November 15, 1992. A day that brought a changing of the guard in NASCAR. “The King”, Richard Petty, winner of 7 championships, was making his final NASCAR Cup start that day. His final finish an inauspicious 35th. Just 4 spots ahead of him? Some kid from California, a future 4-time champion, making a similarly unspectacular finish for the day. His name? Jeffrey Michael Gordon.
For one pre-destined for NASCAR racing, no one looked more out of place at the time. By and large, drivers of this era came from places like North Carolina, Alabama and Georgia- not from cities with Spanish names like Vallejo, where Gordon was born. NASCAR drivers in this era had that cowboy tough air about them. This was the era of Dale Earnhardt, Davey Allison, and Dale Jarrett. A fresh-faced rookie with a certain Madison Avenue flair stood out like a sore thumb. NASCAR was moonshine and beer. A star from wine country? You’ve gotta be kidding! Real men don’t drive rainbow-colored cars, do they?
Flashing back to that time, it’s hard to believe we’d ever see the day where there are more Californians in NASCAR than Southerners. The sport has gone from being a diversion for old moonshine runners, to being something kids as young as 5 preparing themselves for.
For Jeff Gordon, the dream of professional racing came to life at an early age. At 5 years old, he made his desire known to step-father John Bickford. Gordon would spend his earliest days learning to handle a go-kart on a makeshift track at an old fairgrounds. By age 6, Jeff was entering races in quarter midgets and winning….a lot. At an age when many kids are just getting the hang of bicycles, Jeff Gordon won 35 main events and set 5 track records. In his youth, it is reported the “Rainbow Warrior” won over 600 races on short tracks- Gordon won three quarter-midget national titles, plus four karting titles.
By his teens, Gordon was ready for bigger and better things, but insurance regulations wouldn’t permit him to race sprint cars. Gordon’s family moved to the Indy car country, Pittsboro, Indiana to be exact. The move paid dividends in terms of preparing him for a rapid ascent to professional racing. At 19, Jeff Gordon won a USAC Midget Championship, the youngest driver to achieve the feat. The following year, young Jeff won the USAC Silver Crown Series Championship.
In 1991, Gordon got his first NASCAR ride. He would compete in the Busch (now Nationwide) Series for Bill Davis Racing. He raced in a Ford in those days, sponsored by the Carolina For Dealers and won “Rookie Of The Year”- finishing 11th in the points. Befitting of his teen image, Gordon was sponsored by Baby Ruth the following season, and Jeff set a NASCAR record for poles with 11 and 3 victories. His first win at NASCAR’s junior varsity level came at Atlanta- the same track where he would make his Cup debut several months later, thousands of miles removed from where his journey began.
It was in this period, Jeff would be paired with a man so instrumental in settling the aggressive young racer down and partnering with him for success: Ray Evernham. The New Jersey native was discovered by Ford, impressed with Evernham’s ability to take feedback and translate that into improved performance. The match of Gordon and Evernham proved perfect as he crew chiefed in 3 of Gordon’s 4 championship seasons.
Following his 1992 debut, Gordon raced full-time for owner Rick Hendrick in 1993. Little did the creators of the movie Days Of Thunder have any idea when they made the picture that just a few years later, a real life Cole Trickle made his way to the track. Gordon showed potential, but with one strike against him as a NASCAR outsider, he managed to irritate a lot of fans and drivers in the early going. For 1993, it was a roller coaster.He was named “Rookie Of the Year” and Gordon finished with 7 top 5s and 11 top 10s, but he also finished with 11 DNFs.
He was a diamond in the rough, but oh was he rough.
Next year, Jeff Gordon got his first win, actually a pair of wins. The first at
Lowe’s Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600. With that perfect sense of timing future superstars have, Gordon won the first Brickyard 400 in his adopted home state of Indiana. Gordon still hit double digits with 10 DNFs, but offset it with the two wins, 7 top 5s, and 14 top 10s.
In another sign of changing times, Jeff Gordon won his first NASCAR Cup title the year after Dale Earnhardt won his last of 7 championships. The Intimidator must have known what was coming, because he went full throttle on the psychological warfare. When Earnhardt won the 2nd Brickyard 400, he said that HE was the first MAN to win the race and would mess the racer who barely looked old enough for a driver’s license by calling him “Wonder Boy.” The two would spend a lot of time in each other’s mirrors, and Gordon ultimately won the legend’s respect by not backing down. Gordon got a smile out of Earnhardt by toasting the veteran racer with milk during the celebration of Gordon’s first title.
The 1995-98 period ushered in an era of dominant racing for the young superstar- winning 40 races and 3 titles, interrupted only by teammate Terry Labonte’s run of consistency in 1996. In 1997, Jeff became the Daytona 500’s youngest winner at age 26. He was especially impressive in 1998, tying a modern-era record with 13 wins in a season, matching a mark set by Richard Petty. That season, Gordon became the first racer to win $6 million in a single season. He would also win four races in a row (Pocono, Indianapolis, Watkins Glen, and Michigan).
In 1999, Gordon got a taste of ownership when he formed Gordon-Evernham Motorsports, a Busch Series racing team sponsored by Pepsi. Gordon ran a half dozen races in the short-lived experiment as Evernham was lured away by Dodge, who re-emerged in NASCAR with the former crew chief as owner. Though Gordon won no titles in 1999 & 2000, he would win 15 more races and finish 6th and 9th in the points respectively.
2001 started on a tragic note with the death of Dale Earnhardt at the Daytona 500. Gordon paired with crew chief Robbie Loomis for the 4th of his NASCAR Cups. Gordon provided race fans a thrill by challenging hard for but not winning races against victorious drivers with ties to his friend and arch-rival. Rookie Kevin Harvick beat Gordon in a photo finish at Atlanta, and Gordon provided a stiff challenge for future teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the July Daytona race. In 2001, Gordon topped $10 million in prize money.
The next few seasons offered their challenges, though Gordon continued to win races. a late season slumped derailed his title hopes in 2002, and in 2003, the winner of 81 Cup races would endure a contentious and highly publicized divorce with his wife Brooke. During this period, he also got into a well-noted scrap after a practice run with one his fiercest competitors, fellow Hoosier Tony Stewart.
By 2007, Gordon would enjoy a bit of a renaissance. A woman would be a central figure in his racing re-birth. Jeff married model Ingrid Vandebosch. Gordon’s mom noticed her son has loosened up a lot and the public Jeff Gordon wasn’t wound up. Having had her share of the spotlight, he was now paired with someone who understood the trappings of fame. During the summer of 2007, Gordon became a dad. Ella Sophia Gordon was born in the middle of a good summer for the champion. He would ultimately give away to teammate Jimmie Johnson in the chase, but he picked up 6 wins, surpassing Dale Earnhardt’s 76 wins at Talladega amid a shower of beer cans from displeased Intimidator fans. When he won earlier at Phoenix in a win that tied the legend’s victory total, Gordon paid homage by waving a number “3″ flag out his window during the victory lap.
In spite of making the chase, 2008 proved to be a challenging season for the “24″ team. A streak of seasons with at least one win came to an end. Some believe Gordon has lost his edge with his new found responsibilities as a family man, while others aim the blame at crew chief Steve Letarte- who has worked as Gordon’s pit boss since late 2005. In a holiday video message on his website, Gordon looks upbeat and believes changes are being made which will deliver a better 2009.
As the new season draws near, Jeff Gordon is just a handful of wins away from surpassing NASCAR luminaries such as Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison. Even the critics are a little less harsh as Gordon-hating has given way to NASCAR’s new whipping boy, Kyle Busch. Yeah- there’s still people who won’t accept Gordon’s cosmopolitan image, but the vitriole doesn’t have the same sting that it used to.
Between scuba diving, racquetball and owning a California vineyard, the driver born August 4, 1971 has plenty of interests to occupy his time. He’s also made appearances on Saturday Night Live and has appeared numerous times on Live With Regis and Kelly. Gordon is also involved with several other sports personalities on “Athletes For Hope” and has lent his support to numerous children’s causes. Though not as vocal now as he once was, Jeff Gordon has been rather public over the years on his Christian faith and is also supportive of Motor Racing Outreach.
The critics are entitled to their likes and dislikes and they may even fall back on baseless claims about his (ahem) orientation, but there’s no denying his huge success and impact in terms of growing NASCAR to a larger crowd and new base of race fans that includes your truly. In the spirit of Glenn “Fireball” Roberts and Fast Freddy Lorenzen, Jeff Gordon has brought a certain camera-ready polish that has expanded the NASCAR horizon.
(Top photo courtesy of keithcolemanstudio, Jeff and Ingrid photo courtesy of Ellen Siska, Gordon at Phoenix courtesy of “thewolf05″. All these and more can be found at flickr.com)
