Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is a professional 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 Sprint Cup) Series champion, three-time Daytona 500 winner, and driver of the #24 DuPont/Pepsi/United States National Guard Chevrolet Impala. He, along with Rick Hendrick, are the co-owners of the #48 Lowe's sponsored team, driven by Jimmie Johnson, who won the 2006, 2007 & 2008 NEXTEL Cup series championships. Gordon also has an equity stake in his own #24 team.
Racing career
Early career
Jeff Gordon began racing at the age of five racing quarter midgets. The Roy Hayer Memorial Race Track (Previously the CrackerJack Track) in Rio Linda, California is noted as the first track Gordon ever competed on. By the Age of 6 Jeff Gordon won 35 main events and set 5 track records.[1] By the age of 13 Jeff took an interest in the 650 horsepower (480 kW) sprint cars. Jeff Gordon and his family had to overcome an insurance hurtle. The minimum age for driving the sprint cars was 16. His persistence paid off with an all Florida speed weeks. Supporting his career choice, Gordon's family moved from Vallejo, California to Pittsboro, Indiana, where there were more opportunities for younger racers. 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.[2] 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.[2] In 1991, Gordon into the USAC Silver Crown, and at the age of 20 became the youngest driver to win the season championship.[2] He also won the 4 Crown Nationals midget car race that season.[2] In his midget car career between 1989 and 1992, he finished in the Top 3 in 22 of 40 USAC midget car events.[2]
Busch Series Career
In 1991 and 1992 Jeff Gordon went on to the Busch Series driving for Bill Davis Racing. In his first year as a Busch driver he won rookie of the year. In 1992 Jeff Gordon set a NASCAR record by capturing 11 poles in one season. His time with Bill Davis racing introduced Jeff to Ray Evernham as his crew chief. He was sponsored by Carolina Ford Dealers in 1991 and Baby Ruth in 1992. 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.
Cup career
In 1993, Gordon raced his first full season in Winston Cup (now the Sprint Cup) for Hendrick Motorsports, in which he won a Daytona 500 qualifying race, the Rookie of the Year award, and finished 14th in points. Ray Evernham was placed as Jeff Gordon's first crew chief. 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.
1994
In 1994, Gordon collected his first career victory at the Charlotte 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. Gordon finished eighth in the Winston Cup point standings for the '94 season, as Earnhardt grabbed the driving championship for his 7th and final time.
1995-2001
1995 saw Jeff Gordon win his first NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. He won it by battling 7-time and defending champ, Dale Earnhardt into the final race of the season. Many see this as a symbolic passing of the torch, as Gordon collected his first championship the year after Earnhardt won his seventh and final championship. Earnhardt won his first championship in 1980, the year after Richard Petty won his seventh and final championship.
Gordon got off to a rocky start in 1996, but rebounded to win ten races. He finished 2nd to teammate Terry Labonte for the championship.
Jeff Gordon won his first Daytona 500 in 1997. Later in the season he also won the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte 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 determined Jeff Burton in the final laps of the Southern 500 at Darlington. While Elliott failed to win the Winston Cup in 1985, Jeff Gordon claimed his second Winston Cup championship in 1997, completing one of the most impressive single-season performances in NASCAR history.
1997 racecar
In 1998 Gordon successfully defended his victories in the Coca-Cola 600 and the Southern 500, winning a record four consecutive Southern 500s in the process. Gordon also won his second Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. According to most NASCAR drivers the race at Indianapolis has become second in prestige only to the Daytona 500. Gordon finished the 1998 season with a victory in the season finale at Atlanta. This was his 13th victory of the season and tied Richard Petty's modern era record of 13 wins in a single season.
In 1999, Gordon along with crew chief Evernham formed Gordon/Evernham Motorsports. 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.
Many people questioned Jeff Gordon's ability to win championships without longtime crew chief, Ray Evernham, especially after Gordon struggled to a 9th place points finish in 2000, winning only three races. Gordon answered those challenges in 2001 by winning 6 races en route to his 4th Winston Cup championship. Jeff Gordon became the third driver to win four Cup championships in NASCAR history only second to Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt (7 times).
2002-2003
Jeff Gordon struggled in 2002, not winning til the fall Bristol race, and winning at Darlington and Kansas
In 2003, Jeff Gordon returned with Robbie Loomis for a third season together. Jeff won early in April, winning Martinsville, and winning Atlanta and Martinsville again in the fall. He finished the year 4th in the NASCAR standings, with 3 wins, 15 Top-5 finishes, and 20 Top-10 finishes. Jeff also was in second in rank to Matt Kenseth for the championship early in the season.
2004
Gordon won the Brickyard 400 in August 2004, obtaining his 4th Indy win (1994, 1998, 2001, 2004). He is 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. 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.
2005
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 (0.847 km) 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
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