Rudd vows to reel-in Gordon

A win at Richmond and a third placed finish at Dover means Ford racer Rudd gained 130 points on Chevrolet rival Gordon, and is now just 212 points behind.

"I'm looking forward to Kansas City a lot," said Rudd. "Our team is really pumped up right now and the Kansas track should be a good track for us. The championship is definitely in our grasp. The win at Richmond showed us what could easily happen. We can't race Jeff head-to-head every race and win the championship, it's going to come down to whoever has the least problems. We just need to concentrate on our own programme and not worry about Gordon."

Rudd has a good record at inaugural races - he has earned five top-fives in the nine events at new tracks he has entered, and won the inaugural Sears Point race in 1989.

"We've been steadily gaining points on Gordon, and with nine races left the intensity has picked up tremendously," said Rudd. "Our focus is going to Kansas City, trying to win Sunday's race and chipping away at Gordon's lead. This is the best team I've ever driven for and it's taken me 26 years to get this type of operation. [Michael] 'Fatback' McSwain [his crew chief] is the backbone of this race team, always keeping everyone together.

"Something I've never experienced in all my years of racing is that I have a group of guys who truly love what they're doing. I know every single week that they're going to give me a good race car. Working with them is such a pleasure," he added.