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HardScrabble
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Nice article.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- On a recent, rainy night of qualifying, Jeff Gordon didn't wait for NASCAR to suspend on-track activities.
He'd already run his lap and knew he wasn't fast enough to take the pole even if qualifying resumed, so he saw no reason to stick around.
Instead, he grabbed some friends and caught a concert by hip-hop star Nelly, who mentions Gordon by name in one of his songs.
There was a time when Gordon would never have dreamed of doing that, when the race track and everything going on around it was the most important thing.
That was before this year, when the 31-year-old Gordon shook up his life.
He's getting a divorce and breaking free from his corporate poster-boy mode. He's hanging out with friends more, partying a little bit here and there, and learning to enjoy the spoils of his success.
"I have noticed that this season he is, quite frankly, more like the Jeff Gordon who burst on the scene years ago, full of vim and vinegar," said NASCAR vice president Jim Hunter. "He's running wide-open again."
After 10 years and four Winston Cup championships, this has been a defining year for Gordon.
He went 31 races without a victory - the longest winless streak since it took him until his 42nd career start to make it to Victory Lane.
Although he's seventh in the points standings and still mathematically in contention to defend his Winston Cup title, he's long accepted he won't win his fifth championship this season.
He's disappointed, but not devastated.
Racing and winning is still the most important thing in his life, but it's not the only thing.
"I think in a lot of ways, I've enjoyed life more this year than I have in past years, but at the same time, I've had a lot more complications, a lot more headaches," Gordon said.
One of the headaches is the ongoing split from his former wife, Brooke, who filed for divorce in March. The legal wrangling thrust Gordon out of the sports pages and into the tabloids and followed him through most of the season.
"The divorce is something I'm really, really looking forward to getting behind me," he said. "I think I can have a much more enjoyable life once that's behind me, providing a lot more balance."
Finding that balance has been a main focus of this year for Gordon.
When he first came into NASCAR, those who knew him remember an excitable young kid who wanted to win races and have as much fun as he could while doing it.
Somewhere along the way he changed, became reserved and left the NASCAR community in Charlotte for an isolated life in Florida.
He won races and championships, earned more money than any other driver in history, and focused a lot of time and energy in becoming a corporate spokesman.
The Gordon everyone had known before he became a superstar was gone, and his circle of friends had drifted away.
It was Gordon, his wife, and a schedule packed full of commitments.
"When he came into the NASCAR garage, he was so happy to be there, doing what he wanted to do, and then it was almost like he took a leave of absence," Hunter said. "He is the epitome of a racer. That is what he does, that is what he wants to do, and maybe he went through a period of time when he was dislodged from that through his other responsibilities.
"Now, he's back to being a racer."
Gordon insists he's the same person he always was. But there came a day when he didn't like the image that was being presented, didn't like the way he was living, didn't like focusing on just one thing.
"I haven't changed," he said. "I just think I'm just being a little bit more myself than I have. I think I got a little reserved, a little bit overprotective about who I was and what I portrayed out there in the public eye.
"My life changed drastically in the first four, five years of Winston Cup. I think it made me nervous. Instead of just dealing with it head-on, I kind of backed away from it and hid a little bit too much."
Breaking out of his shell hasn't been without its share of speed bumps.
Although he's spending a lot more time in Charlotte, and a lot more time in his office at Hendrick Motorsports, his sudden presence took getting used to.
Robbie Loomis, his crew chief, spent the first year of their partnership operating on a business-only relationship. With Gordon now hanging around so much - and single again - they became buddies. And that, Loomis said, doesn't always bode well in racing.
"I identified it was going that way, and for us to be successful on the track, you can't let yourself be too good of friends," Loomis said. "Without either one of us saying anything, we kind of backed it up and got back to business.
"We had to spend what time we had together talking about the race car and not other things. The focus has to be on the team."
In fact, Loomis can point to three races from the early part of the year he believes Gordon should have won. He blames himself for letting wins at the Daytona 500, Bristol and Martinsville get away.
"There were missed opportunities because I didn't bring the focus in," Loomis said. "Part of it is because I let myself get too close and be a friend and let my racing part get away."
But the new single Gordon, and the ongoing divorce, never distracted the driver, Loomis said.
"When he got in the car, his driving was good," Loomis said. "Maybe when he downloaded and got out of the car, he had a bigger fish to fry. But whatever race car was sitting there, he got the most out of it that day."
And that is what Gordon has always maintained.
After 10 years of big-time racing, of being one of the biggest names in NASCAR history, he's felt like he's lived 100 years. He feels like an old man trapped in a young man's body, searching for the right mix of professional success and personal happiness.
While looking, he never lost the focus of being one of the greatest racers ever.
"I don't want life to just be a big party and have fun; that's not what it's all about," he said. "You've got to work hard for everything that you get that's good, and then you've got to learn how to work hard at enjoying what you've accomplished.
"I just want to be happy, and I want my life to be balanced. And I'm not saying I've figured it all out, but I'm working on it."
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- On a recent, rainy night of qualifying, Jeff Gordon didn't wait for NASCAR to suspend on-track activities.
He'd already run his lap and knew he wasn't fast enough to take the pole even if qualifying resumed, so he saw no reason to stick around.
Instead, he grabbed some friends and caught a concert by hip-hop star Nelly, who mentions Gordon by name in one of his songs.
There was a time when Gordon would never have dreamed of doing that, when the race track and everything going on around it was the most important thing.
That was before this year, when the 31-year-old Gordon shook up his life.
He's getting a divorce and breaking free from his corporate poster-boy mode. He's hanging out with friends more, partying a little bit here and there, and learning to enjoy the spoils of his success.
"I have noticed that this season he is, quite frankly, more like the Jeff Gordon who burst on the scene years ago, full of vim and vinegar," said NASCAR vice president Jim Hunter. "He's running wide-open again."
After 10 years and four Winston Cup championships, this has been a defining year for Gordon.
He went 31 races without a victory - the longest winless streak since it took him until his 42nd career start to make it to Victory Lane.
Although he's seventh in the points standings and still mathematically in contention to defend his Winston Cup title, he's long accepted he won't win his fifth championship this season.
He's disappointed, but not devastated.
Racing and winning is still the most important thing in his life, but it's not the only thing.
"I think in a lot of ways, I've enjoyed life more this year than I have in past years, but at the same time, I've had a lot more complications, a lot more headaches," Gordon said.
One of the headaches is the ongoing split from his former wife, Brooke, who filed for divorce in March. The legal wrangling thrust Gordon out of the sports pages and into the tabloids and followed him through most of the season.
"The divorce is something I'm really, really looking forward to getting behind me," he said. "I think I can have a much more enjoyable life once that's behind me, providing a lot more balance."
Finding that balance has been a main focus of this year for Gordon.
When he first came into NASCAR, those who knew him remember an excitable young kid who wanted to win races and have as much fun as he could while doing it.
Somewhere along the way he changed, became reserved and left the NASCAR community in Charlotte for an isolated life in Florida.
He won races and championships, earned more money than any other driver in history, and focused a lot of time and energy in becoming a corporate spokesman.
The Gordon everyone had known before he became a superstar was gone, and his circle of friends had drifted away.
It was Gordon, his wife, and a schedule packed full of commitments.
"When he came into the NASCAR garage, he was so happy to be there, doing what he wanted to do, and then it was almost like he took a leave of absence," Hunter said. "He is the epitome of a racer. That is what he does, that is what he wants to do, and maybe he went through a period of time when he was dislodged from that through his other responsibilities.
"Now, he's back to being a racer."
Gordon insists he's the same person he always was. But there came a day when he didn't like the image that was being presented, didn't like the way he was living, didn't like focusing on just one thing.
"I haven't changed," he said. "I just think I'm just being a little bit more myself than I have. I think I got a little reserved, a little bit overprotective about who I was and what I portrayed out there in the public eye.
"My life changed drastically in the first four, five years of Winston Cup. I think it made me nervous. Instead of just dealing with it head-on, I kind of backed away from it and hid a little bit too much."
Breaking out of his shell hasn't been without its share of speed bumps.
Although he's spending a lot more time in Charlotte, and a lot more time in his office at Hendrick Motorsports, his sudden presence took getting used to.
Robbie Loomis, his crew chief, spent the first year of their partnership operating on a business-only relationship. With Gordon now hanging around so much - and single again - they became buddies. And that, Loomis said, doesn't always bode well in racing.
"I identified it was going that way, and for us to be successful on the track, you can't let yourself be too good of friends," Loomis said. "Without either one of us saying anything, we kind of backed it up and got back to business.
"We had to spend what time we had together talking about the race car and not other things. The focus has to be on the team."
In fact, Loomis can point to three races from the early part of the year he believes Gordon should have won. He blames himself for letting wins at the Daytona 500, Bristol and Martinsville get away.
"There were missed opportunities because I didn't bring the focus in," Loomis said. "Part of it is because I let myself get too close and be a friend and let my racing part get away."
But the new single Gordon, and the ongoing divorce, never distracted the driver, Loomis said.
"When he got in the car, his driving was good," Loomis said. "Maybe when he downloaded and got out of the car, he had a bigger fish to fry. But whatever race car was sitting there, he got the most out of it that day."
And that is what Gordon has always maintained.
After 10 years of big-time racing, of being one of the biggest names in NASCAR history, he's felt like he's lived 100 years. He feels like an old man trapped in a young man's body, searching for the right mix of professional success and personal happiness.
While looking, he never lost the focus of being one of the greatest racers ever.
"I don't want life to just be a big party and have fun; that's not what it's all about," he said. "You've got to work hard for everything that you get that's good, and then you've got to learn how to work hard at enjoying what you've accomplished.
"I just want to be happy, and I want my life to be balanced. And I'm not saying I've figured it all out, but I'm working on it."
Ya think that was paraphrased a bit?
