Sunday, January 25, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NASCAR's driving force

Gordon equally adept at racing, promoting series

By JEFF WOLF
REVIEW-JOURNAL

NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon autographs a picture of himself for Evie Myers as her son Sean Myers looks on at the NASCAR Cafe on Friday. Photo by Clint Karlsen. JEFF GORDON • AGE: 32 • HOMETOWN: Vallejo, Calif. • NASCAR SEASONS: 12 • CAR NUMBER: 24 • WINSTON CUP WINS: 64 Jeff Gordon, the NASCAR Cup series' all-time money leader, will be at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Tuesday and Wednesday for preseason car testing. REVIEW-JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

Jeff Gordon is NASCAR's mainstream coverboy and, with an influx of younger drivers over the past few years, almost its elder statesman.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. inherited the spotlight from his late father, and while Junior is the draw for racing's younger demographic, it's Gordon who took NASCAR to Madison Avenue and has kept it there.

Gordon has won 64 races in NASCAR's premier Cup Series, including the 2001 event in Las Vegas, and four season championships over the past 12 seasons.

No other active driver can match those numbers.

The 32-year-old native of Vallejo, Calif., came to NASCAR at the right time. Since NASCAR became the darling of U.S. sports marketers, Gordon has been able to profit from corporate America's contributions by becoming the series' all-time money winner, with more than $56 million.

But Gordon insists his stature in the sport has greater benefits than his multimillion-dollar income.

"If it's all about you all the time and it's all about money all the time and it's all about winning, you're not going to be complete," he said. "You're not going to be happy.

"It's important to be involved in things that make you feel good about yourself and doing things for others. That's what makes everything balance out."

That's why Gordon recently visited injured U.S. soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

"You walk in and it takes their minds off it for a while. It's cool to be able to do that for somebody," he said.

He's still uneasy about how fans react to him, though he can't deny his superstar status.

"Even today it blows me away when people are nervous when they meet me or want a picture or autograph," he said. "It's a cool thing to experience, but it's also very awkward because you don't know how to take it or understand it.

"It's crazy how this sport has grown, and the people who follow it are amazing."

Gordon's fan base has broadened through his appearances on the nationally syndicated program "Live with Regis and Kelly" and last year's guest-host spot on "Saturday Night Live."

He'll add to his list of national TV appearances Thursday when he is a guest on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

Gordon is clearly NASCAR's best pitchman.

He arrived in Las Vegas late last Thursday and will test his No. 24 Chevrolet at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week, when most of the Cup teams visit the track.

Though this is officially racing's offseason, Gordon spent most of Friday morning doing media interviews to help sell tickets for the speedway's March 7 Cup race, and he will stay here for about a week.

He tapes a segment for the popular "Dr. Phil" television show today and films a commercial Monday for one of his team's sponsors. Car testing is Tuesday and Wednesday.

Somewhere in between, Gordon plans to "enjoy Vegas."

"It's a situation where it's still the offseason basically, but I figured I might as well stay, have some fun," he said.

Fun seems to be prevalent in Gordon's life these days.

It wasn't that way a year ago when he was distracted by his highly publicized divorce. By midsummer, the divorce was finalized, and it must have been a relief -- like finally ending a race after running last all day.

"I'm happy with life; I am," Gordon said. "I'm in a very comfortable place right now -- enjoying racing, enjoying life. I have a lot of great friends and family, everything I could ask for. I couldn't have any complaints."

He is eager for the season, which begins with the Budweiser Shootout exhibition race Feb. 7 at Daytona International Speedway. The official opener is the Feb. 15 Daytona 500.

"The coolest thing about our team and Hendrick Motorsports is we've had very few changes and only made additions to make us stronger," he said. "We're geared up and ready to go."

Gordon's team didn't need to do much tinkering after last season, when he led the most laps, won three races and finished fourth in the standings.

That's not to say he is content with that level of performance.

"You can be happy but not satisfied," Gordon said. "We're never satisfied unless we win the championship. That's what we strive for every year. I had an opportunity at one point in the season to do that, but we ran into a (stretch) of five or six races that took us out of it.

"You have to put that behind you and learn from it and get better because of it. I think we have, and that's why we're pumped about this year."