Racing Legends: Jeff Gordon

Racing Legends: Jeff Gordon

Jeffery Michael "Jeff" Gordon[1] (born August 4, 1971) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He drives the No. 24 Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.


Gordon started his racing career in the Busch Series with Hugh Connerty Racing, followed by Bill Davis Racing, winning three races, and joined Hendrick Motorsports in 1993. From 1995 to 2001, he has been a four-time Sprint Cup champion, and has won the Daytona 500 three times. He is third on the all-time Cup wins list, with 89 career wins, and has the most wins in NASCAR's modern era (1972–present). Gordon's 74 pole positions lead all active drivers, and is third all-time; Gordon won at least one pole in 21 consecutive seasons, a NASCAR record. He is also the active iron man leader for consecutive races participated in with 736 as of the 2014 5-hour Energy 400.[2] In 2009, Gordon became the first NASCAR driver to reach $100 million USD in career winnings.[3]



In 1998, NASCAR named Gordon to its 50 Greatest Drivers list.[4] Ten years later, in 2008, Terry Blount of ESPN ranked him tenth in the 25 greatest drivers of all-time.[5] Foxsports.com named Gordon as the fifth-best NASCAR driver of all time.[6]



Gordon, along with Rick Hendrick, co-owns the No. 48 Chevrolet driven by Jimmie Johnson, who won six Cup championships from 2006 to 2010, and 2013. Gordon also has an equity stake in his own No. 24 team.[7] 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 was born in Vallejo, California, raised in Pittsboro, Indiana, and currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife, Ingrid Vandebosch, and their two children: Ella Sofia and Leo Benjamin.


Busch Series

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 Rockingham 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.[14]


In 1991 and 1992, Gordon went on to the Busch Series 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 11 poles in one season.[9] He was sponsored by Carolina Ford Dealers in 1991 and Baby Ruth in 1992.[15]



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.[16] 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,[17] 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 inaugural Busch race[18] at Phoenix,[19] and 2000 at Homestead.[20]



Sprint Cup Series

In 1992, Rick Hendrick watched Gordon compete in a Busch race at Atlanta, and two days later, signed him to Hendrick Motorsports.[21] Gordon made his Winston Cup debut in the 1992 Hooters 500 at Atlanta, the last race of that season, and finished 31st after crashing;[22] in addition to the race being Richard Petty's final race in NASCAR and the championship battle among six drivers (eventually won by Alan Kulwicki by virtue of his second-place finish in the race), this was Gordon's first start in the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports that he has driven for his entire Cup Series career.



Gordon began driving the No. 24 full-time in the 1993 Winston Cup season, with Ray Evernham as his first crew chief. Gordon started his rookie season by winning a Daytona 500 qualifying race,[23] which was followed by a fifth-place finish in his first Daytona 500.[21] He eventually won the Rookie of the Year award, and finished 14th in points.[9] 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. His last-place finish at the 1993 First Union 400 was a firm example of this theory.[24] He was given the nickname "Wonder Boy" by Dale Earnhardt,[25] and his crew was called the "Rainbow Warriors".[26]


1994

In 1994, Gordon opened the season with a 4th-place finish in the Daytona 500,[27] and in the next nine races, recorded two top tens at Richmond and Atlanta. However, Gordon also had five finishes outside the top 30, though he was able to rebound from his 37th-place finish at Sears Point Raceway[28] by collecting his first career victory at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600 from the pole, the longest race on the NASCAR circuit after Gordon decided to take two tires on a green flag pit stop instead of four,[29] and was able to hold off Rusty Wallace by 3.91 seconds.[30] Afterwards, Gordon scored three top tens at Pocono and Daytona,[28] followed by 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.[31] After Indianapolis, Gordon recorded top tens at Watkins Glen International, North Wilkesboro Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway.[28] Gordon finished eighth in the Winston Cup point standings for the 1994 season, 918 points behind Dale Earnhardt, who grabbed the driving championship for his 7th and final time.[32]



1995–2001

In 1995, Gordon had a rough start in the Daytona 500, finishing 22nd after starting 4th. The following week at Rockingham, Gordon won the pole with a lap speed of 157.620 miles per hour (253.665 km/h), breaking the previous track record of 157.099 mph (252.826 km/h) set by Ricky Rudd.[33] Gordon eventually won the race, leading a race high 329 laps. At Richmond, Gordon clinched the pole, but a fuel pump ended his day, finishing 36th. A week later, Gordon won at Atlanta, followed by his third pole of the season at Darlington, but crashed. Gordon won his third race of the year at Bristol, followed by another pole at North Wilkesboro.[34] He won his fifth pole at Charlotte, but after the race, NASCAR officials found unapproved wheel hubs on Gordon's car, and fined the team $60,000 while placing Ray Evernham on probation indefinitely.[35] Gordon later won four more poles during the season (Dover, Michigan, Indianapolis, Martinsville), along with winning at Daytona, New Hampshire, Darlington and Dover.[34] The results during the season gave him a 300-point lead over Dale Earnhardt,[9] and Gordon won his first career Winston Cup championship. The team's consistency was much better as well, having 3 DNF's in 1995,[34] compared to 21 in his previous two seasons combined.


Gordon got off to a rocky start in 1996, but rebounded to win ten races, the series high. The 24 team collected wins at Richmond, Darlington (winning both the spring event and the Southern 500), Bristol, Dover (winning both events of the season), Pocono, Talladega, Martinsville, and North Wilkesboro (winning the final official NASCAR event at the track).[36] This would start a three-year streak of winning double digit races. He finished second to teammate Terry Labonte for the championship, losing by 37 points.[37]



Gordon won his first Daytona 500 in 1997, becoming the youngest driver in history to win the race,[38] a record that would stand until Trevor Bayne's 500 win in 2011. He won the second race of the season at Rockingham the following week, followed by a later win at Bristol; during the latter's final lap, Gordon made contact with Rusty Wallace in turn 3, causing Wallace to slide up the track, and allowed Gordon to win.[39] In May, Gordon won The Winston at Charlotte in a Jurassic Park scheme; the car was modified by Evernham with assistance from Hendrick chassis engineer Rex Stump,[40] and as a result, was considered illegal by other team owners. Eventually, NASCAR was forced to rewrite much of its rulebook, and later seized the car;[41] it was later restored and placed on display at the Hendrick Motorsports Museum.[40]



Gordon would later win the Coca-Cola 600 and had a chance to become the first man since Bill Elliott in 1985 to win the "Winston Million." Gordon completed the feat by holding off a charging Jeff Burton in the final laps of the Southern 500 at Darlington.[42] 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 10 victories (Daytona, Rockingham, Bristol, Martinsville, Charlotte, Pocono, California, Watkins Glen, Darlington, and New Hampshire) for the second straight season. His victory at California was in the track's inaugural race,[43] and his victory at Watkins Glen began a streak of seven consecutive road course victories.


In 1998, Gordon opened the year with a 16th-place finish in the Daytona 500. Gordon eventually won the following week at Rockingham, along with Bristol four weeks later; from 1995–98, Gordon has won at least one of the two events at Bristol each year.[44] Gordon would win a total of 13 races, a modern-era record, at Charlotte, Richmond, Sonoma, Pocono, Indianapolis (which provided at the time the largest amount of prize money in auto racing with $1,637,625),[45][46] Watkins Glen, Michigan, New Hampshire, Daytona, Rockingham, and Atlanta, clinching the championship at the penultimate race at Rockingham. Gordon won the 1998 championship with a 364-point lead over Dale Jarrett,[47] the largest point margin since the points system was created in 1975. Gordon set Cup records during the season, including four consecutive wins, 17 consecutive top-five finishes; he ended the season with seven poles, 25 top-fives and 27 top-tens.[48]



In 1999, Gordon opened the season with his second Daytona 500 victory, and eventually won at Atlanta. Gordon won again Fontana and Sears Point,[49] the latter in which he defeated Mark Martin by .197 seconds, the closest finish at the track since electronic scoring was introduced.[50] He added another win at Watkins Glen,[49] which made him the first driver since Martin to win three consecutive races at the Glen.[51] After the departure of Evernham (who left Hendrick Motorsports to begin his own team, Evernham Motorsports, reintroducing Dodge into the series), team engineer Brian Whitesell was named the interim crew-chief for remainder of the Cup season after Evernham's departure in September.[52] Whitesell scored back to back victories in his first two races at Martinsville[53] and Lowe's.[54] Despite winning seven times in 1999, Gordon also had seven DNF's, and finished 6th in the series standings.[9] During the year, Gordon signed a lifetime contract with Hendrick Motorsports starting in 2000, which allowed him to become an equity owner in his No. 24 team.[7]



2000 saw Gordon enter his first campaign with Robbie Loomis as crew chief. Loomis had been with Petty Enterprises for years prior. The team struggled as the rebuilding process went on. Gordon scored his first victory of 2000 at Talladega in the spring event,[55] winning his 50th career victory in the series. He went on to win at [Sears Point Raceway (now Sonoma Raceway)[56] and Richmond. Gordon finished the season 9th in points.



Many people questioned Gordon's ability to win championships without Evernham, especially after Gordon's 9th-place points finish in 2000. Gordon answered those doubts in 2001 by winning six races beginning at Las Vegas. In May, at The Winston, rain caused the track to become slick, which led to Gordon spinning in turn 2 on the first lap,[57] and was t-boned on the driver's side by Michael Waltrip.[8]


However, NASCAR permitted drivers who had crashed to use their backup cars, and Gordon would win the event, tying Dale Earnhardt with three wins in the All-Star Race.[57] Gordon would later win at Dover,[58] Michigan (the 100th win for Hendrick Motorsports),[59] Indianapolis (Gordon started the race 27th, the lowest starting position for a winning driver at Indianapolis),[60][61] Watkins Glen,[62] and the inaugural race at Kansas. Gordon became the third driver to win four Cup championships in NASCAR history, then second only to Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt (7 times).[63]



2002–06

Gordon entered the 2002 season as defending champion, but the year was far from perfect. A strong showing in the Daytona 500 was ruined when Sterling Marlin sent Gordon spinning in the infield grass with a handful of laps remaining, while leading the race. Gordon had won his 125 qualifier,[64] but finished ninth in the Daytona 500 after the contact with Marlin. It was announced to the media during the spring event at Darlington that Gordon's then-wife, Brooke, was filing for divorce. Gordon did not win until the Sharpie 500 night race at Bristol in August after passing Rusty Wallace, who was slowed by lapped cars, with three laps left,[65] his first victory in the night race at Bristol. He followed that up with a fifth victory in the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington a week later. Gordon won for the third and final time in 2002 at Kansas Speedway,[66] his second consecutive at the track. The 24 team finished the season 4th in points.[67]


In 2003, Gordon returned with Robbie Loomis for a third season together. Gordon won early in April, winning at Martinsville from the pole,[68] but suffered from various accidents during the midseason, but eventually recorded six consecutive top five finishes, followed by wins at Atlanta[69] and the second Martinsville race in the fall.[70] He finished the year 4th in the NASCAR standings, with 3 wins, 15 top five finishes, and 20 top ten finishes. Gordon also was in second to Matt Kenseth for the championship early in the season.
Gordon during the 2005 Dickies 500



2004 was a huge rebound for the team. Gordon won the Brickyard 400 in August 2004, obtaining his 4th Indy win (1994, 1998, 2001, 2004).[71] Along with Jimmie Johnson who accomplished the feat in 2012, Gordon shares the title for the NASCAR driver with most Brickyard 400 victories at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with four, and one of only five drivers to have four victories at the historic track. Prior to this victory, Gordon won at Talladega (ending the DEI dominance on restrictor plate tracks, as well as their winning streak at the track),[72] and followed that up with a victory the following weekend at California, in which he won with no fuel remaining.[73] He also won at Infineon Raceway, leading a track-record 92 of 110 laps to claim his NASCAR record eight road course win.[74] Gordon followed that up with a victory the following weekend in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona after receiving a push from teammate Jimmie Johnson for his second consecutive restrictor plate win.[75] While the Hendrick Motorsports team celebrated success with Gordon and Johnson winning five and eight races, respectively,[76] the team suffered a major off-track tragedy. On October 24, during the race weekend at Martinsville, a Hendrick Motorsports plane carrying engine builder Randy Dorton, team President John Hendrick (Rick Hendrick's brother), Vice President Jeff Turner, Ricky Hendrick (Rick Hendrick's 24-year old son and teammate of Gordon with JG Motorsports)[77] and more crashed on its way to the track, killing everyone on board.[78] On race day, Gordon finished ninth, while Johnson won. Despite a 34th-place finish at Atlanta the following week, Gordon ended the season with three consecutive third-place finishes.[79] Prior to the new Chase for the Cup, Gordon held a 60-point lead over Johnson, but after the ten races, Gordon finished the season third in the points standings behind champion Kurt Busch by 16 points and Johnson by 8. Had the Chase not existed, and assuming the finishing spots remained the same, Gordon would have won the championship by 47 points.[80]



Gordon started the 2005 season with a win in the Daytona 500, his third win in the event, followed by a win at Martinsville in the Advance Auto Parts 500. Subsequently, Gordon won at Talladega after surviving a two-lap green-white-checker finish for his fourth restrictor plate win in the last five races.[81] However, inconsistency would plague him throughout the year. Despite having 14 top tens, he also had 9 DNFs,[82] and at Chicagoland Speedway, Gordon was wrecked by Mike Bliss, which led to a confrontation at a local airport.[9] A late season charge (notably top 10s at Indy and Bristol) 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 start for the Chase.[83] Eventually, on September 14, crew chief Robbie Loomis resigned from the No. 24 team. Loomis stayed on with Hendrick Motorsports as a consultant for Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 team through the Chase for The NEXTEL Cup in 2005.[84] Steve Letarte, Gordon's car chief for most of the 2005 season and longtime member of the 24 crew, replaced Loomis as crew chief effective at New Hampshire International Speedway on September 18.[85] Despite these disappointments, on October 23 Gordon won the Subway 500 at Martinsville, his first win in 22 points races, and his 7th career victory at the 0.526-mile (0.847 km) track, which leads all active drivers at the facility.[86] 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. Gordon also finished the season with a career-low eight top-five finishes.[87]


Gordon opened 2006 with a 2nd-place start in the Daytona 500, but eventually finished 26th.[88] Gordon won his ninth road race, the 2006 Dodge/Save Mart 350, at the Infineon Raceway for his first win of the season[89] and fifth at Infineon. The day before the race, he announced his engagement to Belgian model Ingrid Vandebosch. On July 9, Gordon won his first race at Chicagoland at the running of the USG Sheetrock 400 after bumping into race leader Matt Kenseth's rear bumper with three laps left.[90] Gordon made the "Chase for the NEXTEL Cup" with his improvements on the intermediate 1.5/2-mile downforce racetracks from 2005. Gordon started the Chase with a third-place finish at Loudon, followed by his first pole of the season at Dover, with a lap speed of 156.162 miles per hour (251.318 km/h),[91] and finished with another third-place finish. However, Gordon finished outside the top 20 in three consecutive races at Kansas, Talladega and Charlotte, due to troubles with the fuel pump,[92] a crash[93] and an engine problem, respectively. Gordon rebounded with three consecutive top ten finishes at Martinsville, Atlanta and Texas,[94] followed by a pole at Phoenix[95] and a fourth-place finish in the race. Gordon eventually finished 6th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series standings, 219 points behind champion and teammate Jimmie Johnson.[96]



2007

Gordon began the 2007 Cup season by winning his 4th Gatorade Duel qualifying race.[97] Due to a rear shock bolt breaking during the race on his car, he failed the post-race inspection which found that the rear of his car was too low and, as a result, had to start 42nd in the Daytona 500.[98] He went on to finish 10th in the race despite being involved in a crash during a spectacular last-lap finish.



On March 23, Gordon won his 58th career pole for the 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 since the 2005 Daytona 500. At Texas Motor Speedway, Gordon 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.[99] On April 19, 2007 at Phoenix, Gordon won the pole, and tied Darrell Waltrip's modern day record of 59 career poles.[100] Two days later, at the Subway Fresh Fit 500, he won for the first time at PIR, ending also a streak of 21 races of non-pole winners at the track. With the win, he also tied Dale Earnhardt for 6th all-time in overall number of 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 Earnhardt.[101]


On April 28, at Talladega, Gordon and David Gilliland tied for the pole with identical speeds of 192.069 miles per hour (309.105 km/h), but as Gordon was higher in the standings, he was awarded the pole, breaking the tie with Darrell Waltrip for career poles with 60.[102] 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. As a result of the accomplishment, unhappy fans began throwing beer cans at Gordon's car; Gordon stated, "On one side, I want to jump up and down and be fired up about getting 77 here at Talladega knowing that three-quarters of the grandstand are pulling against us. On the other side, I respected Dale so much, learned so much from him, and today being his birthday and knowing how many of those people up there wanted to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. win this race today, it's tough. I certainly didn't want to start a riot today."[103] On May 13, 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.[104] Two weeks later, in the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Gordon crashed after making contact with Tony Raines and A. J. Allmendinger on lap 61, only 91.5 miles (147.3 km) into the race,[105] ending his streak of completing every lap during the season at ten races.[106]



On June 11, Gordon earned his 4th win of the year and 79th of his career in a rain shortened race at Pocono Raceway.[107] Six days later, he scored a ninth-place finish at the Citizens Bank 400 at Michigan International Speedway, the 300th top-ten finish of his career. On September 8, Gordon earned a place in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup. With his four wins in the first 26 races, he earned the "Regular Season" Championship, and the second seed (teammate Jimmie Johnson earned the top seed with six wins) in the Chase.


On October 7, Gordon led only the final lap in winning the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway for his 80th career victory after receiving pushes from Dave Blaney and Tony Stewart past Jimmie Johnson,[108] along with using a strategy of staying near the end of the field until nearly the end of the race to avoid the inevitable "big one", especially with the unknowns involved in racing the Car of Tomorrow.[109] With the win, he swept the 2007 season races at Talladega, and won his 12th race at a restrictor plate track (Daytona and Talladega), making him the all-time leader for restrictor plate wins.[109] On October 13, Gordon led 71 laps and, although fuel was a question near the end of the race, he was able to finish the race and earned his 81st career victory in the Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.[110]



Finishing fourth in the Ford 400, Gordon finished the Chase second in the standings to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, trailing by 77. However, Gordon's top-ten finish at Homestead left him with a total of 30 top-ten finishes for the season, setting a new modern era Cup Series record.[9] This was the second time that Gordon lost a championship because of the Chase points system. Had the Chase not existed, Gordon would have won the championship by 353 points.[80] As with 2004, he recorded the most points over the entire season, but lost the title because of the ten race championship system.


2008–10

Gordon finished fourth in the 2008 Budweiser Shootout and finished third in the Gatorade Duel qualifying race. He started the 50th annual Daytona 500 from the eighth position and led eight laps, some under caution, but on lap 159 suffered suspension failure and finished in 39th position.[111]


Gordon wrecked with 5 laps to go at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, claiming that it was one of the hardest wrecks he's ever had, and leading him to call for safety improvements on the inside walls of LVMS and other similar tracks.[112] The wreck has had drivers and owners from all around NASCAR now concerned with the lack of a SAFER barrier on the inside walls at tracks and the design of the wall where it allows access for emergency vehicles.[113] Greg Biffle went as far to say that the wreck should be taken as seriously as the one that killed Dale Earnhardt in 2001.[114] Other drivers who have publicly supported Gordon's call for safety improvements include Jeff Burton, Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, and Kurt Busch.[114]


Gordon collected his 64th career pole for the Kobalt Tools 500 on March 7, then went on to finish 5th in the race leading 3 laps.[115] Three weeks later, at the Goody's Cool Orange 500 on March 28 at Martinsville, Gordon won the pole, and finished second in the race after being caught up in a crash caused by Aric Almirola and coming back from the tail end of the field; Gordon led 90 laps in the race. The week later at Texas, Gordon finished a career-low last-place after being involved in a crash in turn 4 on lap 110.[116] At Darlington's Dodge Challenger 500, Gordon recorded his fourth consecutive top three finish in the event after finishing third. At Sonoma, Gordon also finished third to claim his fourth top three finish in the last eight races.


On September 7, with his 8th-place finish at Richmond, Gordon made his 4th appearance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup earning the 10th seed out of 12 drivers.[117]



Gordon collected his 66th career pole at the Dover International Speedway for the Camping World RV 400,[118] and led 30 laps in the race while scoring a top 5, while Greg Biffle won. On October 31, Gordon earned his fourth pole of the 2008 season, and first ever at Texas Motor Speedway.[119] Gordon finished second to Carl Edwards.


Gordon finished 7th in the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup, 368 points out of first-place. He finished winless for the first time since 1993. This was also the final season the team ran the flames paint scheme that was introduced in 2001. In 2009, the 24 car would unveil its third 'regular' paint scheme. The new scheme was not much different from the previous flames design, but the color blue was replaced with black. This was the first time in Gordon's career that his primary paint scheme did not feature the color blue.[120]


Gordon started off the 2009 season by drawing the 28th and final position of the Budweiser Shootout. Gordon finished 4th at the Shootout, the same finish he had in 2008 after getting through three wrecks, including a last lap crash. He held off Tony Stewart to win his 5th Gatorade Duel. It was his first win in forty-one races, dating back to October 2007.[121] As a result of the win Gordon started 3rd in the Daytona 500 and, after overcoming a tire issue late in the race, finished 13th. The following week at the Auto Club 500, despite leading 64 laps, Gordon finished runner-up to Matt Kenseth, marking Gordon's 9th top five finish at California. At the Shelby 427 in Las Vegas, Gordon led 17 laps but cut a tire coming into the pits and as a result he finished 6th, despite having a shredded fender. Gordon took his first points lead since 2007. A week later at Atlanta, Gordon collected his second top five of the year in the Kobalt Tools 500 after leading 36 laps. Gordon extended his points lead to 77 points at Bristol in the Food City 500 after finishing fourth. The lead increased to 90 points over Clint Bowyer after leading 147 laps and finishing fourth at Martinsville in the Goody's Fast Relief 500.



Gordon ended his 47 race winless streak, winning the Samsung 500 for his 82nd career victory and his first at Texas Motor Speedway.[122] He held off teammate Jimmie Johnson for the win and extended his points lead to 162 points.[123] Gordon also led 105 of the 334 laps, earning him 10 bonus points.



Gordon scored a 5th-place in the Southern 500, despite a loose wheel in the beginning of the race. It was Gordon's 5th straight top 5 finish at the track. He extended his point lead to 31 points over Tony Stewart. Gordon scored second-place finishes behind teammate Mark Martin, in both the June LifeLock 400 at Michigan and the July LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland. Because Martin and Gordon finished 1–2 in both races, LifeLock will pay a $1 million bonus to a Colorado family.[124]


Gordon qualified for the 2009 Chase by virtue of his second-place standing in the points following the Chevy Rock & Roll 400. However, reseeding eventually dropped him to sixth in the points.



Gordon scored two consecutive second-place finishes at Kansas and California. He finished second to Tony Stewart and Johnson in those races and was 3rd in points behind by 112 points by the second Texas race, and was 168 points down after Phoenix. He finished 3rd in points giving Hendrick Motorsports the first team ever to finish 1–2–3 in the points, finishing behind teammates Mark Martin and Johnson, who became the first driver to win four consecutive titles.[125] During the 2009 season, Gordon became the first driver in NASCAR history to pass $100 million USD in career winnings.[126]



Gordon started off the 2010 season slow, starting with a 26th-place finish at Daytona and a 19th-place finish at Auto Club Speedway. However, at Las Vegas, Gordon dominated, leading 219 of the race's 267 laps. Unfortunately for Gordon, crew chief Steve Letarte opted to take two tires instead of four, arguably costing Gordon the win, as his teammate Jimmie Johnson passed him on four fresh tires. Gordon was eventually also passed by Kevin Harvick, and finished 3rd.[127] Gordon finished 18th at the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta. Gordon was leading with 2 laps to go at Martinsville in the spring, but a bump from Matt Kenseth and a charge from Denny Hamlin relegated the No. 24 DuPont team to a 3rd-place finish.



Gordon scored a runner-up finish in the Subway Fresh Fit 600 to eventual winner Ryan Newman. Gordon led 124 laps at Texas, but was involved in a multi-car wreck late in the race. Gordon went on to lead 4 laps at Talladega but was caught up in a wreck with Jeff Burton near the end of the race and dropped him down to a 22nd-place finish. Gordon was leading on the final restart of the Crown Royal Presents the Heath Calhoun 400, but was passed by the winner of the race, Kyle Busch. This was Gordon's eighth second-place finish since his last win came at Texas a year ago. At the Southern 500 at Darlington, Gordon led a race-high 110 laps, but was shuffled back to the end of the lead lap as a result of pitting early under caution. He eventually worked his way up in the last 20 laps to finish fourth.



In Dover, Gordon finished 11th after he was a top 15 car all day in a 400 lap event. Gordon recorded a 6th-place finish at Charlotte, after opting for track position over pitting with 20 laps to go. Gordon did not have a very fast car, but managed to hold on to a top-10 finish. Gordon made his 600th career NASCAR Sprint Cup start in the 2010 Lifelock.com 400 on July 10 at the Chicagoland Speedway and finished 3rd.[128] Gordon cut a right front tire late at the Carfax 400 at Michigan, resulting in a 27th-place finish, but remained second in the points standings. Gordon finished 13th at the Emory Healthcare 500 in Atlanta, and continued to stay in second. The Chase started well for Gordon, finishing 6th at Loudon. After struggling at Dover, he finished 5th at Kansas, and 9th at Fontana. He earned his first pole of the season at Charlotte and he was the pick to win the race, but unfortunately, he had battery issues and he was caught speeding on pit road finished a disappointing 23rd-place finish.



At Martinsville, he got wrecked by Kurt Busch, ending his championship hopes.[129] At Texas, he was running well, until an incident occurred between him and Jeff Burton on lap 192. Burton clipped the back of Gordon's car, sending him into the wall, which eventually caused them to have a shove and a physical fight.[130] He would finish 37th. In the Ford 400, he started 11th and finished 37th, due to an engine failure. He went winless again, and it would be the third time in his career he went winless (also in 1993 and 2008).

2011

Gordon started the 2011 season in Daytona driving the No. 24 "Drive to End Hunger" Chevrolet Impala, plus new crew chief Alan Gustafson. He started the race in the second position but after a pileup in turn 3 on lap 29, finished the race in 28th, right behind teammate Jimmie Johnson. The following week at Phoenix, Gordon won for the first time since Texas in April 2009 (a span of 66 races), and his second win in the previous 3 seasons.[131] Over the next 5 races, Gordon only had one top 10.


Gordon won his 70th pole at the 2011 Aaron's 499 at Talladega after qualifying with a lap speed of 178.248 miles per hour (286.862 km/h), breaking a 3rd-place tie with Cale Yarborough for most poles. All four of the Hendrick Motorsports cars swept the top four positions, with Jimmie Johnson starting on Gordon's outside, with the second row being filled by Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt, Jr..[132] Gordon drafted with Martin for the entire race. He led a few laps at the beginning of the race, but then purposely fell outside the top 30 to avoid any trouble. With ten laps to go, Gordon and Martin started their charge to the front, taking the lead at the white flag. Then, while side-by-side with Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick, coming through the tri-oval, Johnson and Earnhardt, who had also been drafting together the entire race, squeezed to their inside. Earnhardt rubbed fenders with Martin, killing his and Gordon's momentum. Gordon finished third, in a 3-wide photo-finish won by Johnson over Bowyer by 0.002 seconds.


Over the next four races, he finshed outside of the top 10. At Kansas, in the 13th race, Gordon finished 4th behind some fuel-strategy winners. After starting third at Pocono, Gordon won for the second time, his 84th career win, tying for 3rd all-time with Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison, and his fifth win at Pocono, tying him with Bill Elliott for all-time wins at the racetrack.[133] At Michigan, he had a poor finish of 17th. At Infineon he finished second. This started a streak of nine races in the top 13. At Bristol, Gordon led 206 laps, but finished third behind Martin Truex, Jr. and Brad Keselowski due to the placement of his pit stall (at the start of the backstretch) slowing him down because of NASCAR's timing lines for the track.[134]



The following Sunday race at Atlanta was delayed due to rain, and was moved to Tuesday, due to a tropical storm (Lee) on the track on Monday.[135] Gordon held off his protégé and teammate Jimmie Johnson for the final lap and took his 3rd victory of the season as well as his 85th career win, placing 3rd on the all-time win list,[136] behind Richard Petty and David Pearson;[137] Gordon became the winningest driver in the 'modern era' of the sport, passing Darrell Waltrip.[138] At Richmond, Gordon had a poor start, but shot back with a finish of 3rd, with Kevin Harvick winning the race, and Carl Edwards in second. Gordon had the lead, but after Harvick's Richard Childress Racing teammate Paul Menard spun into the grass to cause a caution, Harvick beat Gordon out of the pits to take the lead.[139]



Gordon's summer hot streak made him a top pick for the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup. He was seeded 3rd for the Chase, because of his 3 wins. His Chase started off with a disappointing 24th finish at Chicagoland, making a deep hole to climb out of early in the Chase. At New Hampshire Motor Speedway, looked to be a rebound race for Gordon, as he ran well in the spring race. A 4th-place finish boosted him to 5th in points. At Dover International Speedway, the third race in the Chase, a solid 12th-place finish relegated him to ninth in points. At Kansas, Charlotte, and Talladega, Gordon had poor finishes of 34th, 21st, and 27th. At both Martinsville and Texas, he finished inside the top 10. But at Phoenix, he finished 32nd, 112 points behind the leader.[140]



To close out the 2011 season, Gordon was hoping to scratch Homestead-Miami Speedway off his list of tracks he has failed to win at in the Cup Series at the Ford 400, but Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards were the class of the field as both were fighting for the win and the championship. Gordon wound up leading a few laps and coming home with a 5th-place finish. He closed out 2011 8th in the points with his first multi-win season since 2007.

2012

Gordon's 2012 season started on a frightening note in the Bud Shootout. With two laps to go, Gordon got into a very loose No. 18 car of Kyle Busch and spun him around, collecting other cars. Gordon moved up the race track to avoid the spinning 18, but came across the nose of the No. 51 of Kurt Busch, Kyle's older brother. This was the first time that he ever flipped a stock car.[141]



In the Daytona 500, Gordon finished 40th after a blown engine on Lap 81, but rebounded with an 8th-place finish the following week at Phoenix.[142] At Martinsville, Gordon led a race-high 328 laps, but Gordon would crash on the 504th lap after Clint Bowyer collided with Gordon and Jimmie Johnson on the restart and Gordon would ultimately finish 14th.[143] At Talladega, Gordon won the pole position,[144] and immediately began experiencing overheating issues with his car and was forced to ride in the mid 20's for a majority of the race, but was eventually caught up in a crash on lap 142 that took out him out along with Carl Edwards, Juan Pablo Montoya, Landon Cassill, Dave Blaney and Martin Truex, Jr.[145] In the 2012 Toyota/Save Mart 350, Gordon would reach a milestone by reaching the 23,000 laps led mark after leading 13 in the race, the most of the current Sprint Cup drivers and ranked 7th all-time.[146] However, Gordon would then run out of fuel and ultimately finish 6th.[147]



At Pocono, Gordon took advantage of teammate Jimmie Johnson's right-rear tire failure on a late restart just immediately before an expected large thunderstorm rained onto the track thus giving him his 86th NASCAR Sprint Cup victory and his 6th at Pocono (interestingly, Gordon's victory at Pocono in 2007 was also rained out), breaking the record for most wins at the track, which was previously shared with Bill Elliott.[107][148] This was the first time since 2007 that Gordon had consecutive seasons with at least one win. At Atlanta, pit strategy put the 24 team in the hunt for a victory, but Gordon couldn't muster past the 11 of Denny Hamlin and wound up in second. At the end of the race, Gordon said that he wished he had "moved him out of the way" to win.[149]


The following week at Richmond, despite troubles early in the race that mired him a lap down, Gordon rallied to finish second to Clint Bowyer, and made his 8th Chase for the Sprint Cup.[150] At Chicagoland, Gordon started 19th and raced his way up to the 4th position, but on Lap 188 Gordon's throttle became stuck, sending him crashing into the turn 1 wall. He would then finish 35th, the tenth time in the 2012 season that he finished 21st or lower.[151]



At the November Phoenix race, Gordon was running near the front until Bowyer again made contact and forced him into the wall. Gordon then cut a tire when trying to retaliate and was penalized with a black-flag for both his attempt at retaliation and failing to come down pit road to fix his tire. In reply to the black-flag Gordon retaliated by intentionally wrecking Bowyer, collecting Joey Logano and Aric Almirola in the process thus ending Bowyer's hopes to win the Cup title. The two crews began brawling while a furious Bowyer climbed out of his car. Bowyer frantically sprinted to Gordon's hauler, but he was restrained by officials just in front of Gordon.[152] Both drivers along with crew chiefs Alan Gustafson and Brian Pattie were summoned to the Oval Office. Gordon was fined $100,000, docked 25 points, and placed on probation until December 31 while Gustafson was fined $50,000 for failing to take control of the 24 crew.[153][154]


He recovered from his penalty by winning the season finale Ford EcoBoost 400 the next week for his 87th Sprint Cup victory of his career. Ironically, Bowyer finished in second-place behind Gordon. It was Gordon's (and Hendrick Motorsports') first win at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and heading into the 2013 season, leaves Kentucky Speedway as the only Sprint Cup track where Gordon has not won at least one race.[155] In victory lane Gordon gave his public apology for his behavior at Phoenix but maintained that NASCAR should have tried to handle he and Bowyer's year-long feud before the Phoenix race.[156]



2013

Gordon's 2013 season started with a crash in the Sprint Unlimited on lap 15.[157] He qualified second for the Daytona 500 and led the first 31 laps. However, he had trouble with his car's engine[158] and water temperatures rising,[159] the former exceeding 240 degrees,[158] throughout the race and would end up finishing 20th after he lost drafting help near the end of the race. He rebounded at Phoenix, finishing ninth, but then had a 25th-place finish at Las Vegas. At Bristol, he cut a tire while leading late in the race, collecting second-place Matt Kenseth in the ensuing crash.[160] However he managed a 11th-place position in Fontana after experiencing problems in a crash in the early stages of the race, forcing him to drop down to 28th. However later he had a good pace and managed to resurface in top 20. His next top-five finish was a third-place finish at Martinsville, finishing behind Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer.



In the NRA 500 at Texas, Gordon led 15 laps, but the right-front hub broke on his car, and finished 38th.[161] In Gordon's 700th consecutive start, the Bojangles' Southern 500, Gordon finished 3rd, marking his 300th career top-5 finish.[162] In the Coca-Cola 600, on lap 324, Gordon was involved in a crash with Mark Martin and Aric Almirola, which brought out the red flag.[163] At Dover, Gordon finished 3rd, tying David Pearson for third all-time in top-five finishes with 301.[164] In the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan, Gordon was involved in a crash with Bobby Labonte on lap 6, but eventually returned to the race.[165] Gordon then fell five spots, and finished 39th.[166] At Sonoma, early in the race, Gordon opted to pit as rain was arriving, but reached pit road as officials raised the yellow flag, and was forced to restart at the end of the line in 39th. However, Gordon was able to reach second by lap 77, and led the field two laps later, and by the time the caution was flown, Gordon led four laps. With ten laps left, Gordon was in third, and after passing Juan Pablo Montoya, finished the race in second behind Martin Truex, Jr. for his eighth straight top ten finish at Sonoma.[167]



Gordon had another top ten with an eighth-place finish at Kentucky.[168] However, the following week at Daytona, Gordon was running well until he was caught up in a crash with Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and A.J. Allmendinger in the tri-oval on lap 149,[169] leaving him with a 34th-place finish. He rebounded, though, with a tenth-place finish at New Hampshire and a seventh-place finish at Indianapolis.



At the return to Pocono in August, Gordon ran his 42nd start at the track on his 42nd birthday,[170] and almost became the second driver of the season to win on his birthday, after Matt Kenseth had done so at Las Vegas.[171] Gordon started deep in the field, in 22nd-place, and took the lead from teammate Kasey Kahne with seven laps remaining. It looked like he was going to win, but a caution caused by Matt Kenseth spinning out erased the lead Gordon had built up on Kahne.[172] Gordon restarted on the inside with two laps remaining, and battled Kahne side-by-side until Kahne cleared him past the tunnel turn, forcing Gordon to settle for second (by coincidence, Kurt Busch, who finished third behind Gordon, was celebrating his 35th birthday).[173] Had Gordon won, it would have been a reversal of the rain-shortened August Pocono race of the previous year, as Gordon had won that race with crew chief Alan Gustafson celebrating his 37th birthday.[174]



In the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, on lap 14, Gordon was forced off course and slammed into the wall; Gordon finished 36th.[175] In qualifying for the Federated Auto Parts 400, Gordon set a track record with a lap speed of 130.599 miles per hour (210.179 km/h)[176] and a time of 20.674 seconds for his first pole of 2013 and fifth at Richmond, breaking the tie with Mark Martin for most poles at the track among active drivers.[177] Gordon's winning a pole in 21 consecutive seasons set a NASCAR record.[176][178] However, despite finishing 8th, Gordon was winless and was knocked out of the Chase initially by finishing one point behind Joey Logano.[179] However, on September 13, it was announced that Gordon would be added into the Chase after it was found that Logano's team had collaborated with David Gilliland's team for Gilliland to give up a spot to Logano so that Logano could secure his tenth-place point position over Gordon. This marked the first time the Chase field comprised more than 12 drivers.[180]
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After finishing 6th in the GEICO 400, in the Sylvania 300, Gordon was in contention for the lead, but slid past his pit box by the length of the splitters, and was forced to reverse back into his stall, causing him to fall behind to 22nd; Gordon finished 15th.[181] At the Bank of America 500, Gordon won the pole with a lap speed of 194.308 mph (312.708 km/h) for his ninth career Charlotte pole, the second most in track history.[182] Gordon finished 7th in the event.[183] At the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500, Gordon took the lead from Kenseth with 21 laps to go, and won his first race of 2013, and first at Martinsville since 2005.[184] This broke a 32 race winless streak for Gordon. In the AAA Texas 500, Gordon's left front tire blew on lap 74,[185] and collided with the wall, damaging the right side.[186] Gordon finished 38th,[187] and his third position in the points standings dropped to sixth.[185] Gordon ended the season with a career-low eight top-five finishes, tying the amount he had in 2005,[87] but his sixth-place points finish was the highest since 2009.[188]

2014

At NASCAR's Media Day in Daytona on February 13, Gordon opened up the possibility of retiring after the 2014 season in the event he wins the championship, and stated that he is "probably more serious (than joking). If that (fifth title) happened, that would be all the reasons I need to say, 'This is it. I'm done.' Go out on a high note."[189]Although he later recanted that statement in an interview with Larry King.



The 2014 season began in the Sprint Unlimited, in which Gordon was collected in a nine-car crash on the sixth lap of segment two.[190] In the Daytona 500, Gordon provided drafting help for teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who would eventually win the race, while Gordon finished fourth.[191] In the following races at Phoenix, Las Vegas and Bristol, Gordon finished fifth, ninth and seventh, and was the only driver to finish in the top ten in every race up to the Bristol race;[192] the four top tens to start the season is a career-best.[193] In the Auto Club 400, Gordon was penalized for speeding on pit road, along with trouble with a pit entrance warning light,[194] but later managed to take the lead on lap 106; Jimmie Johnson later became the leader, with Gordon following. Despite leading by .720 seconds by lap 178,[195] and Gordon starting to suffer from a vibration with 15 laps to go,[194] Johnson's flat tire with six laps remaining allowed Gordon to take the lead, but Clint Bowyer's spin with two laps left and the ensuing pit stop relegated Gordon to seventh. Gordon finished 13th after a green-white-checker finish.[196] At Texas, a caution with two laps remaining led to Gordon taking only two tires, and despite leading on the restart, Gordon was passed by Joey Logano on the final lap, and finished second. However, Gordon managed to take the points lead after the race, his first time leading the standings since May 2009.[197] In the Toyota Owners 400, Gordon led a race-high 173 laps, but finished second to Logano, marking his seventh top ten in nine races, tied with Matt Kenseth for the most.[198]
Wikinews has related news: Jeff Gordon wins in eleventh NASCAR Sprint Cup race of 2014



At Kansas, Gordon claimed the lead late in the race after Brad Keselowski pitted, and defeated Kevin Harvick by 0.112 seconds for his 89th career victory.[199]



Source
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Gordon