in November that estimated his worth at almost $50million.