After the end of 2009 Sprint Cup season at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Steve Letarte wasn’t entirely sure that he was the right guy to lead Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports car to victories. Yet, after Hendrick Motorports announcement that Letarte had signed a multi-year contract extension with the team, there’s no doubt about where he belongs and what he is capable to do. Moreover, this is a clear sign that Jeff Gordon and his long-term major sponsor DUPONT whose sponsorship contract ends this year, will stay in the team for the next few years as well.Letarte, who got started as a teenager cutting the lawn for Gordon’s former crew chief, Ray Evernham, has been with Hendrick since 1995. He’s been Gordon’s pit boss since late 2005, and since then Gordon has posted 10 race victories, 21 runner-up finishes, 77 top-fives, 108 top-10s and 14 pole positions in 174 races. In that period, Gordon has more runner-up and top-five finishes than any other Cup driver.
Gordon’s best point finish with Letarte was second in 2007, and he finished third last year. But the whole winter since last season-ending Homestead race, Letarte and Gordon had a long and frank sit down to make sure they were right for each other going forward.
Letarte, 31, a native of Portland, Maine explained:
"You have to first start with, ‘Do we all believe in what we’re doing? Do we all believe in one another?...And while we always felt that, I thought it was important for us to sit down and state it, and we did. He told me he believes in me and I’ve always believed in him. And that kind of allowed us to put everything on the table. We didn’t worry about feelings. We didn’t worry about anything other than winning races. We started at Homestead and worked very hard through December and January making team changes, which might be subtle, but at the same time, were very important."
In 2010 team has made a number of improvements, ranging from bettering Gordon’s physcial fitness to tweaking personnel. The biggest thing was improving in-race communication. Too often in the past, Gordon would get frustrated mid-race and Letarte couldn’t get the car to his liking in the late stages of races.
Gordon continued:
"Being my crew chief is intimidating, but I think over time, when the results are there, but not as good as you would like them to be, you starting looking at everything. Some of those conversations were like, ‘Let’s go back to when you first started. Don’t treat me like I’m a four-time champion who’s won 80-some races. Treat me like a race car driver and treat me as a tool to make the team better, make the car go better.’"
Letarte commented as well:
"I don’t want Jeff not to be Jeff. He’s a vocal guy, he’s a very colorful guy, he gets emotional in the car, he gets disappointed easy. He gets excited easy, gets motivated easy. I’ve never confused his emotion with his performance. The difference is, I think I let his emotions steer the questions I was asking and the amount of information I required. And that was really my fault."
Between the two of us, we have come up with key phrases and key directions that to someone like you or the casual fan, they don’t even pick up on it,” said Letarte. “But Jeff knows when I say a certain thing or ask it a certain way, it’s a polite way of me telling him you need to focus more on this or less on this, or I need to know about the chassis. No different than he has key phrases that he tells me. And when I pick up on those, I know, ‘OK, this is what we really need to work on in this area of the car.’"
"I'm extremely excited. Hendrick Motorsports is the only company I've ever received a paycheck from. I've worked here since I was a teenager, and they've provided wonderful opportunities for me. I owe a lot to them. I'm really excited to be extended here so I can go a few more years."
