SPEED: Despain Reflects On A Young Gordon As The NASCAR Champ Co-Hosts Wind Tunnel Sunday

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SPEED: Despain Reflects On A Young Gordon As The NASCAR Champ Co-Hosts Wind Tunnel Sunday

Jeff Gordon will co-host Wind Tunnel Sunday night...

Megan Englehart | Posted October 12, 2012 Concord, NC

Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, climbs out of his car after qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

10th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION CONTINUES AS DAVE DESPAIN WELCOMES “FAVORITE GUEST”

Despain of Gordon in 1989: “He looked about 12, he was sporting that now-famous, yet feeble, mustache and he had those gunfighter eyes.”

Dave Despain, celebrating his 10th anniversary as host of Wind Tunnel on SPEED this season, welcomes as his co-host Sunday night (9 p.m. ET) his all-time favorite guest, Jeff Gordon.

Sunday marks the fifth occasion the four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and current Chase contender has shared the on-air honors with Despain, who first interviewed Gordon in 1989 at a USAC race at the then-Indianapolis Raceway Park.

“I was the new guy on Saturday Night Thunder and he was the hot young West Coast kid everybody was talking about,” Despain recalled of the first time he interviewed Gordon 23 years ago. “I interviewed him in a motorhome in the infield and the things I remember most are he looked about 12, he was sporting that now-famous, yet feeble, mustache and he had those gunfighter eyes. I once heard it said of a dirt track motorcycle racer -- and I wish I could remember whose words these were -- ‘You can tell by the look in his eyes, he doesn't care if the sun comes up in a gunny sack.’ That doesn't make a lick of sense until you encounter a racer who has those eyes … then you know EXACTLY what it means. Gordon had those eyes.”

Despain and Gordon quickly developed a mutual respect and rapport.

“Part of the reason Jeff Gordon is my favorite interview is because I’ve been interviewing him his entire racing life,” Despain said. “It’s been great fun to see everything he has accomplished and to witness him evolve from a fairly rough kid with no experience dealing with the media. It’s amazing how quickly he learned the craft and how good he has become at it. When he does Wind Tunnel, I always feel he brings his A-game. Jeff seems to enjoy being on the show, and we always make an extra effort to make it fun for him and the fans. By the same token, I think he recognizes and appreciates that. As he has said, one of the reasons he enjoys coming on Wind Tunnel is because we ask him the hard questions. All of that all combines to make him my single favorite interview.”

However, Despain points out what he perceives as the downside to Gordon’s media and sponsor savvy.

“I’m sure I’ve told Jeff to his face before that the downside to his media skills is that he, probably more so than anyone else, helped turn NASCAR racers into cardboard cutout, corporate spokespeople -- not because that’s what Jeff is, but because he was so good at it that he made it an important part of a driver’s role at a time when sponsorship was becoming more and more integral to NASCAR,” Despain explained. “But no one else can pull it off as he does. They all come off as a pale imitation of Jeff. He set the bar pretty high and everyone else spends their lives trying to emulate him but are not as good at it as he. As a result, we end up with a bunch of guys getting out of the car, reciting a litany of sponsor names. Jeff is still one of the few who will get out of the car and answer the question.”

In addition to hosting more than 550 episodes of Wind Tunnel during its 10 seasons, Despain has hosted specials centering on Daytona, Talladega, Bristol, Carroll Shelby, veteran journalist Chris Economaki, NHRA Funny Car star John Force and a comparison of Gordon and Dale Earnhardt when Gordon tied Earnhardt’s win record.