Jeff Gordon may be experiencing the longest winless streak of his career, but the four-time Cup Series champion appears to be confident with what he has – and for good reason. 

Heading to a track he has four victories at, Gordon sits atop the point standings for the first time since  the 2007 season. Coming off strong runs in the first three races of the year, the driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet knows that victory is within reach.

"It's been a great start to the season," Gordon pointed out. "The DuPont Chevrolet has been incredible in each of the first three races of 2009, and I think we had a car capable of winning each time. That's quite a change from last year." 

During last week's Shelby 427 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Gordon led seventeen laps and overcame a blown tire and fender damage to take home the sixth-spot. Pacing the field at the head of the pack, Gordon racked up his 20,000th career lap led, moving him past Rusty Wallace on the all-time laps led list.

"The entire No. 24 team deserved a win last week," Gordon argued. Even after losing the top part of the left front fender after blowing his tire late in the race, Gordon was able to climb back through the field to secure a top-10 finish and take the points lead.

"We had a great race car, but I just locked up the left front tire coming onto pit road and then it blew,” the seasoned veteran explained. “It tore up the left front fender, but the team did a great job fixing it and we were fortunate to finish sixth with the damage.”

Unlike much of 2008, Gordon and his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports crew are consistently competing for the win week-in and week-out. If it were not for  rain showers in Daytona, a strong 17 car in Fontana and the pit road mishap at Vegas, Gordon might have already broken that winless streak.

"Man, it's so much fun going to the race track when you're running in the top five each week and have a shot at the victory. I can't wait to get to Atlanta," Gordon added.

With four victories, thirteen top-5s, twenty-one top-10s and two poles at the high-banked, high-speed track in the heart of the South, Gordon knows it is a long season and that the team must concentrate on getting the job done one week at a time.

"We wanted to come out of the box strong and we have,” Gordon noted. “Our goal coming into this season was to run in the top five, lead laps and put ourselves in position to win races. If you do that then you're going to make the Chase. If you do it really well, you're going to have a shot at winning the championship." 

Looking like he's truly in championship form once again, Gordon and his Steve Letarte-led crew will be a threat once again this weekend at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. After a winless 2008, it seems leading the points and coming off back-to-back top-10s has given this veteran driver the motivation he needed to get back to the top of his game.