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Monday, August 6
Gordon leads active drivers in wins
Associated Press
| |  | | | Gordon |
INDIANAPOLIS -- Winning the Brickyard 400 for the third time
is only the latest in a long list of accomplishments by Jeff
Gordon. And at 30, NASCAR's golden boy is just reaching his prime.
Gordon, whose birthday was Saturday, didn't win his first
Winston Cup event until he was 22 and in his second full season in
the stock car series.
Since then, the victories have come in clusters, adding up to 56
after Sunday's triumph at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Gordon,
the winningest active driver on the circuit, is now in sole
possession of seventh place on the all-time victory list, one ahead
of Lee Petty and 20 behind the late Dale Earnhardt, who is sixth.
Since most Winston Cup drivers begin their peak years in their
early to mid-30s, the best of Gordon's career could be in front of
him. Does that mean that the record 200 victories by Richard Petty
-- Lee's son and the longtime King of NASCAR-- could be within his
reach?
"You know, I try not to think too far ahead," Gordon said. "I
think I've always been like that where I kind of live in the
moment. ... I never dreamed, never imagined that I'd be in this
type of position."
Gordon hopes that success at 30 "means that I'm coming into my
prime.
"If the next 10 are as good as these last 10 have been, I'm not
going to know what to think. But, in our business, just getting to
40 means something, too. That's why I think sometimes you've got to
live in the moment."
Gordon, a fan favorite here because he is a former resident of
nearby Pittsboro, felt a tidal wave of cheers from the more than
300,000 fans at Indy -- a rarity for the driver who more often hears
the boos.
He admitted he had tears in his eyes when he heard the
overwhelmingly positive reaction following his 10 car-length win
over Sterling Marlin.
Through most of his career, people have not given Gordon credit
for his accomplishments, laying the results on his good fortune in
driving for a big-money team like Hendrick Motorsports or having a
mentor like former crew chief Ray Evernham.
After one so-so -- for Gordon -- season, during which he and new
crew chief Robbie Loomis got used to each other while winning three
races and finishing ninth in the points, the team is apparently
well on its way to a fourth Winston Cup title.
Gordon will now head to the road course in Watkins Glen, N.Y. --
where he has won three of the last four races -- with a 160-point
lead over runner-up Dale Jarrett after 21 of 36 events.
Rick Hendrick, for whom Gordon has driven his entire Winston Cup
career, saw potential, of course, but never dreamed what he had
when he first put Gordon into one of his Chevrolets for his debut
in the season-ending race in Atlanta in 1992.
"He amazes me every time I see him in the car," Hendrick said
after joining Gordon for his latest victory celebration, kissing
the yard of bricks on the start-finish line at the Indy track.
"When he started, he had this raw unbelievable talent and
brains beyond anything I've seen," the team owner added. "But
Jeff matured so quick."
Hendrick has been particularly impressed at how Gordon has
stepped up as a leader since Evernham left late in the 1999 season
to start his own team and help Dodge re-enter the Winston Cup
series after 16 years.
"Before, I think he didn't have to be a leader," Hendrick
said. "Ray kind of led the team, and he was always telling Jeff,
`Do this. Come here.' Last year, Jeff stepped up and became
involved in the chassis and telling them on the radio what he
thought the car would need.
"I saw him mature to another level, I mean way beyond a
30-year-old. I've seen some 50-year-olds out here that are not as
mature as he's been."
Hendrick doesn't expect Gordon to lose any of his ability any
time soon, despite all his success and adulation at such a young
age.
"He's got the whole package, and you'd think it would flatten
out and level off, and it hasn't," Hendrick said. "It just keeps
getting better."
As for Gordon, he just wants to make sure he doesn't overlook
how good life is right now.
"I have no regrets," he said. "I've been very blessed and
have enjoyed it very, very much. So, no matter what happens, I'll
always say that I've had a wonderful life." Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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