Jeff Gordon to retire after 2015 season

Reck said:
I dont think the writer is implying he was the sole reason. But did help move the sport forward tenfold.

Certainly I dont think Gordon made any of that happened. It was probably going to happen regardless but theres no denying his rapid success helped out NASCAR in a big way regarding the growth of it.

But I'm more interested and proud that he was the one who busted open the doors for other such great drivers that didn't necessarily have southern roots upbringing. That's cool.
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I think we agree for the most part. It was just the writers quote:

Without Jeff Gordon, there likely is no Texas Motor Speedway. Or Cup racing from Indianapolis to southern California. Or Cup racers from all points in between.

FWIW. I am Nitpicking a little, we both can agree that he has contributed in more ways than we can probably quantify. Gordon fans have every reason to be proud and to celebrate, and everyone else to at least respect.
Maybe on another day it wouldn't have caught my attention, still the same I think the quote is an overstatement.
 
hawg dawg said:
thinkin tim richmond was 1st ta do that .
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I think this is very true, Richmond had as much charisma as we will ever see.
Tim was different and attracted some new interest. But we only was able to witness his brilliance for a limited time, crap cars to begin with and then his health problems. TV coverage was also still more in development compared to the 90s.
Personally I found him more interesting. He was more of a rock star type, imo.
All of it is so subjective, I was younger than and that may have as much to do with my thoughts as a anything else.

But Gordon no doubt did it to a greater power. If for nothing else he sustained his peak performance for a longer period of time. One could say the milestones were bigger as in championships, wining bigger races the Winston Million etc, and definitely sustained over two decades, as opposed to Richmond.
 
Greg said:
I think this is very true, Richmond had as much charisma as we will ever see.
Tim was different and attracted some new interest. But we only was able to witness his brilliance for a limited time, crap cars to begin with and then his health problems. TV coverage was also still more in development compared to the 90s.
Personally I found him more interesting. He was more of a rock star type, imo.
All of it is so subjective, I was younger than and that may have as much to do with my thoughts as a anything else.

But Gordon no doubt did it to a greater power. If for nothing else he sustained his peak performance for a longer period of time. One could say the milestones were bigger as in championships, wining bigger races the Winston Million etc, and definitely sustained over two decades, as opposed to Richmond.
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don't like " what ifs " . but if tim had remained healthy ...... may not have been an hms jeff gordon. ??
tim was mr h's gplden boy then. jeff might have never gotten a ride w/ hms etc .....etc ..........
irrelevant regardless.
 
hawg dawg said:
don't like " what ifs " . but if tim had remained healthy ...... may not have been an hms jeff gordon. ??
tim was mr h's gplden boy then. jeff might have never gotten a ride w/ hms etc .....etc ..........
irrelevant regardless.
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Hard to say. He may have ditched Ken Schrader sooner and had both.
 
Greg said:
Tiger Woods sez you can never have to many "holes".
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Tiger-Woods-fistpump-slow-motion.gif
 
Team Penske said:
I think anyone would be royally pi**ed if you were taken out of the chase intentionally. That's the day I lost all respect for that driver.
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:bsflag:



Your didn't like him before Phoenix, never mind after. Clint had it coming to him.

What you need to do is hope and pray that the 24 doesn't do undo Brad what was done unto him at Texas. When you ask? Gordon's got all 36 races. :dpepsi: :lurk:
 
Aloha24fan said:
:bsflag:



Your didn't like him before Phoenix, never mind after. Clint had it coming to him.

What you need to do is hope and pray that the 24 doesn't do undo Brad what was done unto him at Texas. When you ask? Gordon's got all 36 races. :dpepsi: :lurk:
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YEP. :D :cheers:
 
Aloha24fan said:
:bsflag:



Your didn't like him before Phoenix, never mind after. Clint had it coming to him.

What you need to do is hope and pray that the 24 doesn't do undo Brad what was done unto him at Texas. When you ask? Gordon's got all 36 races. :dpepsi: :lurk:
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I dont think Gordon will stoop down to Brad's level ;) Jeff does what he's gotta do to send a message & moves on.

You see Kenseth messin with Gordon anymore?
You see Clint messin with Gordon anymore?
I dont think you'll see Brad get anywhere near Gordon this year either.
 
You just named 3 drivers that have more class than Jeff.
Of course I make that statement because it is my opinion only.
Unlike others who have a personal relationship with Jeff and may have inside information or are capable of reading minds,
I can only judge him by his actions. ( words mean nothing )
So I voice my unsubstantiated opinion.:)
 
Heroes (superstars, icons, whatever) are human too. Too be celebrated for the body of work as a whole, because there will always be some aberrant controversies, or at least some points of contention.

The Phoenix 2012 race was one of many many races in a long and storied career. I didn't agree with what happened there, but at this stage there is no reason to dwell on it, definitely not on this thread.
I was a Dale Sr. fan but he certainly wasn't perfect either.

I don't think this is just a racing analogy or thing. Babe Ruth one of Americas biggest icons maybe the greatest sports figure ever, at least a good argument can be made. But he had a countless number of flaws, on paper one one of the worst imaginable role models. But in spite of that he positively inspired millions.

There will always be some flaws for everyone of us, none of us are immune.

Growing up I wasn't a Bobby Allison fan. To me he was a Petty rival. Looking back on it I realized how silly I was, especially after he lost his two sons. The dude would come and run some races at GPS, how cool was that? a mill hill kid like me should have ate it up. I was really happy when he got his spot in the HoF.

I think most who don't care for Gordon will have a similar realization as well one day in the future.
 
Team Penske said:
You just named 3 drivers that have more class than Jeff.
Of course I make that statement because it is my opinion only.
Unlike others who have a personal relationship with Jeff and may have inside information or are capable of reading minds,
I can only judge him by his actions. ( words mean nothing )
So I voice my unsubstantiated opinion.:)
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Brad has more class then Gordon?:XXROFL:
 
Everyone has skeletons in the closet. EVERYONE. And Jeff's no different (no matter how many people raise an internet BS flag from their couch...doesn't change real life). Having said that, he's probably the most respected person in the entire garage (including owners. Everyone). He's also called the Bowyer incident the most regrettable of his career, and acknowledged the mistake - which is more than I can say for most drivers who make mistakes (including my boy Kurt). He's probably done more for NASCAR than anyone else in the history of the sport. As someone who grew up in NJ, where it wasn't on any of our radars, he's the guy who peeked my interest. He's the guy I rooted for because he's the guy who made it exciting for me. I'm one of millions like that. That's why Jeff Gordon is one of a kind.
 
I'm not really a Jeff Gordon fan but this year will be bittersweet to watch. I'm VERY sentimental. I'm sure I will shed many a tear throughout the year.


and don't you dare make fun of me.
 
It just dawned on me that this will put an end to his consecutive start run. If all goes well he'll be the new "Iron Man" at 797 after this year.

Current Consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Starts:
Jeff Gordon is the current leader
Ricky Rudd is the all time leader with 788 before he took the 2006 season off
the list of current streaks:
(thru 11-16-2014)Jeff Gordon, 761 [longest ever from the start of career, never missed a race] - started Atlanta 11/1992
Matt Kenseth, 538
Jimmie Johnson, 468
Ryan Newman, 468
Kevin Harvick, 460
Jamie McMurray, 436
Greg Biffle, 429
Carl Edwards, 365
Martin Truex Jr., 324
Clint Bowyer, 324
David Ragan, 288
Paul Menard, 272
Marcos Ambrose, 220
Joey Logano, 216
Brad Keselowski, 184
David Gilliland, 160
Casey Mears, 143
Kyle Busch, 110 [was at 249 before being parked at Texas in Nov 2011]
 
ChexOrWrex said:
I dont think Gordon will stoop down to Brad's level ;) Jeff does what he's gotta do to send a message & moves on.

You see Kenseth messin with Gordon anymore?
You see Clint messin with Gordon anymore?
I dont think you'll see Brad get anywhere near Gordon this year either.
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Kenseth wised up. At Charlotte Mister Ed ran into both the 20 and 14 on pit road. . . .pit freakin' road! But that's OK by a particular fan of his. :rolleyes:

Clint is either the dumbest driver in the garage, assuming that Jeff as his friend, would never retaliate, OR he side-swiped the 24 on 3 separate occasions ON PURPOSE, thinking as two friends that Jeff wouldn't retaliate, OR Clint's the worse driver in the garage and too ignorant to know any better. The 3rd sideswipe that put Jeff out of contention to win the race at Phoenix was the charm.

Maybe. But Mister Ed isn't known for having a brilliant mind. . . . .a big mouth yes, but not a brilliant mind. However, the possibility of Gordon being eliminated from the Chase before Homestead, he could make damn sure Mister Ed doesn't make it either. Gordon has absolutely nothing to lose. . . . . .Period.

Just sayin'
 
Allenbaba said:
Everyone has skeletons in the closet. EVERYONE. And Jeff's no different (no matter how many people raise an internet BS flag from their couch...doesn't change real life). Having said that, he's probably the most respected person in the entire garage (including owners. Everyone). He's also called the Bowyer incident the most regrettable of his career, and acknowledged the mistake - which is more than I can say for most drivers who make mistakes (including my boy Kurt). He's probably done more for NASCAR than anyone else in the history of the sport. As someone who grew up in NJ, where it wasn't on any of our radars, he's the guy who peeked my interest. He's the guy I rooted for because he's the guy who made it exciting for me. I'm one of millions like that. That's why Jeff Gordon is one of a kind.
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But it made me feel better. :D
 
Team Penske said:
You just named 3 drivers that have more class than Jeff.
Of course I make that statement because it is my opinion only.
Unlike others who have a personal relationship with Jeff and may have inside information or are capable of reading minds,
I can only judge him by his actions. ( words mean nothing )
So I voice my unsubstantiated opinion.:)
Click to expand...

Judging Charlotte, it's OK by you that Mister Ed was a lunatic at Charlotte, ramming into several cars on the track and two of them on pit freakin' road after the race. But not OK for Jeff to be mad at Mister Ed at Texas. Un huh, I see.
 
Johali said:
It just dawned on me that this will put an end to his consecutive start run. If all goes well he'll be the new "Iron Man" at 797 after this year.

Current Consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Starts:
Jeff Gordon is the current leader
Ricky Rudd is the all time leader with 788 before he took the 2006 season off
the list of current streaks:
(thru 11-16-2014)Jeff Gordon, 761 [longest ever from the start of career, never missed a race] - started Atlanta 11/1992
Matt Kenseth, 538
Jimmie Johnson, 468
Ryan Newman, 468
Kevin Harvick, 460
Jamie McMurray, 436
Greg Biffle, 429
Carl Edwards, 365
Martin Truex Jr., 324
Clint Bowyer, 324
David Ragan, 288
Paul Menard, 272
Marcos Ambrose, 220
Joey Logano, 216
Brad Keselowski, 184
David Gilliland, 160
Casey Mears, 143
Kyle Busch, 110 [was at 249 before being parked at Texas in Nov 2011]
Click to expand...

I wish the season was 3 events longer. Having a flat 800 starts would have been cool.
 
Allenbaba said:
Everyone has skeletons in the closet. EVERYONE. And Jeff's no different (no matter how many people raise an internet BS flag from their couch...doesn't change real life). Having said that, he's probably the most respected person in the entire garage (including owners. Everyone). He's also called the Bowyer incident the most regrettable of his career, and acknowledged the mistake - which is more than I can say for most drivers who make mistakes (including my boy Kurt). He's probably done more for NASCAR than anyone else in the history of the sport. As someone who grew up in NJ, where it wasn't on any of our radars, he's the guy who peeked my interest. He's the guy I rooted for because he's the guy who made it exciting for me. I'm one of millions like that. That's why Jeff Gordon is one of a kind.
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Very good post.
 
Greg said:
I just hope the wonder boy nick name didn't excit...stimula....arous....I mean motivate the Pope.

Sorry Gordon fans, can't pass on the tacky low brow jokes.
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Hey...... this ain't a Wake...... I just wanted to interject a little humor here. From all the posts I was reading....... I thought they were all out of the book of Revelations....... The end of time... the crying and gnashing of teeth and all that stuff. Believe me..... I know how hard it is to see someone you followed for years retire. But....... it ain't the end of the world. And they sure as hell don't pay your bills...... They are just folks that give us enjoyment. It's a way to pass the time......
 
kymartin6 said:
Hey...... this ain't a Wake...... I just wanted to interject a little humor here. From all the posts I was reading....... I thought they were all out of the book of Revelations....... The end of time... the crying and gnashing of teeth and all that stuff. Believe me..... I know how hard it is to see someone you followed for years retire. But....... it ain't the end of the world. And they sure as hell don't pay your bills...... They are just folks that give us enjoyment. It's a way to pass the time......
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Fk naw, I've got talent lined up. And correct. I've rarely lost sleep over a driver of mine having a bad day(it's definitely happened though haha).
 
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