Jeff Gordon

Automobile Racer

• Born: August 4, 1971
• Place of Birth: Vallejo, California

SPORT: Auto racing

Early Life

Jeffrey Michael Gordon began racing at five when his stepfather, John Bickford, brought home two quarter midget race cars for Jeff and his sister. Jeff loved the race car. He and his stepfather made a makeshift racetrack on a nearby fairgrounds and spent all their free time practicing laps.

Not content to simply practice, Gordon entered races, and he began winning right away. In 1977, he won the Western States Championships in his age class. Two years later he won his first Grand National Championship and Pacific Northwest Indoor Championship. By the age of nine, he was already beating drivers in their late teens.

In 1982, he won another national championship race, and then moved on to racing go-karts. Undeterred by the change in vehicle, Gordon won all twenty-five events he entered in his first year and all twelve the next. By 1984, at the age of thirteen, he was ready to move on to sprint cars, an unusual move for someone so young. The decision proved successful, as he won twenty-two races that year.

The Road to Excellence

By 1985, Gordon was ready to compete against a wider field. However, California had age restrictions that would not allow Gordon to race against adults. His family, ready to support Gordon’s budding racing career, moved to Pittsboro, Indiana, in 1986. This allowed Gordon's family to live economically but gave Gordon access to racetracks and competitions.

Gordon joined the United States Auto Club (USAC) at sixteen. He became its youngest driver ever when he received his race driver’s license on his sixteenth birthday. Gordon had already won three sprint car championships before he was old enough to have a driver’s license.

In 1989, Gordon moved to midget car racing, and at the age of eighteen, he was named the USAC midget car rookie of the year. The following year, Gordon became the youngest driver ever to win the national USAC midget championship. He moved to the Silver Crown Division, which raced larger cars, and became its youngest winner.

The Emerging Champion

In 1990, with his stepfather’s encouragement, Gordon made a deal to be filmed by the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) at the Buck Baker driving school in Rockingham, North Carolina. In exchange, Baker taught Gordon free of charge. While there, Gordon took his first lap in a stock car and was immediately hooked. Stock cars, which raced on pavement instead of dirt tracks, immediately became Gordon’s racing vehicle of choice.

In 1991, Gordon teamed up with car owner Bill Davis and began competing in the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). He started driving in the Busch Series Grand National Division, later renamed the Nationwide Series. Gordon won three second place finishes and one third-place result in his first year. Gordon was named, for the second straight year, to the all-American team by the American Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association. He also won Rookie of the Year honors.

In 1992, Gordon again drove for Bill Davis Racing. Winston Cup car owner Rick Hendrick, of Hendrick Motorsports, noticed Gordon during a race in Atlanta. While watching Gordon’s car, Hendrick saw that it was moving rather wildly, and he kept watching, waiting for it to crash. Instead, Gordon won the race. Hendrick immediately decided he wanted Gordon on his team. In early May 1992, Hendrick signed Gordon to a NASCAR Winston Cup Series (later the Sprint Cup) contract. Gordon was able to bring his Busch Series crew chief, Ray Evernham, with him. This partnership became the backbone of Gordon’s early Cup career.

Gordon first raced the Number 24 DuPont Automotive Refinishes Chevrolet at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the 1992 Hooters 500. He started twenty-first and finished in thirty-first place after crashing on lap 164. Many considered this race to be one of the best in NASCAR history. It decided the championship between six drivers. While Gordon drove in his first Cup race, legendary racer Richard Petty competed in his final Cup event.

Continuing the Story

In 1993, at the age of twenty-one, Gordon won the Gatorade 125-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500. Another significant event occurred that day, as Gordon also met Brooke Sealy, who became his first wife.

That year, Gordon’s first full season in the Winston Cup, showed his potential to be a top Cup driver. He finished fourteenth overall and was named the Winston Cup rookie of the year. The following year, Gordon won his first race, the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. In 1995, he won his first championship in the Winston Cup, the youngest driver to do so in the modern era. This championship win was followed by noted victories in the 1997 and 1999 Daytona 500s, a race he again won in 2005. In 1998, another championship, year, Gordon won a record-tying thirteen races and was also named driver of the year. He won four Cup titles in the years 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001. Gordon finished second overall twice.

Gordon focused on more than just racing. In 1996, he was awarded the True Value man of the year for his charitable contributions. He supported several charities, including Kids and the Hood, the National Marrow Foundation, and Cure 2000. These organizations all aimed toward combating leukemia—a disease fought and conquered by Hendrick. Gordon also contributed to the Starlight Foundation and Make-A-Wish Foundation, which help to brighten the lives of seriously ill children.

In 1999, Gordon established the Jeff Gordon Foundation, which aimed to help children with chronic or life-threatening ailments. He also developed the Jeff Gordon Children’s Hospital, part of the Carolinas Medical Center.

As Gordon’s stature grew, details about his personal life became more widely known. In 2002, his divorce from Brooke made headlines—as did his engagement and subsequent marriage to Ingrid Vandebosch. Ingrid gave birth to the couple’s first child, Ella Sofia, on June 20, 2007, and their second child, Leo Benjamin, on August 9, 2010.

Another big change for Gordon and his teammates at Hendrick Motorsports occurred when they welcomed NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., to their team for the 2008 season. Often perceived to be rivals on the track, the two began to share race strategies—along with two-time champion Jimmie Johnson.

Although Gordon never managed to take the top spot in the Sprint Cup Series again, he did claim ninety-three wins for his team before announcing his retirement from driving at the end of the 2015 season. At the same time, as part owner of Johnson's car, he was to share in the accolades of his teammate's five consecutive Cup wins between 2006 and 2010. After a tumultuous season, Gordon finished his final race with an overall third place ranking for 2015. Before stepping out of his racecar for the last time, he had announced earlier in the year that he would be joining the NASCAR broadcast team as an analyst for the FOX Sports network. His multiyear contract included several in-race reporting for the 2015 season. He began full-time in the 2016 racing season. He also served as a substitute driver for Earnhardt in 2016. In 2018, in recognition of his contributions to the sport, Gordon was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. The following year, Gordon assumed a place in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. In 2022, he left the FOX Sports Network as he became the vice chairperson of Hendrick Motorsports. During NASCAR's 75th Anniversary season, in 2023, Gordon was named one of the sport's 75 top drivers of all time.

Summary

Jeff Gordon was a child prodigy in racing, beginning at a young age and consistently piling up wins regardless of the vehicle he drove. Strongly supported by his family, he was able to concentrate on racing throughout his childhood so that by the time he was a young man, he was already a champion. As Gordon's career flourished, he helped to make NASCAR racing a mainstream sport. He was able to move outside the sport by developing charities and even selling his own wine. Gordon became one of the most admired and successful drivers in NASCAR history.

Bibliography

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Pockrass, Bob. "Jeff Gordon Named Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, Will Leave FOX." FOX Sports, 23 June 2021, www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/jeff-gordon-vice-chairman-hendrick-motorsports-leaving-fox. Accessed 18 June 2024.

Pockrass, Bob. "NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers: Dale Jr., Tony Stewart, Chase Elliott among Additions." FOX Sports, 11 May 2023, www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/nascar-75-greatest-drivers-all-time. Accessed 18 June 2024.

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Vega, Michael. "Jeff Gordon Brought NASCAR into Mainstream." Boston Globe, 15 Feb. 2015, www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/02/15/jeff-gordon-brought-nascar-into-mainstream/mq2P88CQSDy3n9Fi0l6AwO/story.html. Accessed 18 June 2024.