LONG POND - Hendrick Motorsports has rarely lacked speed at Pocono Raceway.

The organization has an impressive 17 wins at "The Tricky Triangle," with the four most recent coming as season sweeps in 2013 (Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne) and 2014 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.).But the results in recent weeks have been up-and-down, with Johnson's third-place finish at Indianapolis last Sunday snapping a three-race streak without a top-10 for himself and Hendrick Motorsports.Add in that Earnhardt is still out indefinitely with concussion like symptoms, and it's fair to say the team has seen better days.All has not been lost, however.With the departure of Earnhardt, who will miss his third consecutive race Sunday, has come the return of Jeff Gordon, who came out of retirement last week at Indianapolis and will again be in the car Sunday for the Pennsylvania 400.Gordon's pedigree at Pocono is unmatched. The 44-year-old four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion holds the record for most wins at Pocono Raceway with six and leads active drivers in top-five finishes (20) and top-10 results (32) at the track.Coming off a 13th place finish last week at Indianapolis, his first race since the season finale last November at Homestead Miami Speedway, Gordon is eager to get back on track at Pocono, which is scheduled to be his last race filling in for Earnhardt."It was nice to get that race under my belt at Indy," said, whose last victory at Pocono was the rain-shortened Pennsylvania 400 in 2012. "I feel a little more confident in understanding the car, the limits and the competition and working with Greg (Ives, crew chief) and the 88 team. I felt like they did a really, really nice job at Indianapolis. I didn't do them any favors on the restarts, but luckily we got a few back on that last corner (Turn 4) to get a decent finish."This week, (we've had) a little different preparation than last week, getting fitted in the car, debriefing with the team from Indianapolis and then the preparation for Pocono. We didn't have test video for here from our teammates like we did last week at Indianapolis and I didn't have time to get in the driving simulator, either, so the first few laps today … there was a learning curve."This is a very challenging racetrack. It's going to be a tough, challenging weekend. But I do like this track."While Gordon tries to acclimatize himself to a new team, he still keeps in touch with Earnhardt, whose return is still up in the air."Yeah, I've spoken to Dale a couple of times," Gordon said. "He is just real interested in what we are up to and how it's going and things we are working on. I think also a lot of it through this process is evaluating where they are at as a team and some of the setups and whether I'm going to be making the same comments as he was making when he was in the car."So far, I feel like it's been very similar. Definitely, any amount of information that I can get to help me prepare for every time I'm on the track is great information. I'm asking everybody questions just trying to get up to speed everywhere we go, including Dale."As Earnhardt's potential return remains an unknown, so too is how long Gordon will stay in the car.But for now, Gordon is committed to helping the team however he can, for as long as he needs to."Well, we have to cross that bridge when we get there," Gordon said of doing races beyond this weekend. "It seems like … it was great last Friday to see him say, 'Hey I feel good today and made some progress.' We want to just keep going with how he is feeling. The doctors are evaluating. I'm not speculating anything at this time."I wouldn't be here in Pocono if I wasn't committed to be there for Hendrick Motorsports and this team in any way that they need me."After knocking off the rust at Indianapolis, Gordon will be looking to get himself - and Hendrick Motorsports - back to Victory Lane Sunday."For me, I do have confidence at this track. And I've gained confidence from running the race last week," Gordon said. "And with the team, I feel comfortable with all them. But when you're not in the car week in and week out and going through that process on a regular basis, it's hard to get into a rhythm. It's hard to be smooth and be consistent. And so that's what I'm seeing right now."To me, it's all about doing it when it counts, not about what time is on the board. It's about when we go to qualify and when they drop the green flag for the race. Other than that, everything is a learning experience for me and the team up until race time."