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CUP: Gordon Checks Out F1 Tracks
Jeff Gordon visited his wife’s homeland over the off-weekend...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted March 19, 2009   Bristol, TN
Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jeff Gordon, his wife Ingrid Vandebosch and daughter Ella visited Belgium, Vandebosch’s native land. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

What do you do if you’re a NASCAR racer on a rare off-week? Go to a race track somewhere else, of course.

And that’s exactly what four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jeff Gordon did during his break in the off-week between the Atlanta and Bristol, Tenn., races. Gordon, wife Ingrid Vandebosch and daughter Ella visited Belgium, Vandebosch’s native land.

While there, Gordon checked out Belgium’s two most famous race tracks, Spa-Francorchamps, the 4.27-mile road course where the Formula 1 circuit will race August 30, as well as The Circuit Zolder, a 2.62-mile circuit that hosted F1 races from 1973-84.

Gordon lapped the fabled Spa circuit in a street car, according to a Belgian television report that aired on one of his fan club sites, www.gordononline.com. “I got to make some laps — not in a race car — but it was something that I always wanted to do. It’s an amazing track,” Gordon told a Belgian television interviewer.

“I thought I was here to get away from racing, but I couldn’t do it,” Gordon said.

Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to


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