Jeff Gordon Online

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

DARLINGTON, S.C. (May 6) - - If there's one track -- and one race -- on the circuit that exemplifies Jeff Gordon's career it's the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Gordon has seven career wins on NASCAR's toughest track, including six in the venerable 500-mile race. Racing at Darlington requires patience and persistence. You don't race the other drivers; you race the racetrack. And that racetrack shows no mercy and takes no prisoners. The track was recently repaved and Gordon spent two days testing tires for Goodyear in the spring. "I am really excited about the race there," Gordon said. "I thought they did a fantastic job with the repave. The track is smooth and obviously very fast. Because it was a repave, I thought it was very important for the three teams that went there to test, go back there and make sure we were on the tire we are going to race and really get a good test on them. I thought we did. Still, I think it is going to be a little bit too fast this first race, but I think each race you are going to see the pace drop a little bit and the racing continue to get better and better. It should be a really good Darlington race I am looking forward to." Gordon has four consecutive top-three finishes at Darlington, highlighted by last year's victory on Mother's Day. Rain had postponed the Saturday night race to Sunday. Gordon's car began overheating late in the race. With steam pouring out of the overflow, he took the checkered flag for one of the most dramatic wins of his career. And all the bells were ringin'

Monday night at the Met: Jeff Gordon skipped the afternoon and night test sessions at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 5 to attend the Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual Costume Institute gala hosted by Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
Arrival photos: 1 | 2 | 3

Monthly Columnist
The Commish
(Updated May 1)

SPEED STATS

After 11 Races

Year Wins Pts.

2008 0 --
2007 3 1
2006 0 6
2005 3 3

Starts 10

Poles 2

Wins 0

Top-5 3

Top-10 4

DNF's 3

Jeff's 5 Race Snapshot

Track Finish

Texas 43

Phoenix 13

Talladega 19

Richmond 9

Darlngton --

Learn As You Go
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 6) - - Jeff Gordon and the rest of the Sprint Cup drivers tested at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 5-6. "We're learning about the grip of the tires, the grip with this car on this track," Gordon said. "Obviously this was not a scheduled test and so I think it’s just great for us to get extra information. We're just gathering all kinds of data with the car and looking for speed and sometimes that just takes more time. When you only have a couple of hours of practice when you get to the race track, sometimes it’s tough to find that. You can take your time a little bit more and try things." Gordon only participated in the morning session on Monday before flying to New York after his mid-day press conference. He returned for all sessions on Tuesday.
<<JG comments - Monday

Video: JG discusses the Charlotte test

Testing photos: Debrief | Information sharing | Zoom

Stride Right
RICHMOND, VA. (May 4) - - It was an uphill climb for Jeff Gordon during the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway. He started dead last after the team needed to change the engine starter before the race. With traffic at the outset, he fell a lap down by lap 45. But he rallied back in fine fashion and posted a 9th place finish. While Gordon was not a factor for the lead during the night, he passed more cars than any other driver on the track. What looked like a runaway victory for Denny Hamlin turned late in the event when a flat tire sent Hamlin to pit road. He had led 381 of the 382 laps up to that point. Dale Earnhardt Jr inherited the top spot but was wrecked by Kyle Busch just 10 laps from the finish. Clint Bowyer scooted past Busch when he checked up for Earnhardt Jr's spin. Bowyer held off Busch in a final two-lap sprint to win his second career race. Gordon's 9th place effort was his first top-10 finish since Martinsville. He moved up to 13th in the points standings, just 6 points out of the final qualifying spot for the chase for the championship. "I thought we were about an 8th or 9th place car," Gordon said. "There were a couple cars that had problems there at the end so maybe a 7th place car. We came in and got tires there and it was the right move, but some other guys took two tires and got ahead of us. To start 43rd, go a lap down, and then have to get our lap back, I'm really proud of this team. We didn't make a lot of gains in the points, but we didn’t lose anything."

Ticket Giveaway Winners
SOUTH FLORIDA. (April 28) - - It's often said the best things in life are free. Pairs of tickets to May events in Charlotte were given away free of charge. There were four winners for each pair of tickets to the All-Star qualifying/Truck race, the All-Star Challenge event, pole night for the Coke 600, and the Nationwide Series race. The tickets were given away through a fan photo contest. Congrats to Brad Hunsaker, Sylvi Cheney, Steve Martin, and Bill.
<<Ticket winners for May races

Hockey Night in NYC: Jeff Gordon and Ingrid Vandebosch were active spectators at the New York Rangers playoff game on April 16. It was a great night for the home team as the Rangers won 5-3 on a late goal by Marc Staal.
<<Photo 1 | <<Photo 2

Monthly Recap: April Random News

Sports Illustrated: Ingrid Vandebosch is featured in the SI swimsuit issue.
<<JGF charity drive winners - collected $761.60
<<Fire & Flames Brigade- internet radio (Aug-Oct 2006)
Banners: Through the years

Heard On The Fan Forum

"It was great to see the 24 pass some cars again instead of being passed at Richmond. They overcame adversity and had a great race. Now on to Darlington. I expect a great race from these guys and hopefully a win. They need to grab the momentum they have started right now and take it home to Charlotte." - posted by 24willrebound (May 5)
fan forum

Finish Line Race Gear

In memory of Russ Harris

JG Pages

Statistics
-Sprint Cup
-Busch

Images

IROC

Special Paint Schemes

Misc. Info

Team Info

#24 team roster

Hendrick Motorsports

HMS By The Numbers

General Info

All-time Winners

Other Pages

Fan Zone

"I look back and see what Jeff and I had, and there is no doubt he was the greatest race driver I could have possibly had. In my mind, he is still the greatest race driver."

Ray Evernham (2004)

2008 Paint Schemes

DuPont Chevrolet
(28 races)
Nicorette Green
(Las Vegas-March)
(Phoenix-April)
(Chicago-July)
(Richmond-September)
(Atlanta-October)
(Texas-November
Pepsi Stuff
(Talladega-April)
DuPont/Troops
(Charlotte-May)
Pepsi
(Fontana-August)

In Memory - Bill Simmerman