By The Commish

October 6 is always a special day for Jeff Gordon fans. It’s the anniversary of a groundbreaking announcement between Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports that ensured that Gordon fans— and his race teams— would never worry about "silly season" again. On October 6, 1999, at the end of a tumultuous month that saw the sport's most successful driver/crew chief split up and the future of the Rainbow Warriors called into question, Gordon signed what is commonly called his "lifetime contract" with Hendrick Motorsports. It was the culmination of a long and complex series of events that prefigured many of the changes we’ve seen in the sport since then.

At the end of 1998, as he finished his sixth full year in the Winston Cup series, Jeff Gordon had three championships, 42 wins, and one wish—never to negotiate a contract again. The young driver had already been through two contentious contract negotiations in his career-- first in his late teens, when his inability to bring in a multimillion dollar sponsor derailed his open-wheel career and sent him to stock cars, and then in 1992 when Gordon left Bill Davis' Busch team for a long-term offer with Hendrick Motorsports. In both cases, Gordon was traumatized by criticism from fans and sporting insiders over his decisions. And never liking conflict, he wanted to do something about it.

He found a receptive audience in Rick Hendrick, who realized what a valuable asset Gordon had become not only to his own team but to Hendrick Motorsports in general and to Chevrolet as well. Both the owner and the manufacturer were aware that Daimler/Chrysler was planning its return to NASCAR competition with its Dodge brand, and they were equally aware that Dodge was looking for marquee names to lead its return. Gordon, whose contract was in its last year, was an obvious target for Dodge’s efforts.

So was Ray Evernham, under contract until 2006, but growing more ambitious than his role as Gordon's crew chief allowed. With Rick Hendrick away from the team because of legal and health issues, Evernham had become de facto team manager of the #24 and #5 teams—- though not without resistance from the latter. To keep his talented crew chief happy, Rick Hendrick reportedly offered to create the position of vice-president for racing operations for Evernham, but by September 1999 it was obvious that Evernham would be leaving the Hendrick organization.

Dodge had come through with an offer Evernham literally couldn’t refuse. Not only did he have the opportunity to design and lead the Dodge return to Cup racing, but would assume ownership of its flagship factory team, a guaranteed $20+ million annual sponsorship, and access to all of its engineering resources. Along with this was the authorization to offer Evernham's prize driver, Gordon, anything—- literally anything-— he wanted if he would sign with Dodge. And the Dodge offer wasn’t the only one that had been presented, at least informally, to Gordon. He had been approached from multiple teams in both the Chevy and Ford camps. On September 10, 1999, as Gordon tells the story, Evernham came to Gordon's hotel room in Richmond with a contract in his briefcase. Gordon declined the offer and the two friends shook hands and parted. Gordon later wrote, "It was one of the oddest feelings I've ever had."

After months of negotiation, Gordon knew what his future held if he remained loyal to his current team. Hendrick offered Gordon what Dodge could not—security and freedom from criticism, along with the business opportunities the younger driver sought. Stressing the Hendrick tradition of family and loyalty, Hendrick offered Gordon an equity partnership rather than the traditional driver contract. While Gordon would still earn a base salary, the largest percentage of winnings and souvenir sales in the garage, and substantive sponsor bonuses, the heart of Hendrick's deal was an incentive-laden formula by which Gordon would acquire a percentage of his own Cup team. Not only would he be a partial owner in his own car, Hendrick's offer included leveraging that equity into ownership of a new Cup team to be fielded jointly by Gordon and Hendrick. The more successful Gordon was, the more of his team he would own and the faster he would gain the credit needed to start a Cup team. He would join the Hendrick family as part of the organization's ownership team.

Although giving up part of the ownership in the sport's most successful team was a wrench to Hendrick, he knew this was the best solution. "I had always hoped that Jeff would be here with us forever," he said. "From my standpoint, there was never any other decision. We spent a lot of time working on this. We just kind of went shoulder to shoulder and got it done." Gordon was equally enthusiastic. "I feel like I've been a partner in Hendrick Motorsports ever since I began racing here in 1992," Gordon said. "My dream has always been to be here, associated with Rick and Hendrick Motorsports and that #24 car as long as I'm driving a race car."

On some fronts, it may look like Hendrick Motorsports got the best of the deal. Hendrick freely admitted that the organization wanted Gordon for more than his driving talent. "Jeff has gained phenomenal marketing experience, plus he really understands licensing," Hendrick said. The base salary that Gordon accepted is far less than the salaries currently earned by Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The deep friendship between Hendrick and Gordon makes it highly unlikely that Gordon would ever try to break the agreement for purely financial reasons. Some critics have suggested that the lifetime contract may have created an atmosphere of complacency, not forcing Gordon to run as hard as he might have over the past few years. Gordon, of course, denies those suggestions. His success as co-owner of Jimmie Johnson's team has obviously ensured that Gordon hasn't lost on the deal.

About a week after the Hendrick Motorsports plane crash in October 2004, Rick and Linda Hendrick returned to the race shop for the first time for lunch with all their employees. Gordon described that day as "an amazing experience. How they all had the strength to get up and say what they said to the people was incredible. What they say about family ties throughout the Hendrick family and Hendrick Motorsports-- they just took it to a whole new level. They are family to me, and I knew it before, but this proved beyond a doubt that I don't want to ever drive for anyone else." Thanks to a Wednesday afternoon in October 1999, he'll never have to.

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