Race Rock - Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon has been racing since before he could even read. He started on BMX bikes at age four, but soon switched to the safer quarter-midget race cars and go-karts to appease his concerned mother. Gordon quickly mastered that format, winning a national quarter-midget championship by the time he was eight. His family packed up and moved from Vallejo, California to Pittsboro, Indiana before he was old enough to get a driver's license so he could race open-wheel sprint cars against men twice his age. Now Gordon is the youngest active driver in Winston Cup racing, and he is the man to beat.

Gordon may be the new kid on the block, but there is no doubt that he can compete with the best. In fact, many believe that he is the best. Gordon erased many questions about his talent when he won two NASCAR Winston Cup Series in 1994, including the most prestigious stock car event ever run -- the inaugural Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His other victory was in NASCAR's longest race, the Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. He also won the 1994 Busch Clash, an exclusive race among the previous season's pole winners and was selected as a member of the McDonald's All Star Race Team for the second year in a row. (In 1993, he became the first rookie ever to receive this honor.) In fact, Gordon won more prize money--$1,607,010--than any NASCAR driver during the 31 races of 1994, en route to 14 top-ten finishes and seven top-five's.

Any lingering skeptics have surely been hushed by Gordon's remarkable performance in 1995. It has been an awesome year for Gordon, who has eight poles and seven victories and leads a number of other categories. He has won more than 600 events in open-wheel and NASCAR competition through the years, and his consistent performance has him on the fast track to his biggest victory of all--the 1995 Winston Cup championship.

Following the 1995 Winston Cup Championship, Gordon finished the 1996 season with the most victories, poles and laps led of the season: 10 victories, 5 poles and 2,313 laps led. He finished second in championship points, only 37 behind teammate Terry Labonte. 1997 proved to be even more rewarding when Gordon, once again was the Winston Cup Champion. Gordon had 10 victories, one pole, 23 top-ten finishes, won the Winston Million, the Winston and the Busch Clash. He won $4,201,227 in 1997, making him the first driver in NASCAR history to exceed $4 million in regular-season winnings.

Regardless of the outcome of the 1998 season, there's no denying that Jeff Gordon is a force to be reckoned with. In just a few years, Gordon has established himself as one of the leading contenders for victory at any given race. Legions of fans cheer on his #24 Hendrick Motorsports DuPont Automotive Finishes Chevrolet, and even his biggest rivals will admit that Jeff Gordon has the talent and drive of a born champion.

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