JOLIET, Ill.— Jeff Gordon hopped off a plane, his typical polished self, ready for a full day of appearances to promote NASCAR’s championship race. Then he glanced down at his black polo and saw for the first time the thick,
JOLIET, Ill.— Jeff Gordon hopped off a plane, his typical polished self, ready for a full day of appearances to promote NASCAR’s championship race. Then he glanced down at his black polo and saw for the first time the thick, white streaks of deodorant that had soiled his shirt.
“What a rookie move!” he crowed before he bee-lined for the closest bathroom.
Gordon had been rushed that morning. His wife, Ingrid, had been in New York City at Fashion Rocks, and the NASCAR superstar was home alone with his two small children. It made for a frenzied morning of getting Ella and Leo up and out the door to school, while also getting himself ready for a whirlwind media tour through Toronto.
The end result was a shirt stained with deodorant streaks on a driver known for an aplomb that made him the first NASCAR star to dazzle the suits on Madison Ave.
The height of his success was almost 20 years ago, when a young Gordon collected 40 wins in four seasons and won championships in 1995, 1997 and 1998. By the time he added his fourth championship, in 2001, Gordon could do no wrong.
He had a pretty wife, an appeal that brought in new NASCAR fans and opened doors that drivers had never been through before: Gordon is the first and only NASCAR driver to host “Saturday Night Live.”
But life has changed so much in the 13 years since. Gordon went through a public divorce, eventually remarried and started a family. And on the track, well, the wins were no longer so easy.
Now, at 43 years old, his passion for racing and winning has been revived. Gordon wants nothing more than to win his fifth series title — the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship begins Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway — and he has the full support of his family in chasing his goal. When Ingrid, who didn’t know Gordon when he was an annual threat for the championship, asked him what it would take to win a title, Gordon explained that it needed his full commitment.
“Meetings and testing and being well rested, trying not to have too many distractions,” Gordon said in an interview with The Associated Press. “There’s a fine line between balancing that out and being a good parent and a good race car driver. …
“When we haven’t won championships, we’ve had conversations of ‘What could I have done to help? What can the team do?’”
NATIONWIDE: Kevin Harvick gained valuable track position with an aggressive pit road call that pushed him to yet another win for JR Motorsports.
Harvick earned his fourth Nationwide Series win of the season — giving JR Motorsports nine on the year — with his victory at Chicagoland Speedway.
Harvick took the lead when crew chief Ernie Cope called for two tires on a pit stop 39 laps from the finish when Kyle Busch took four tires.
Kyle Larson finished second and Busch settled for third after leading 141 of the 200 laps. Busch then got the win in the Trucks Series race.
