After attending a mandatory meeting for Sprint Cup drivers and owners Friday, Jeff Gordon said he got the message.

Shut up and drive.

“I think it was just that,” he said. Tired of hearing complaints from drivers about the Cars of Tomorrow, NASCAR officials called the drivers and owners together at Michigan International Speedway.

“We wanted to emphasize to the drivers there are a lot of good things happening in the sport,” NASCAR vice president Jim Hunter said about the closed-door meeting.

“We told them to fully appreciate our loyal fans, who endure hardships to attend our events. We told them to be fair in criticism of the new car, as it is new, and much safer than what they were driving. We told them we have always been willing to listen to complaints and will continue to do so.”

NASCAR president Mike Helton addressed the drivers and urged them to think before complaining.

The last round of complaints about the new cars came after events at Pocono Raceway last weekend. Some drivers said that the cars, which were introduced last season but are running their first full schedule this year, made for boring racing. Others complained that the new cars are hotter inside than the old ones.

Complaints about the heat in the cars were repeated Friday at Michigan, site of Sunday’s Lifelock 400.

“These cars are hot, and the insulating materials and the things we’ve done in the past in the old car are not adequate for this car,” Jeff Burton said. “This car is going to require more stuff to cool the inside of the car down.”

Other drivers said the problem is minimal.

“I haven’t run an air-conditioning unit in my car for two years,” Carl Edwards said. “I hope they don’t implement some sort of rules or change something or whatever. I think we’ve got enough creature comforts as it is.”

Gordon said he was not put off by the meeting or what was said in it. Several drivers agreed that perhaps more care should be taken before taking complaints to the media.

“I was pretty critical and overly critical at times,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “And the only reason why the drivers are like that is because we feel like our best avenue is through the media because it’s very effective. But at the same time, NASCAR reads those opinions and it’s not good for the sport . . .”

—

(c) 2008, The Kansas City Star.

Visit The Star Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.kansascity.com.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

AP-NY-06-13-08 2009EDT