Gordon always a favorite in Las Vegas

Another of the stars of Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon comes to Las Vegas as a former winner of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The four-time NASCAR Series champion is always among the favorites at LVMS.

Gordon won his first series championship in 1995 about the time Las Vegas Motor Speedway was under construction and awaiting its first major event in 1996. With 17 top-five efforts and 23 top-10s, Gordon was embarking on a sparkling championship that also signaled the beginning of LVMS.

The native of Vallejo, Calif., came back to win his second NASCAR Cup championship in 1997 not long before it was announced that LVMS would be awarded its first Cup race in 1998.

Mark Martin, who competed at the old Craig Road Speedway in North Las Vegas in the late 1970s, won the inaugural NASCAR Cup event at LVMS in 1998. Gordon finished 17th before rebounding to win his third championship later that year with 13 victories, 26 top-five finishes and 28 top 10s.

After finishing sixth and ninth the next two years, Gordon drove his No. 24 to his fourth crown in 2001 with 18 top fives and 24 top 10s.

Smooth on the track and off it as one of NASCAR’s most popular drivers, Gordon hasn’t won a NASCAR Cup title since 2001, the same year that Dale Earnhardt died in a wreck at Daytona Motor Speedway to open the season. He finished second in 2007, 77 points behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, and third behind Johnson and Martin in 2009.

Since then, Gordon has finished ninth, eighth, 10th and sixth in the Cup points standings. He had 11 victories in 2005 and 12 in 2012, illustrating that the DuPont Chevrolet is never too far from the front. Evidence of his success has been the fact his overall career winnings have been almost $102 million.

Add in that Gordon is third in career wins with 88, behind Richard Petty (200) and David Pearson (105), and it’s easy to see why his career has been wildly successful.

Gordon, who joined Hendrick Motorsports in 1993, finished fourth behind Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski in the rain-delayed Daytona 500 on Feb. 23. He followed with a fifth-place finish at The Profit on CNBC 500 on Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway.

To say that Gordon is hungry is a huge understatement. While it has been 11 years since he won at the track now know as “The Diamond in The Desert,” you can bet that the 41-year-old will be among the top selections at Southern Nevada sports books.