Background and career
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series and Sprint Cup Series (now called NASCAR Cup Series), and also served as a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in select races during the 2016 season. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential drivers in NASCAR history, helping the sport reach mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s. Gordon started his professional racing career in the Busch Series with Hugh Connerty Racing, followed by Bill Davis Racing, winning three races, and began racing full-time in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series for Hendrick Motorsports in 1993. He is a four-time Cup Series champion, having won the title in 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001, the only driver to have won more than 3 championships that has won less than 7. He also won the Daytona 500 three times in 1997, 1999, and 2005. Gordon has completed three career Grand Slams and has won a total of sixteen Crown Jewel races (three Daytona 500s, four Talladega 500s, three Coca-Cola 600s, and six Southern 500s), both of which are all-time records. Gordon is third on the all-time Cup wins list with 93 career wins, while having the record for the most wins in NASCAR's modern era (1972–present) and the most wins in one modern era season, with thirteen during the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Gordon's 81 pole positions led all active drivers and are third all-time, and also a modern era record; Gordon won at least one pole in 23 consecutive seasons, making this a NASCAR record. Other records include the most restrictor plate track wins with twelve and the most road course wins with nine, and he was the active "iron man" leader for consecutive races participated in with 797 through the 2015 season. In 1998, NASCAR named Gordon to its 50 Greatest Drivers list. Ten years later in a 2008 article, ESPN's Terry Blount ranked him tenth in the 25 Greatest Drivers of All-Time. Foxsports.com named him as the fifth best NASCAR driver of all time. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019. As of 2016, Gordon was considered the highest-paid NASCAR driver ever and the 18th highest-paid athlete of all-time with $515 million in career earnings, per Forbes. Gordon, along with Rick Hendrick, co-owns the No. 48 Chevrolet previously driven by Jimmie Johnson, who won seven Cup championships from 2006 to 2010, 2013, and in 2016. Gordon also has an equity stake in the No. 24 team. Gordon also owned a Busch Series team between 1999 and 2000, Gordon/Evernham Motorsports (co-owned with Ray Evernham; later solely owned as JG Motorsports), winning twice.
Gordon is of Scotch-Irish descent, and was born in Vallejo, California to parents Carol Ann Bickford (née Houston) and William Grinnell Gordon of Vacaville, California. Gordon's mother and biological father divorced when he was six months old. His stepfather, John Bickford, married his mother in the 1970s. He has a sister, Kim, who is older by four years. His younger cousin, James Bickford, competed in the K&N Pro Series West. Gordon attended Tri-West Hendricks High School in Lizton, Indiana and was on the school's cross country team; he graduated in 1989. When he was four years old, Gordon rode a BMX bike that his stepfather bought for him and began racing quarter midgets at the age of five. The Roy Hayer Memorial Race Track (previously the Cracker Jack Track) in Rio Linda, California is noted as the first track Gordon ever competed on. By the age of six, Gordon had won 35 main events and set five track records. In 1979 Gordon won 51 quarter midget races. When he was eleven, Gordon won all 25 of the karting races he entered. At the age of twelve, Gordon became bored with cars and decided to start a career in waterskiing before switching back to driving one year later. In 1986, Gordon began racing sprint cars, winning three races. The next year, Gordon was awarded a USAC license at the age of sixteen, the youngest driver to do so. During the 1980s, Gordon and his family had to overcome an insurance hurdle. The minimum age for driving the sprint cars was sixteen, and his persistence paid off with an all Florida speed weeks. Supporting his career choice, Gordon's family moved from Vallejo to Pittsboro, Indiana, where there were more opportunities for younger racers. In the late '80s, he drove in the World of Outlaws series and picked up some feature wins. He became the youngest driver in the World of Outlaws at the time. He also won races at Bloomington and Eldora Speedways. After graduating from high school in 1989, he quickly changed and went to Bloomington to race that night. 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. That season was highlighted by winning Night Before the 500 midget car race on the day before the Indianapolis 500. During the decade, Gordon also ran sprint cars in Australia and New Zealand. In 1990, Gordon won his second consecutive Night Before the 500, the Hut Hundred, and the Belleville Midget Nationals on his way to winning the USAC national Midget title. In 1991, Gordon captured the USAC Silver Crown, and at the age of 20 became the youngest driver to win the season championship. He also won the 4 Crown Nationals midget car race that season. In his midget car career between 1989 and 1992, he finished in the Top 3 in 22 of 40 USAC midget car events. In 1992, Gordon competed in the Slim Jim All Pro Series' Winchester 400, but finished 24th after crashing on lap 172. The following year, he ran a Featherlite Southwest Tour race at Sears Point Raceway, finishing 29th after suffering an engine failure. In the early 1990s, Gordon expressed interest in IndyCar racing, but was not able to find a ride due to low funding. However, former Formula One driver Jackie Stewart offered Gordon a test drive in Europe, in what Gordon assumed was Formula Three or Formula 3000; Gordon did not perform the test due to being in contact with NASCAR.
In 1990, Gordon met Hugh Connerty, who owned some Hooters restaurants and was also a partner in Outback Steakhouse. Connerty secured some sponsorship for a car through Outback, and they tested for the last few Busch Grand National races left in 1990. Ray Evernham was called in to work with Gordon in his stock car debut. His first Busch race came on October 20, 1990, at North Carolina Motor Speedway in the AC-Delco 200. Gordon drove the No. 67 Outback Steakhouse Pontiac for Connerty. Gordon ran the second fastest lap during qualifying and started on the outside of the front row of the field. Gordon would, however, get involved in a wreck on lap 33. He ended up with a 39th-place finish. In 1991 and 1992, Gordon began racing in the Busch Series full-time, driving Ford Thunderbirds for Bill Davis Racing. In his first year as a Busch driver he won Rookie of the Year. In 1992, Gordon set a NASCAR record by capturing eleven poles in one season. He was sponsored by Carolina Ford Dealers in 1991 and Baby Ruth in 1992. In 1999, Gordon along with Cup crew chief Evernham formed Gordon/Evernham Motorsports (GEM) in the Busch Series with Gordon and Rick Hendrick's son Ricky Hendrick as drivers, the Rainbow Warriors as pit crew and Patrick Donahue as crew chief. The co-owned team received a full sponsorship from Pepsi and ran six races with Gordon as driver and Evernham as crew chief. GEM only survived one year as Evernham left Hendrick Motorsports, citing tension between him and the team, ending one of the most dominant driver/crew-chief combinations in NASCAR history. Gordon extended his Busch experiment one more year, through 2000 as co-owner, with Rick Hendrick buying Evernham's half, and GEM becoming JG Motorsports. In two seasons, Gordon won twice, in 1999 at the Outback Steakhouse 200, the inaugural race at Phoenix, and 2000 at Homestead.
In 1992, Roush Racing owner Jack Roush planned to sign Gordon, but Gordon's stepfather John Bickford had insisted that Roush hire Ray Evernham; due to Roush's policy of hiring his own crew chiefs, Bickford declined. Later in the year, Rick Hendrick watched Gordon race in a Busch Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Gordon joined Hendrick Motorsports two days later. Gordon made his Winston Cup debut in the season-ending race, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta, finishing 31st after a crash. The following year, Gordon began competing full-time in the Winston Cup Series, driving the No. 24 car for Hendrick. He was originally supposed to race the No. 46, but complications with licensing related to Days of Thunder forced Gordon to the 24. He opened the season with a win in the Gatorade Twin 125's race, while also recording his first-career pole position at the fall Charlotte race, and concluded 1993 with a fourteenth-place points finish and the Rookie of the Year Award. Gordon's early success in the sport reshaped the paradigm and eventually gave younger drivers an opportunity to compete in NASCAR. However, during the 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. His last-place finish at the 1993 First Union 400 was a firm example of this theory. Additionally, driver Darrell Waltrip wrote he told Hendrick during the season that Gordon had "hit everything but the pace car that year." In 1994, Gordon won the Busch Clash exhibition race at Daytona. In May, Gordon won the pole for the Coca-Cola 600, and eventually the race after electing to take two tires on a green flag pit stop. Three months later, he scored a hometown victory at the inaugural Brickyard 400, capitalizing on Ernie Irvan's tire going down late in the race.
In 1995, Gordon won his first Winston Cup Series championship. Despite a rough start to the season in the Daytona 500, he won three of the following six races at Rockingham, Atlanta and Bristol, while winning the pole at Rockingham, Richmond, Darlington and North Wilkesboro in that timespan. In addition, he won The Winston Select in dominating fashion. He won his fifth pole of the season at Charlotte, but after the race, NASCAR officials found unapproved wheel hubs on his car, and fined the team $60,000 while placing Ray Evernham on probation indefinitely. Gordon later won four more poles during the season (Dover, Michigan, Indianapolis, Martinsville) while winning races at Daytona, New Hampshire, Darlington and Dover. The results during the season gave him a commanding 300-point lead over Dale Earnhardt en route to the title. The team's consistency was much better as well, having had three DNF's in 1995, compared to 21 in his previous two seasons combined. Gordon's title defense in 1996 featured ten wins at Richmond, Darlington (sweeping the races), Bristol, Dover (winning both races), Pocono, Talladega, Martinsville, and North Wilkesboro (winning the final official NASCAR race at the track). After holding a 111-point lead late in the season, he finished second to his teammate Terry Labonte for the championship, losing by 37 points. Gordon won consecutive Winston Cup titles in 1997 and 1998. In 1997, he won his first Daytona 500, becoming the youngest driver at the time to win the race. He won the second race of the season at Rockingham the following week, followed by a third win at Bristol; after a last-lap battle with Rusty Wallace. At Charlotte, Gordon won The Winston in a Jurassic Park: The Ride scheme; the car was modified by Evernham with assistance from Hendrick chassis engineer Rex Stump, and after the race it was banned following complaints from other team owners. Afterwards, he won the Coca-Cola 600, and after winning the Southern 500 at Darlington, became the first driver since Bill Elliott in 1985 to win the Winston Million. While Elliott failed to win the Winston Cup in 1985, Gordon claimed his second Winston Cup championship in 1997, completing one of the most impressive single-season performances in NASCAR history. He finished the season with ten victories (Daytona, Rockingham, Bristol, Martinsville, Charlotte, Pocono, California, Watkins Glen, Darlington, and New Hampshire). The following year, Gordon won a modern-era record thirteen races at Charlotte, Sonoma, Pocono, Indianapolis, Watkins Glen, Michigan, New Hampshire, Darlington, Daytona, Rockingham and Atlanta. He clinched his third title with a 364-point lead over Mark Martin. Gordon set Winston Cup records during the season, including four consecutive wins and seventeen consecutive top-five finishes. He ended the season with seven poles, 25 top-five, and 27 top-tens. Gordon began the 1999 season with his second Daytona 500 win. He then won races at Atlanta, Fontana, Sears Point and Watkins Glen. Before the race at Martinsville, Evernham left Hendrick to form Evernham Motorsports, and he was replaced by team engineer Brian Whitesell. With Whitesell, Gordon won at Martinsville and Lowe's. During the year, Chip Ganassi Racing owner Chip Ganassi contacted Gordon, expressing interest in signing him, while Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wanted to partner with him to form a team. However, Gordon signed a lifetime contract with Hendrick Motorsports starting in 2000, which allowed him to become an equity owner in his No. 24 team. The 2000 season saw Gordon enter his first campaign with Petty Enterprises' Robbie Loomis as his crew chief. With Loomis, Gordon recorded his first win of the season in the spring Talladega race, giving him his fiftieth career victory. He also won races at Sears Point and Richmond. Gordon finished the season ninth in points. The next year, Gordon won six races at Las Vegas, Dover, Michigan (the one-hundredth win for Hendrick Motorsports), Indianapolis, Watkins Glen, and the inaugural race at Kansas. Gordon became the third driver to win four Winston Cup championships in NASCAR history, second only to Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt (both winning it seven times), and with a 344-point margin ahead of Tony Stewart.
2002 and 2003 featured three wins each for Gordon at Bristol, Darlington and Kansas, and at Martinsville (twice) and Atlanta, respectively. In 2004, the first season under the Nextel Cup Series banner, the team recorded five wins at Talladega, Indianapolis, Fontana, Infineon and Daytona. At one point, he had a six race streak of top-five finishes. Despite the success, the points reset by the newly formed Chase for the Cup erased Gordon's 60-point lead over Johnson. As a result, at the end of the season, he finished the season third in the points standings behind champion Kurt Busch by sixteen points and Johnson by eight. Had the Chase not existed, and assuming the finishing spots remained the same, Gordon would have won the championship by 47 points. The 2005 season began with Gordon claiming his third Daytona 500 victory, followed by a win at Martinsville in the Advance Auto Parts 500 and at Talladega. However, inconsistency would plague him throughout the year. Despite having 14 top tens, he failed to finish nine times. A late season charge put him in position to qualify for the Chase, but in the last race before the Chase at Richmond, Gordon made contact with the turn 2 wall and failed to qualify for the Chase. Loomis left the team on September 14, and Steve Letarte, Gordon's car chief, took over for the Chase-opening race at Loudon. Gordon eventually won at Martinsville in the Subway 500. It was Gordon's first time outside the top ten in the point standings since 1993. Gordon also finished the season with a career-low eight top-five finishes. Gordon only recorded two wins in 2006 at Infineon and Chicagoland, while also recording only two poles at Dover and Phoenix's second dates. The next year, his performance improved greatly, winning six races and seven poles. Gordon's first win of 2007 was at Phoenix, tying Darrell Waltrip's modern-day record of 59 poles, followed by tying Dale Earnhardt for sixth all-time in overall number of Cup wins. At Talladega, he recorded his 77th career Nextel Cup victory, to the dismay of the fans, who began throwing beer cans at Gordon's car. Gordon would win five more times during the season, at Darlington, Pocono, Talladega and Charlotte; Gordon's seven poles occurred at Fontana, Bristol, four consecutive at Texas, Phoenix, Talladega and Richmond, Daytona, Watkins Glen, Michigan and Martinsville. However, Gordon finished the Chase second in the standings to HMS teammate Jimmie Johnson by 77 points. Gordon finished the year with 30 top tens, setting a new modern era Nextel Cup Series record. By August 12, Gordon had finished outside the top-ten in only three of 23 races so far. This marked the second time that Gordon lost a championship because of the Chase points system. He ended the regular season 312 points ahead of second place in the standings, but since he had less wins than Johnson, he started behind him in the Chase. Had the Chase not existed, Gordon would have won the championship by 353 points.
