MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- These days, when you're talking Martinsville Speedway and trouble, two topics head the agenda: Jimmie Johnson and brakes.

“

I think Jimmie and I are always going to be really good friends but we might be better friends 15, 20 years from now because right now I'm a competitor like every other competitor out there that wants to beat him.

”

-- JEFF GORDON

Jeff Gordon, from whom Johnson's wrested the title of "Mr. Martinsville" thanks to five wins in the past six races -- including the past two and six total -- knows a good bit about both.

And after both Saturday practices for Sunday's Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville were cancelled by rain, Gordon's perfectly positioned to put both into play.

Gordon himself won four of six races at the paperclip-dimensioned track between 2003 and 2005 and he has seven wins total. But 'round these parts he might be more recalled for pounding race winner Johnson's rear bumper while fruitlessly trying to move Johnson out of the way in spring 2007.

Still, the place has a lot of comfort for Gordon.

"When we come to Martinsville, this is a track we have a lot of confidence in," Gordon said. "I feel like we have momentum right now and we want to keep pushing forward with that momentum and continue to put good, solid finishes in and hopefully start putting some wins together. This is a track where we can do that."

Gordon was asked on Friday if he would hit Johnson to rattle his cage, a la the late Dale Earnhardt. Even though Gordon did just that to Rusty Wallace at least twice at Bristol, and appeared to be trying to do the same thing to Johnson in 2007, he denied having that style in his arsenal.

"That has never been my style -- it just hasn't," Gordon said. "I race guys hard. I race guys clean and I race them how they race me. I think you do have to rattle their cage, but to me, the way you have to rattle their cage is you have to outrun them; you have to show what kind of team you are.

"That's obviously a tall order [with Johnson's team]. They've been very, very strong. They've got momentum and they're going to be tough [Sunday]. But I do think we're capable of beating them here. But we're going to have to really work hard at it to make it happen." (Continued)