With only two races left in the 2008 season, Jeff Gordon is heading into this weekend's Checker Auto Parts 500 looking to put an end to all of the questions about his next win with come.

"We haven't won this year, but that doesn't mean we'll put extra emphasis on winning here," Gordon explained. "We try to win every weekend, and that means putting together a complete weekend from qualifying on Friday, during the practices on Saturday, through the end of the race on Sunday."

At the one-mile track in the desert, Gordon has one win, eight top-5s, fifteen top-10s and three poles in eighteen starts. That lone win came last year when the four-time champion tied the late Dale Earnhardt for career wins.

"Phoenix has been 'hit or miss' for us," Gordon added. "We have good results here and have that one win. Other times, we been able to finish in the top 10 but we just didn't have the car competitive enough to battle for the win."

Showing his strength last week, Gordon sat on the pole and finished second at the track he considers his worst on the circuit. Often criticized, Gordon's crew chief Steve Letarte made the call late in the race to gamble on fuel mileage and his driver made it pay off. This weekend, Gordon expects handling to be extremely important, but knows it may come down to fuel mileage once again.

"On Sunday, I expect the sun to be beating down on the track, so there will be less 'grip' - and that puts a premium on handling," Gordon pointed out. "If we put ourselves in a position to win, though, it might be worth gambling on fuel or pit strategy to get the victory."

The difference for a team and/or a driver between one year and the next is completely unpredictable. Many legendary NASCAR drivers had times in their careers when winning a race became harder and harder to do. It appears now the spotlight has shown brightest on Gordon's No. 24.

"I mean you lose a lot more than you win in this sport so it's easier to get used to that fight and that mindset of what you have to do to try to celebrate in victory lane at the end of the day or have a finish that you're really excited and proud of when you leave here, that's your goal every weekend," he went on to say. "You just don't win as often. I know I've won a lot in this series but I've lost a heck of a lot more. Not that you want to get used to that but you have to know how to adjust to it. It's just part of racing. That's just the way racing works. You learn from every experience, the good ones the bad ones."

While this year has not been the same as his 2007 campaign - where he had six wins, twenty-one top-5s, thirty top-10s and only one DNF - Gordon has still put up some impressive numbers.

The veteran driver's stats this year have allowed this team to keep its heads up. In the thirty-four races run so far this year, Gordon has twelve top-5s, eighteen top-10s and four pole positions. Yet, the two biggest differences between this year and last are the number of wins compared to the number of DNFs. Just one DNF in 2007, he was able to capture his six victories. This year, however, Gordon has five DNFs and no wins to his credit.

Despite being winless, Gordon explained a few weeks ago in Atlanta if he is unable to score a win he wouldn't consider the year a failure.

"To me, this season does remind me of a couple of season's that I remember but probably 2005 or 2006 more than anything just because we haven't had a terrible year. It's been a pretty good year but it's not a great year and we're not a factor for the championship and we've just come on very late in getting things where we needed to be. So we are obviously trying to win races and focus on what we can do to improve the performance every weekend but we're also trying to get momentum to carry into the off season for next season. I have no problem coming out of this season without a win if I think it can contribute to us going and winning five or more races next year and being a threat for the championship. I will have no issues with not winning this year"

Take that last comment for what it is worth. Jeff Gordon is a known winner and is hungrier than ever. With a victory in every single season since 1994, the Hendrick Motorsports driver is going for nothing less these next two weeks. Hopes for the title are quickly fading and the end of the year fast approaching. While he claims he would have "no issues" going winless in 2008, Gordon will pull out all of the stops to prevent that from ever happening.