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Conversation: Jeff Gordon
July 29, 2002
3:03 PM EDT (1903 GMT)
Audio: Jeff Gordon Conversation (WAV format)
Audio: Jeff Gordon Conversation (DSS format)
LONG POND, Pa. -- Jeff Gordon continues to evolve as a bona-fide personality and performance icon in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.
Despite the fact that Gordon's winless skein in Winston Cup has reached 28 races, he has still maintained a competitive edge in his quest for a fifth Winston Cup title.
Gordon took a break at Pocono Raceway on a Saturday morning before Winston Cup practice to sit down in the lounge of his No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet's hauler with NASCAR.com's Dave Rodman to discuss hometown hangouts, Winston Cup cars on dirt and a birthday celebration for 300,000.
For Jeff Gordon, there's an awful lot going on in your life right now, both outside of racing and inside the sport. For everyone that's concerned, how is Jeff Gordon doing?
I'm doing good, you know? I'm just really into the team and living my life one day at a time. Things have been going well on the race track -- I mean, a little up and down, but I've got a lot of people -- family and friends -- that have been great. They've been there for me, supporting me and I'm happy.
Richard Petty used to always say that being in the race car was his time -- that that was his refuge. Have you felt that way in the past and is it even more the case, now?
There is so much that goes into the whole series and into getting these race cars around the track.
Three men, 12 Winston Cup titles Credit: Autostock
Your mind is on it so much, whether it be testing or preparing for the race or once you get there for that race weekend and you're in the car.
When you're in that car your mind definitely is on nothing else but how can I get this car around the race track faster and faster and faster.
I guess in a lot of ways it is the place I feel most comfortable, the place that when I get into that car I feel like there's nothing else that's coming into my mind but driving that race car.
People talk about "the streak" -- the winless streak that's at 27 races. Is that kind of an illusion since the team has been running well and you are a Winston Cup championship contender?
Well, wins are wins; and when you're not winning, you're not winning.
Unfortunately we haven't had everything go our way well enough to get to Victory Lane. We've certainly been good enough -- the cars, the team -- everything's been in place, it just hasn't happened yet.
Credit: Autostock
We know that being fifth in points we're certainly in the championship. As well as we've run and led laps at a lot of places (we know) that we're certainly capable of winning races.
We just have to stick together, and this team has. That's the thing I'm most proud of is that how well these guys have stayed confident in themselves and have stuck together.
You haven't seen the team being tore down or anything like that and they've certainly had reasons to do that.
But that's why this team is where it is and that's why we've won so many races and championships in the past, just because of how strong of a unit they are and that's why we're going to win races in the future.
You're about to go home to race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Is a hometown race -- especially the Brickyard 400 -- a blessing or a curse?
I love going there. Obviously I'm busy when I'm there they pull me in a lot of different directions so my schedule gets pretty hectic, but it's getting to do great things.
Being around fans that are cheering for you I don't hear nearly as many boos when I go to Indianapolis and that's always a good thing.
We've found many ways to get to Victory Lane at that track so that's always exciting -- we've won that race three times, now.
We've got some things going on with the Jeff Gordon Foundation there. We support the Riley Hospital for Children and we've got a bowling tournament that's going on and we're going to be doing QVC.
To me it's an exciting weekend and it's going to be different this time, racing on a Sunday. That certainly makes things interesting.
Do you have a chance to hit any old hangouts, or be with old friends; or to any degree are you a prisoner?
Gordon is chasing his fourth Brickyard 400 win. Credit: Autostock
Gordon: You have to remember, I was 16 or 17 when I was there, so I don't really have any old hangouts. I basically moved right when I graduated from high school, but I do get to see friends I went to school with and hang out with them a little bit.
I was racing so much when I was there that even the kids I went to school with -- they never saw me. I didn't get to see as many school functions or make as many close friends as maybe I would have if I was on a team sport or a school sport.
But the friends that I did make good bonds with I do get a chance to go back and see them.
You have a charity bowling event on Thursday. Is it special to get a chance to combine a passion for that sport with the passion you have for doing charity work?
Gordon: I really have gotten into the (Jeff Gordon) Foundation where we've got so many great opportunities to touch lives of kids and families that are in need.
I'm always looking for ways that we can generate dollars to donate to these organizations. You want to do something that's fun and that everybody wants to come out and be a part of. You want them to understand what the causes are.
I love bowling, I really do. I haven't played for a while so I'll have to see how my game's going to go. Bowling is just one of those easy things that anybody can pick up and everybody can have fun with it.
I just wanted to do something different. Everybody is always doing things like golf tournaments and I wanted to do something that wasn't the same old routine. Hopefully it will do well and we'll raise a lot of dollars.
Winning championships and winning races establishes your place in the history of the sport, but does creating a legacy that you have made a difference in peoples' lives mean just as much to you?
I'm not trying to create a legacy, or anything like that. I'm just trying to live. I think something that's a part of my life is that I have been so blessed and I have been given so many great opportunities in my life, that I want to see other people get those opportunities.
Whether it's a little girl that is sick with leukemia, or needs a bone marrow transplant and they're not getting that opportunity, and the only way that they are is if we make more and more people out there aware of how they can help with dollars that can go towards research or just go towards helping that family with their medical bills, or whatever it might be.
Not only does it make me feel good about myself, but it's helping somebody else and making other people aware of it. I think in order to balance your life out, those things are important.
So much of my life is spent just focused on driving race cars, driving race cars; win, win, win; lose-win, lose-win (but) it's not always about that. There's a lot more to life than that and I'm fortunate that I get to give back at times.
Wally Dallenbach has just announced a three-race program in the Busch Series to incorporate his racing into the coverage package. While you have seen a lot occur in broadcast technology in your career, could you see yourself doing anything of that nature?
We have seen Derek Bell do some commentating from the race car in some of his (street stock sports car) races, so I think they're taking that approach.
The sport is growing so much and the entertainment value of the sport is growing so much so you're constantly seeing more in-car cameras and radio communication.
The technology that they're bringing to the broadcast is great in terms of educating people as to 'when they do this to the car this is how it's affecting it.'
This is just taking that to the next level and I hope it goes real well because Pepsi is somebody that I'm involved with and I like Wally -- he's a great guy and a heckuva race car driver. I hope it all works out.
We've certainly got to recognize the entertainment value of things these days is very important and we have to take that to the next level, I guess.
How much of a plus is your teammate and your protégé, Jimmie Johnson; and how much of a plus has it been having another team in the shop with you?
It's been a big plus. I think the knowledge and the experience of the 24 car and Hendrick Motorsports and all its resources; I think those have contributed greatly to bringing that 48 car and Jimmie and Chad (Knaus, crew chief) and all those guys to the level they're at.
But once they got to that level it's been what they did -- the innovations that they came up with, with the set-ups and Jimmie's driving and the communication that the whole team has.
They've done an awesome job and we've been able to learn from that, as well. So, it's worked both ways. We've helped them with a lot of things and they've helped us with a lot of things and that's why you put two cars under one roof with all the same people working on them.
It's because it brings the information closer and it allows you to learn faster and look -- we're third and fifth in the points so it's certainly working well. Granted, they've got two wins and we haven't, but it's not because of anything else other than just the way things have fallen.
Does their winning races put any additional pressure on your team to win?
No.
The pressure is not there from them winning, the pressure is within ourselves and that's the way it's always been.
We know what we're capable of and if we do our jobs right we'll go to Victory Lane. They've done their jobs very well and they've been to Victory Lane.
For us, it's an open book between Jimmie and I and Chad and Robbie (Loomis, Gordon's crew chief). The teams really are one and there isn't anything that anybody should hide or would hide.
That's not what it's all about. The same thing goes for the 5 and the 25 (Hendrick cars of Terry Labonte and Joe Nemechek), it's just that when you have two cars under one roof you see and talk a lot more because of that.
Your birthday is coming up on the day of the Brickyard 400. You got anything special up your sleeve or is a celebration with 300,000 of your closest friends your plan?
Hopefully winning the race that day will be my celebration.
I would love to be able to win. I haven't won all year and all those wins we didn't have the rest of the season won't even matter, because winning the Brickyard will make your season so special because it's just such a big event -- especially if it happened on my birthday.
That's the way I want to spend my birthday, and I hope there are 300,000 fans that want to stick around and enjoy it with me. That would be some kind of party.
-http://www.nascar.com/2002/news/headlines/wc/07/29/jgordon_qa/index.html
July 29, 2002
3:03 PM EDT (1903 GMT)
Audio: Jeff Gordon Conversation (WAV format)
Audio: Jeff Gordon Conversation (DSS format)
LONG POND, Pa. -- Jeff Gordon continues to evolve as a bona-fide personality and performance icon in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.
Despite the fact that Gordon's winless skein in Winston Cup has reached 28 races, he has still maintained a competitive edge in his quest for a fifth Winston Cup title.
Gordon took a break at Pocono Raceway on a Saturday morning before Winston Cup practice to sit down in the lounge of his No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet's hauler with NASCAR.com's Dave Rodman to discuss hometown hangouts, Winston Cup cars on dirt and a birthday celebration for 300,000.
For Jeff Gordon, there's an awful lot going on in your life right now, both outside of racing and inside the sport. For everyone that's concerned, how is Jeff Gordon doing?
I'm doing good, you know? I'm just really into the team and living my life one day at a time. Things have been going well on the race track -- I mean, a little up and down, but I've got a lot of people -- family and friends -- that have been great. They've been there for me, supporting me and I'm happy.
Richard Petty used to always say that being in the race car was his time -- that that was his refuge. Have you felt that way in the past and is it even more the case, now?
There is so much that goes into the whole series and into getting these race cars around the track.
Three men, 12 Winston Cup titles Credit: Autostock
Your mind is on it so much, whether it be testing or preparing for the race or once you get there for that race weekend and you're in the car.
When you're in that car your mind definitely is on nothing else but how can I get this car around the race track faster and faster and faster.
I guess in a lot of ways it is the place I feel most comfortable, the place that when I get into that car I feel like there's nothing else that's coming into my mind but driving that race car.
People talk about "the streak" -- the winless streak that's at 27 races. Is that kind of an illusion since the team has been running well and you are a Winston Cup championship contender?
Well, wins are wins; and when you're not winning, you're not winning.
Unfortunately we haven't had everything go our way well enough to get to Victory Lane. We've certainly been good enough -- the cars, the team -- everything's been in place, it just hasn't happened yet.
Credit: Autostock
We know that being fifth in points we're certainly in the championship. As well as we've run and led laps at a lot of places (we know) that we're certainly capable of winning races.
We just have to stick together, and this team has. That's the thing I'm most proud of is that how well these guys have stayed confident in themselves and have stuck together.
You haven't seen the team being tore down or anything like that and they've certainly had reasons to do that.
But that's why this team is where it is and that's why we've won so many races and championships in the past, just because of how strong of a unit they are and that's why we're going to win races in the future.
You're about to go home to race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Is a hometown race -- especially the Brickyard 400 -- a blessing or a curse?
I love going there. Obviously I'm busy when I'm there they pull me in a lot of different directions so my schedule gets pretty hectic, but it's getting to do great things.
Being around fans that are cheering for you I don't hear nearly as many boos when I go to Indianapolis and that's always a good thing.
We've found many ways to get to Victory Lane at that track so that's always exciting -- we've won that race three times, now.
We've got some things going on with the Jeff Gordon Foundation there. We support the Riley Hospital for Children and we've got a bowling tournament that's going on and we're going to be doing QVC.
To me it's an exciting weekend and it's going to be different this time, racing on a Sunday. That certainly makes things interesting.
Do you have a chance to hit any old hangouts, or be with old friends; or to any degree are you a prisoner?
Gordon is chasing his fourth Brickyard 400 win. Credit: Autostock
Gordon: You have to remember, I was 16 or 17 when I was there, so I don't really have any old hangouts. I basically moved right when I graduated from high school, but I do get to see friends I went to school with and hang out with them a little bit.
I was racing so much when I was there that even the kids I went to school with -- they never saw me. I didn't get to see as many school functions or make as many close friends as maybe I would have if I was on a team sport or a school sport.
But the friends that I did make good bonds with I do get a chance to go back and see them.
You have a charity bowling event on Thursday. Is it special to get a chance to combine a passion for that sport with the passion you have for doing charity work?
Gordon: I really have gotten into the (Jeff Gordon) Foundation where we've got so many great opportunities to touch lives of kids and families that are in need.
I'm always looking for ways that we can generate dollars to donate to these organizations. You want to do something that's fun and that everybody wants to come out and be a part of. You want them to understand what the causes are.
I love bowling, I really do. I haven't played for a while so I'll have to see how my game's going to go. Bowling is just one of those easy things that anybody can pick up and everybody can have fun with it.
I just wanted to do something different. Everybody is always doing things like golf tournaments and I wanted to do something that wasn't the same old routine. Hopefully it will do well and we'll raise a lot of dollars.
Winning championships and winning races establishes your place in the history of the sport, but does creating a legacy that you have made a difference in peoples' lives mean just as much to you?
I'm not trying to create a legacy, or anything like that. I'm just trying to live. I think something that's a part of my life is that I have been so blessed and I have been given so many great opportunities in my life, that I want to see other people get those opportunities.
Whether it's a little girl that is sick with leukemia, or needs a bone marrow transplant and they're not getting that opportunity, and the only way that they are is if we make more and more people out there aware of how they can help with dollars that can go towards research or just go towards helping that family with their medical bills, or whatever it might be.
Not only does it make me feel good about myself, but it's helping somebody else and making other people aware of it. I think in order to balance your life out, those things are important.
So much of my life is spent just focused on driving race cars, driving race cars; win, win, win; lose-win, lose-win (but) it's not always about that. There's a lot more to life than that and I'm fortunate that I get to give back at times.
Wally Dallenbach has just announced a three-race program in the Busch Series to incorporate his racing into the coverage package. While you have seen a lot occur in broadcast technology in your career, could you see yourself doing anything of that nature?
We have seen Derek Bell do some commentating from the race car in some of his (street stock sports car) races, so I think they're taking that approach.
The sport is growing so much and the entertainment value of the sport is growing so much so you're constantly seeing more in-car cameras and radio communication.
The technology that they're bringing to the broadcast is great in terms of educating people as to 'when they do this to the car this is how it's affecting it.'
This is just taking that to the next level and I hope it goes real well because Pepsi is somebody that I'm involved with and I like Wally -- he's a great guy and a heckuva race car driver. I hope it all works out.
We've certainly got to recognize the entertainment value of things these days is very important and we have to take that to the next level, I guess.
How much of a plus is your teammate and your protégé, Jimmie Johnson; and how much of a plus has it been having another team in the shop with you?
It's been a big plus. I think the knowledge and the experience of the 24 car and Hendrick Motorsports and all its resources; I think those have contributed greatly to bringing that 48 car and Jimmie and Chad (Knaus, crew chief) and all those guys to the level they're at.
But once they got to that level it's been what they did -- the innovations that they came up with, with the set-ups and Jimmie's driving and the communication that the whole team has.
They've done an awesome job and we've been able to learn from that, as well. So, it's worked both ways. We've helped them with a lot of things and they've helped us with a lot of things and that's why you put two cars under one roof with all the same people working on them.
It's because it brings the information closer and it allows you to learn faster and look -- we're third and fifth in the points so it's certainly working well. Granted, they've got two wins and we haven't, but it's not because of anything else other than just the way things have fallen.
Does their winning races put any additional pressure on your team to win?
No.
The pressure is not there from them winning, the pressure is within ourselves and that's the way it's always been.
We know what we're capable of and if we do our jobs right we'll go to Victory Lane. They've done their jobs very well and they've been to Victory Lane.
For us, it's an open book between Jimmie and I and Chad and Robbie (Loomis, Gordon's crew chief). The teams really are one and there isn't anything that anybody should hide or would hide.
That's not what it's all about. The same thing goes for the 5 and the 25 (Hendrick cars of Terry Labonte and Joe Nemechek), it's just that when you have two cars under one roof you see and talk a lot more because of that.
Your birthday is coming up on the day of the Brickyard 400. You got anything special up your sleeve or is a celebration with 300,000 of your closest friends your plan?
Hopefully winning the race that day will be my celebration.
I would love to be able to win. I haven't won all year and all those wins we didn't have the rest of the season won't even matter, because winning the Brickyard will make your season so special because it's just such a big event -- especially if it happened on my birthday.
That's the way I want to spend my birthday, and I hope there are 300,000 fans that want to stick around and enjoy it with me. That would be some kind of party.
-http://www.nascar.com/2002/news/headlines/wc/07/29/jgordon_qa/index.html
