Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American race car driver. He was born in Vallejo, California, raised in Pittsboro, Indiana, and currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is a four-time NASCAR Winston Cup (now NEXTEL Cup) Series champion, three-time Daytona 500 winner, and driver of the #24 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS/Impala SS. His primary sponsor is DuPont, though he occasionally drives a Pepsi-themed car or a Nicorette-themed car. His other sponsors include Quaker State, Haas, GMAC, Bosch Spark Plugs, and Georgia-Pacific/Sparkle. He, along with Rick Hendrick, are the co-owners of the #48 Lowe's sponsored team, driven by Jimmie Johnson, the 2006 NEXTEL Cup series champion. Gordon also has an equity stake in his own #24 team.
Contents [hide]
1 Racing career
1.1 Early Career
1.2 Nascar Winston/Nextel Cup
1.3 Since his 2001 NASCAR Championship
1.4 2006
1.5 2007
2 Public image and personal life
2.1 Relationships
3 Gordon in popular culture
4 Products
5 References
6 External links
Racing career
Early Career
Jeff Gordon began racing at the age of five with quarter midgets.[1] According to his step-father John, it was Jeff's idea, one his family fully supported. Gordon's family moved from Vallejo, California to Pittsboro, Indiana, not just for the racing opportunities in general, but especially those for younger drivers. Before the age of 18, Gordon had already won three short-track races and was awarded USAC Midget Car Racing Rookie of the Year in 1989. The next year Gordon won the USAC Midget title. In 1991, Gordon moved up to the USAC Silver Crown and at the age of 20 became the youngest driver to win the title.
Gordon then went on to spend two successful years in the NASCAR Busch Series in 1991 and 1992, driving for Bill Davis Racing (with whom he set a NASCAR record by capturing 11 poles in one season) with Ray Evernham as his crew chief. Coincidentally, Gordon's first NASCAR Winston Cup Series race, the 1992 Hooters 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, was also the final race for Richard Petty. He went on to finish 31st, crashing after 164 laps of competition.
Nascar Winston/Nextel Cup
In 1993, Gordon raced his first full season in Winston Cup for Hendrick Motorsports, in which he won a Daytona 500 qualifying race, the Rookie of the Year award, and finished 14th in points. Gordon's success in the sport reshaped the paradigm and eventually gave younger drivers an opportunity to compete in NASCAR. However, during the 1993 season, many doubted Gordon's ability to compete at such a level at such a young age because of his tendency to push the cars too hard and crash.
In 1994, the critics were silenced when Jeff Gordon collected his first career victory at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Coca Cola 600, NASCAR's longest and most demanding race. Additionally, Gordon scored a popular hometown victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the inaugural Brickyard 400, passing Ernie Irvan for the lead late in the race when Irvan cut down a tire. Finally, in 1995, at the age of 24, Gordon won the first of four NASCAR Winston Cup Championships. There are only two other drivers with more than four Cup titles: Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt (both had seven titles). In 2004, Gordon also became the only NASCAR driver with four Brickyard 400 victories at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and one of only five drivers to have four victories at the historic track. Gordon also broke the domination that Dale Earnhardt, Incorporated's #8 and #15 teams held over the restrictor plate tracks in NASCAR since 2001, establishing himself as a favorite to win on the tracks where so many teams struggle to even finish races. He also is one of the most successful drivers at road course races such as Infineon and Watkins Glen.
Gordon is regarded as one of NASCAR's best drivers because he achieved so much at such a young age. At thirty five, Gordon has accumulated 79 NEXTEL Cup victories, surpassed Dale Earnhardt's mark of 76 wins, and is currently sixth on the all-time wins list. Many observers also credit Gordon with moving NASCAR from its regional southeastern roots to national level of popularity, both through his media savvy and through lucrative advertising deals that put Gordon's face, team, and brand into the public spotlight.
Ray Evernham was placed as Jeff Gordon's first crew chief and many say their chemistry is the reason for Gordon's great early success. The way the two got along grew through the years and in 1999 the two went into business together. In 1999, Gordon/Evernham Motorsports was formed. Though short lived, the race team enjoyed success. The co-owned team received a full sponsorship from Pepsi and ran six races with Jeff Gordon as driver and Ray Evernham as crew chief in the NASCAR Busch Series. GEM only survived one year as Evernham was pulled away by Dodge. Jeff Gordon extended his Busch experiment one more year, through 2000 as co-owner, with Rick Hendrick buying Evernham's half. After the departure of Evernham, the race team was renamed JG Motorsports.
Since his 2001 NASCAR Championship
Gordon has also participated in some off-road events, including a winning drive with Team USA at the 2002 Race of Champions. He was slated to run it again in 2004 against Formula 1 Champion Michael Schumacher but was sidelined by the flu, and Casey Mears took his place. In 2005, Gordon competed in the Race of Champions event again, this time held in Paris, France, where he was partnered with famed motocross racer/X Games winner Travis Pastrana. Gordon was unable to qualify for the finals, as his car had trouble starting up in the quarterfinal round of the competition.
On June 11, 2003 at a special exhibition at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Gordon took laps in Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams BMW, while Montoya did laps in Gordon's Winston Cup car. The exhibition was broadcast live by SPEED Channel, in a special called, Tradin' Paint.
Gordon won the Brickyard 400 in August of 2004, obtaining his 4th Indy win. He claimed wins at the famed raceway in 1994, 1998, and 2001. He finished 3rd in the 2004 NEXTEL Cup points standing behind Kurt Busch and teammate Jimmie Johnson even though he scored the most total points throughout the whole season, a consequence of the new Chase system implemented in 2004.
Gordon started the 2005 season with a win in the Daytona 500, but inconsistency would plague him throughout the year. A late season (notably top 10s at Indy and Bristol) run put him in position to qualify for the Chase, but in the last race before the Chase at Richmond, Gordon made contact with the wall and failed to qualify for the chase. Despite this disappointment, on October 23 Gordon won the Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway, his first win in 22 points races, and his 7th career victory at the 0.526 mile track, which leads all active drivers at the facility. He went on to finish 11th in the Championship and received a $1,000,000 bonus as the top driver finishing outside the Chase. It was Gordon's first time outside the top 10 in the point standings since 1993.
On September 14, 2005 Crew Chief Robbie Loomis resigned from the #24 team. Loomis stayed on with Hendrick Motorsports as a consultant for Jimmie Johnson's #48 team through the Chase for The NEXTEL Cup in 2005. Steve Letarte, Gordon's car chief for most of the '05 season and long time member of the 24 crew, replaced Loomis as crew chief effective at New Hampshire International Speedway on September 18th, 2005 and began his first full season as crew chief for Gordon in the 2006 NEXTEL Cup Season.
2006
Gordon won his ninth road race, the 2006 Dodge/Save Mart 350, at the Infineon Raceway - his first win of the season and fifth at Infineon. The day before the race, he announced his engagement to Ingrid Vandebosch.
On June 29, 2006, Gordon announced that he would participate in the Rolex 24 endurance sports car event at Daytona International Speedway, teaming up with SunTrust Racing drivers Max Angelelli and Wayne Taylor, who won the 2005 Rolex 24 race.[2] His team went on to finish third, despite problems, two laps behind the winning team of Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett, and Salvador Durán.[3] On July 9, 2006, Jeff Gordon won his first race at the Chicagoland Speedway at the running of the USG Sheetrock 400(this was also the first win for Hendrick Motorsports at this track).
Gordon made the "Chase for the NEXTEL Cup" with his improvements on the intermediate 1.5/2-mile downforce racetracks from 2005. His consistency in the latter portions of 2006 made him competitive week-in and week-out, eventually finishing 6th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Standings.
Jeff Gordon attended the awards ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, NY for his top-10 finish in the NEXTEL Cup Standings. While there he collected a check for his 2006 winnings of $7,471,447 which brings his career winnings total to $82,838,526.
2007
Pulling into the pits at Texas in 2007Gordon started the 2007 Cup season off by winning his Gatorade Duel qualifying race. Due to a rear shock bolt breaking during the race on his car, he failed post-race inspection that found the rear of his car too low and had to start 42nd in the 2007 Daytona 500. He went on to finish 10th in the race despite being involved in a crash during a spectacular last-lap finish.
Following Daytona, Gordon took the pole for the Auto Club 500 at the California Speedway and finished second. Despite a sub par 36th qualifying effort for the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Gordon led the most laps and took home a 2nd place result behind teammate Jimmie Johnson. It was the first time Gordon started a season with three straight top ten finishes since the 1997 season.
On March 23, 2007, Gordon won his 58th career pole for the 2007 Food City 500 at Bristol, the first race for the Car of Tomorrow. He went on to a 3rd place in the race, which gave him the points lead for the first time after the 2005 Daytona 500. At Texas Motor Speedway, Jeff started on the pole because qualifying was rained out. He led the most laps before brushing the wall coming out of turn 4 and finishing 4th.[4]. On April 19th, 2007 at Phoenix International Raceway, Gordon won the pole, and tied Darrell Waltrip's modern day record of 59 career poles. Two days later, at the Subway Fresh Fit 500, he won from the pole, ending a streak of 21 races of non-pole winners at PIR. He has now won a Cup race at all but two NASCAR racetracks (Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami). With the win, he also tied Dale Earnhardt for 6th all time in overall number of NASCAR Nextel Cup series wins (second in the modern era). After winning the race, he held a black flag with the number 3 to honor the late Dale Earnhardt.
On April 28th, 2007 Jeff Gordon earned the pole at Talladega Superspeedway, his 60th career pole (and third consecutive in 2007), passing Darrell Waltrip's record of 59 to become the modern era pole leader.[5] One day later, he passed Dale Earnhardt for sole position of sixth on the all time wins list with 77 by winning the Aaron's 499.[6]
On May 13, 2007 Gordon held on despite an overheating car and a late charge by Denny Hamlin to win the Dodge Avenger 500, the 78th win of his career, and his 7th at Darlington Raceway.
In the 2007 Coca-Cola 600, Jeff crashed after contact with Tony Raines on lap 63 at Lowes Motor Speedway, only 94.5 miles into the race,[7] ending his streak of completing every lap during the season. Jeff finished 41st.[8]
On June 11, 2007 Jeff earned his 4th win of the year and 79th of his career in a rain shortened race at Pocono Raceway, in the process increasing his lead to 249 points over Matt Kenseth.[9]
Public image and personal life
Reaction to Gordon's success has been sharply divided among NASCAR fans. Gordon remains popular in his home state of Indiana and his birth state of California, and as indicated by the success of merchandising of #24 products, outside the Deep South, but is often booed by fans in traditional NASCAR venues.
Part of this schism in popularity is attributed to Gordon's "Madison Avenue" appeal, his apparent rivalry with Dale Earnhardt during the 1990s, and the resentment in the Deep South of perceived "Yankees." NASCAR for years had been a predominantly Southern sport, and many fans today attribute NASCAR's changes, not all of which are popular, to the influence of corporate sponsorships and the media.
During a February, 2007 appearance on the Bob & Tom radio program, Jeff Foxworthy joked that he had discovered why Gordon remained a controversial figure. "He enunciates," the comedian explained, "and people from the South ain't having it."
Jeff Gordon is a Christian, and has discussed his faith online, describing how he followed some drivers to chapel one day after being curious about it.[10]
Relationships
Gordon met Brooke Sealey when he won a Busch race, as Brook was then a college student, she had been present on the victory lane in 1992, the pair began dating each other and then got married in 1994. In 2003, Gordon's divorce from Brooke became tabloid fodder. In court papers Brooke Sealey (formerly Brooke Gordon) asked for "exclusive use of the couple's oceanfront home, valued at $9 million, as well as alimony, two cars and periodic use of their boats and an airplane."
Gordon was introduced to Ingrid Vandebosch by a mutual friend in 2002, but they only began dating in 2004.[11] Jeff announced thier engagement on June 24, 2006 at a croquet event at Meadowood resort in St. Helena, California. According to Gordon, they had kept the engagement secret for the past 30 days.[12] Gordon and Vandebosch were married in a small, private ceremony in Mexico on November 7, 2006. On December 13, 2006, Jeff and Ingrid announced that they were expecting their first child in early July of 2007. On, February 8, 2007 the couple announced they are expecting a girl.[13]
