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Sprint Cup
CUP: Gordon More Determined Than Ever To Win Another Title
Jeff Gordon, now 40, won the most recent of his four championships in 2001...
Jeff Gordon enjoyed a strong season in 2011. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Jeff Gordon has been racing practically his whole life, and he remembers getting bored in a race car only once.
“That was when I was about 8 years old and I won like 90 percent of the quarter-midget races,” Gordon says with a laugh.
Thirty-two years later, Gordon has won hundreds of races. Among them are 85 at NASCAR’s highest level, placing him third on the all-time win list behind legends Richard Petty and David Pearson.
He’s won four NASCAR Cup championships, the Daytona 500 (three times), the Brickyard 400 (four times) and races at nearly every NASCAR track.
Yet, after 20 years as a NASCAR Sprint Cup star, winning is still the most important thing to the 40-year-old Gordon.
It’s been that way since he won his first race at age 5.
“It’s all about checkered flags,” he said, recalling the first time a race official handed him the ceremonious black-and-white memento.
“When you see that first checkered flag … from the first time I did that, there was nothing cooler than that and nothing more inspiring and motivating than wanting to do that again.”
Gordon calls his first career Cup victory, in the 1994 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, “the greatest moment of my life.”
“I worked so hard to get there, and I didn’t know if I had what it took,” he said. “To experience that was the most amazing experience, next to having kids.”
Twenty years after making his Cup debut and 17 after his first championship, Gordon has grown from the baby-faced phenom that took the NASCAR world by storm in the mid- to late-'90s into a mentor to many in the garage and one of the sport’s most respected and influential stars.
He is happily married, with two small children, a generous philanthropist and a well-known and well-traveled ambassador for numerous charitable endeavors, including his newest sponsor – AARP’s Drive to End Hunger.
As he reaches the twilight of his career, he is comfortable with the man he has become and where his career has taken him.
“To me, it’s just as much fun today as it’s ever been,” he said. “I think I’m more comfortable with who I am, as a dad [and] as a competitor. So when you’re competitive out there, [it makes it] that much more fun even when you’re in it 20 years.”
Yet, at age 40, Gordon says he is more driven and determined to win than ever. The trips to victory lane have become much less frequent over the years – just four wins in the past four seasons – and that makes him even hungrier to recapture the magic of his glory days.
“Now that’s what I search for every year and every weekend, getting to that next checkered flag,” he said. “Until I win 90 percent of the races, that’s going to be the thing that motivates me.”
Gordon’s last big season came in 2007, when he won six races and finished second in points to Hendrick Motorsport teammate Jimmie Johnson.
Since then, Gordon has struggled at times. Though he has made the championship Chase each of the past four seasons, he went winless in 2008, won just once in 2009 and went winless again in 2010.
He showed flashes of another comeback last season, though, winning three races and climbing as high as third in points before fading in the Chase and finishing eighth in the final standings.
He believes he is poised for another championship run this season, his second with crew chief Alan Gustafson. Gordon shares team owner Rick Hendrick’s view that Hendrick Motor sports has its best team and driver lineup ever with the addition of driver Kasey Kahne, who Gordon calls “a special talent.”
“I agree with Rick, it’s the strongest combination we’ve ever had coming into a season, and when you see that, it gives you some pretty high expectations and puts the pressure on,” Gordon says.
Much of Gordon’s motivation comes from watching Tony Stewart’s incredible run to the championship last season. Stewart, also 40, struggled most of the season, but won five of the final 10 races to win the title over the steadier – and younger – Carl Edwards.
Gordon and Stewart come from similar backgrounds and their NASCAR careers have mirrored each other in a sense. Though Gordon has more wins, Stewart won his third championship last year, putting him just one behind Gordon in seven fewer seasons.
Stewart’s resurgence stoked the fire in Gordon.
“At certain stages, you start to think, it’s a young man’s sport,” Gordon said. “And you look at Jimmie’s physical fitness program and Carl Edwards and you go, ‘OK, I’ve got to rethink how I’m going about this because that’s what it takes to win and win the championship.’”
Gordon said critics questioned whether Stewart still had what it takes to win another championship – before he proved them wrong.
“Nobody has never questioned his talent, I don’t think anybody ever questions that, but I think sometimes his desire and what his real drive is has been questioned in the Cup series along the way, and I think that’s what I take from this,” he said.
“He showed that he wanted it, he wanted it more than anyone else out there and he used his talent and his team to go get it, and I think all of us can learn from that.”
Gustafson sees the fire in Gordon’s eyes and believes that Stewart’s run last year inspired him to try to duplicate it.
“I think Jeff and Tony are two of the few people who can do that,” Gustafson said. “What Tony did was very inspirational to everyone.”
Gordon admits that his age has pushed him to step up his game and reignited his passion for racing and winning.
“When I got into it, there were drivers who were racing at 40 … but I probably looked at it and said, ‘Gosh, those guys are old.’ And now I’m one of those guys,” he said.
“It really tests your passion, your desire and abilities and makes you work a lot harder from a physical-fitness standpoint and keeping up with the engineering and all aspects of the competition, and so I’m probably more driven today and excited about it than I’ve ever been.
“I think along the way I’ve taken things for granted and had a certain arrogance about me because early on things came pretty fast and pretty easy, and that’s not the case anymore.”
Now Gordon’s focus is building on the momentum he and Gustafson developed in their first season together and challenging for a fifth championship.
“He’s beaming with confidence and I love that about Alan,” Gordon said. “He has got a lot of trust and belief in me, and I love that about a crew chief and I feel the same way about him.
“I don’t think there’s anybody out there better. He’s fired up and he knows I’m fired up, so we’re rolling.”
Gordon hasn’t won a title since 2001 and watched Johnson, his teammate, win five straight before his streak was stopped by Stewart last season.
“We’ve got the team to do it. We’ve got everything in place,” Gustafson said. “We just need to find a way, that’s the bottom line.”
He and Gustafson believe this is his best chance to win a fifth.
“If we are not going down to the wire at Homestead battling for that championship,” Gordon said, “it’s going to be a disappointment.”
SceneDaily.com • Crew chiefs preparing cars but anticipate more changes to Daytona rules
“That was when I was about 8 years old and I won like 90 percent of the quarter-midget races,” Gordon says with a laugh.
Thirty-two years later, Gordon has won hundreds of races. Among them are 85 at NASCAR’s highest level, placing him third on the all-time win list behind legends Richard Petty and David Pearson.
He’s won four NASCAR Cup championships, the Daytona 500 (three times), the Brickyard 400 (four times) and races at nearly every NASCAR track.
Yet, after 20 years as a NASCAR Sprint Cup star, winning is still the most important thing to the 40-year-old Gordon.
It’s been that way since he won his first race at age 5.
“It’s all about checkered flags,” he said, recalling the first time a race official handed him the ceremonious black-and-white memento.
“When you see that first checkered flag … from the first time I did that, there was nothing cooler than that and nothing more inspiring and motivating than wanting to do that again.”
Gordon calls his first career Cup victory, in the 1994 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, “the greatest moment of my life.”
“I worked so hard to get there, and I didn’t know if I had what it took,” he said. “To experience that was the most amazing experience, next to having kids.”
Twenty years after making his Cup debut and 17 after his first championship, Gordon has grown from the baby-faced phenom that took the NASCAR world by storm in the mid- to late-'90s into a mentor to many in the garage and one of the sport’s most respected and influential stars.
He is happily married, with two small children, a generous philanthropist and a well-known and well-traveled ambassador for numerous charitable endeavors, including his newest sponsor – AARP’s Drive to End Hunger.
As he reaches the twilight of his career, he is comfortable with the man he has become and where his career has taken him.
“To me, it’s just as much fun today as it’s ever been,” he said. “I think I’m more comfortable with who I am, as a dad [and] as a competitor. So when you’re competitive out there, [it makes it] that much more fun even when you’re in it 20 years.”
Yet, at age 40, Gordon says he is more driven and determined to win than ever. The trips to victory lane have become much less frequent over the years – just four wins in the past four seasons – and that makes him even hungrier to recapture the magic of his glory days.
“Now that’s what I search for every year and every weekend, getting to that next checkered flag,” he said. “Until I win 90 percent of the races, that’s going to be the thing that motivates me.”
Gordon’s last big season came in 2007, when he won six races and finished second in points to Hendrick Motorsport teammate Jimmie Johnson.
Since then, Gordon has struggled at times. Though he has made the championship Chase each of the past four seasons, he went winless in 2008, won just once in 2009 and went winless again in 2010.
He showed flashes of another comeback last season, though, winning three races and climbing as high as third in points before fading in the Chase and finishing eighth in the final standings.
He believes he is poised for another championship run this season, his second with crew chief Alan Gustafson. Gordon shares team owner Rick Hendrick’s view that Hendrick Motor sports has its best team and driver lineup ever with the addition of driver Kasey Kahne, who Gordon calls “a special talent.”
“I agree with Rick, it’s the strongest combination we’ve ever had coming into a season, and when you see that, it gives you some pretty high expectations and puts the pressure on,” Gordon says.
Much of Gordon’s motivation comes from watching Tony Stewart’s incredible run to the championship last season. Stewart, also 40, struggled most of the season, but won five of the final 10 races to win the title over the steadier – and younger – Carl Edwards.
Gordon and Stewart come from similar backgrounds and their NASCAR careers have mirrored each other in a sense. Though Gordon has more wins, Stewart won his third championship last year, putting him just one behind Gordon in seven fewer seasons.
Stewart’s resurgence stoked the fire in Gordon.
“At certain stages, you start to think, it’s a young man’s sport,” Gordon said. “And you look at Jimmie’s physical fitness program and Carl Edwards and you go, ‘OK, I’ve got to rethink how I’m going about this because that’s what it takes to win and win the championship.’”
Gordon said critics questioned whether Stewart still had what it takes to win another championship – before he proved them wrong.
“Nobody has never questioned his talent, I don’t think anybody ever questions that, but I think sometimes his desire and what his real drive is has been questioned in the Cup series along the way, and I think that’s what I take from this,” he said.
“He showed that he wanted it, he wanted it more than anyone else out there and he used his talent and his team to go get it, and I think all of us can learn from that.”
Gustafson sees the fire in Gordon’s eyes and believes that Stewart’s run last year inspired him to try to duplicate it.
“I think Jeff and Tony are two of the few people who can do that,” Gustafson said. “What Tony did was very inspirational to everyone.”
Gordon admits that his age has pushed him to step up his game and reignited his passion for racing and winning.
“When I got into it, there were drivers who were racing at 40 … but I probably looked at it and said, ‘Gosh, those guys are old.’ And now I’m one of those guys,” he said.
“It really tests your passion, your desire and abilities and makes you work a lot harder from a physical-fitness standpoint and keeping up with the engineering and all aspects of the competition, and so I’m probably more driven today and excited about it than I’ve ever been.
“I think along the way I’ve taken things for granted and had a certain arrogance about me because early on things came pretty fast and pretty easy, and that’s not the case anymore.”
Now Gordon’s focus is building on the momentum he and Gustafson developed in their first season together and challenging for a fifth championship.
“He’s beaming with confidence and I love that about Alan,” Gordon said. “He has got a lot of trust and belief in me, and I love that about a crew chief and I feel the same way about him.
“I don’t think there’s anybody out there better. He’s fired up and he knows I’m fired up, so we’re rolling.”
Gordon hasn’t won a title since 2001 and watched Johnson, his teammate, win five straight before his streak was stopped by Stewart last season.
“We’ve got the team to do it. We’ve got everything in place,” Gustafson said. “We just need to find a way, that’s the bottom line.”
He and Gustafson believe this is his best chance to win a fifth.
“If we are not going down to the wire at Homestead battling for that championship,” Gordon said, “it’s going to be a disappointment.”
SceneDaily.com • Crew chiefs preparing cars but anticipate more changes to Daytona rules
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