| | | | | | | 24 - Jeff Gordon | Pittsboro, IN |
| | Primary Sponsor: DuPont
Manufacturer: Chevrolet
Car Owner: Rick Hendrick
Team: Hendrick Motorsports With 75 career NASCAR victories, it’s no wonder Jeff Gordon’s fans expect great things from him. The four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion had also won the Daytona 500 three times and the Brickyard 400 four times. He also holds a record nine road course victories.
When Jeff was five years old, he and his stepfather converted a fairground into a makeshift track in Vallejo, California, his hometown. Jeff began running laps on the track, tapping into his natural talent at an early age.
He started racing quarter midgets, and when he was just six years old, he won 35 main events and set five track records.
Next he set his sights on sprint cars, but there was one problem. He was only 13 years old at the time and the according to the rules the minimum age to drive a 650 horsepower machine was 16. After appealing to the insurance companies, Jeff was allowed to participate in the All Star Florida Speedweeks. His success prompted Jeff’s family to move to Pittsboro, Indiana, so Jeff could better learn the sport. Jeff’s driving abilities and his young age garnered national attention, and he earned track championships at Bloomington Speedway and a title at Eldora Speedway.
But soon Jeff would drive a stock car for the first time – after that he told his parents that’s what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Jeff met a man named Hugh Connerty, who secured funding for a car through Outback Steakhouse. The car went to a test for the Busch Grand National race in Charlotte in 1990. Ray Evernham, then unknown in the motorsports community, was asked to come work with Jeff, and they ran a few races together to end the 1990 Busch Grand National season.
Then in 1991, Jeff and Bill Davis entered into an agreement for Jeff to drive for the ’91 season. The same year Jeff won rookie of the year driving the Carolina Ford Dealers car. And for the 1992 season, Nestle Chocolate, with its Baby Ruth brand, sponsored the car, and Davis hired Evernham at Daytona the same year.
People really started to take notice of the rookie racer in 1992, including Rick Hendrick. It was the first time the Busch cars ran at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Jeff sat on the pole and won the race. Almost 15 years later, Jeff is still winning races and he’s still a part of Hendrick Motorsports.
Jeff is married to Ingrid Vandebosch, and the couple is expecting their first child.
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