Are the best of times ahead for Gordon?
Relationship has changed four-time champ for better
By David Newton, NASCAR.COM
July 14, 2006
08:35 AM EDT (12:35 GMT)
JOLIET, Ill. -- It's March of 2004 and Jeff Gordon is sitting in the back of his No. 24 hauler at Darlington Raceway when asked if he plans to remarry in the near future.
"I'm pretty sure it'll be after my last championship," he said with a laugh.
Jeff Gordon earned the majority of his victories while he was married.
Before and After
Before marriage to Brooke Sealy
Year Wins Rank
1993 0 14
1994 2 8
Totals 2 0
During marriage to Brooke Sealy
Year Wins Rank
1995 7 1
1996 10 2
1997 10 1
1998 13 1
1999 7 6
2000 3 9
2001 6 1
Totals 56 4
After marriage to Brooke Sealy
Year Wins Rank
2002 3 4
2003 3 4
2004 5 3
2005 4 11
2006 2 TBD*
Totals 17 0
* Gordon's two wins this season came after he announced he was engaged to Ingrid Vandebosch.
It's July of 2006 and Gordon is sitting in the back of his hauler at Chicagoland Speedway when asked about his recent engagement to Belgian model Ingrid Vandebosch.
Gordon laughs again.
The four-time Nextel Cup champion knows why he made the first comment. His much-publicized divorce from his former wife, Brooke, left him scarred. He wanted to focus on getting his life in order and winning races.
He didn't think there was room for romance -- much less marriage -- and didn't think he'd marry again until after his racing career.
Now he's talking about being a father.
So what happened?
"Obviously, the person has changed my mind," Gordon said of Vandebosch. "I was probably being a little bit naïve at the time saying that [in 2004]. I don't know.
"Maybe I need to postpone the wedding until sometime in December."
Gordon, 34, laughed again.
He laughs a lot these days. He's won two of the past three races and is back in the top 10 in points as he attempts a return to the Chase for the Nextel Cup he missed a year ago.
After collecting his 75th win last week at Chicagoland he's also only one victory from tying the late Dale Earnhardt for sixth on NASCAR's all-time win list.
More importantly, his life is balanced, which could spell trouble for Gordon's peers. Fifty-six of his wins came when he was settled in his first relationship.
"When you meet somebody like I have it obviously changes your opinion about a lot of things, about marriage, about life, about racing," said Gordon, who got his two wins this season after going public with his engagement.
"Right now I'm committed to racing, but I'm also thrilled that I've met somebody that I want to get married to and spend that much time with."
Those that know the Hendrick Motorsports driver aren't surprised by his change of heart. They've watched him mature into a more confident and happy person in the years since Brooke filed for divorce in March of 2002.
They say Vandebosch allows Gordon to be himself, and Gordon isn't afraid to be himself around her, which wasn't always the case in his marriage to the former Miss Winston.
Jeff Gordon says Ingrid Vandebosch has changed his outlook on a lot of things.
It probably confused him because he had this plan of not falling in love until he got through with racing," said Loomis, who left Hendrick Motorsports after last season to join Petty Enterprises. "But love is a funny thing."
Longtime friend Jack Mills says Gordon and Vandebosch are a perfect match. He wouldn't be surprised if they one day arrived at the track married instead of planning a big wedding.
"They seem to have a way of just being together and shutting out the world," Mills said. "You see them hold hands and hug and do things away from the racetrack, the things you see in a good relationship."
The Gordon buzz
Loomis almost fell over backwards when Gordon arrived at the track with a buzz haircut shortly after his divorce became public.
"I'd always seen him as everything perfect, tailored, buttoned up and in place," he said. "Then for a while he started coming in and eating a sandwich in the truck out of the refrigerator.
"I never saw him do that when he was with Brooke."
Gordon and Brooke were the "Ken and Barbie" of the NASCAR world, from their salon hairstyles to their $9 million, 24,000-square-foot home in Florida.
They said and did, at least publicly, all the right things.
"I was taught at a young age as long as she's happy, you're happy," said Gordon, who married Brooke in November of 1994. "That's not true. You both have to compromise and you have to argue and have fun. But it's got to be more of a balance."
Not all of Jeff Gordon's season has been as good as the last month. His Pocono crash was the third-hardest hit NASCAR has recorded.
DaytonaJeff Gordon gets the worst of a late-race crash at Daytona
PoconoJeff Gordon destroys his car in a hard crash
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Gordon didn't realize it at first, but he felt smothered in his first marriage. He was afraid to do simple things, such as get a buzz cut, for fear it wouldn't portray the image he and Brooke had worked so hard to build.
"When I first came into the sport, which was also about the same time I met Brooke, it was a time I was trying to fit in," Gordon said. "I wanted to be successful. I wanted to win. I wanted to be a champion and all of those things.
"I felt like I was under a microscope and I wanted to do everything right. I was just naïve to think that was possible, but I tried."
And not just at the track.
"I did that same thing in my relationship," he said. "I was constantly trying to make her happy, happy, happy all the time and would not really speak what was on my mind. I started to see myself kind of go into a shell."
It wasn't all bad. Gordon won all of his championships and 75 percent of his races while married.
"Shoot, some of the best years I've had in this series were when I was married and happy," Gordon said. "Maybe I was a little blind to some things, but I was in a very comfortable place and that only made me a better driver."
Gordon's stepfather and business manager, John Bickford, says the so-called "new" Gordon will be tougher to beat on the track.
"It's unfortunate what took place with Brooke had to occur," he said. "Some relationships are so much work and you can't be who you are and that's typically what breaks them down.
"What you see here is a relationship where Jeff is being Jeff. He's older, he's more mature, he knows who he is, what he wants to be. He's not in the midst of trying to prove himself to the NASCAR fan base that he's worthy of being there."
Gordon also isn't afraid to be controversial or speak his mind, which wasn't the case on or off the track during his first marriage.
"Instead of always trying to make sure I'm not hurting somebody's feelings or creating an argument I'm, 'Wait a minute. This is something that needs to be addressed,'" Gordon said.
"I've realized that through doing that and speaking what's on my mind that it's actually made our relationship [with Vandebosch] better. Instead of holding back things that are on my mind I'm able to speak them. It carries over into racing as well."
Some might say that was a factor at Chicagoland, where Gordon bumped Matt Kenseth out of the way with four laps remaining for the winning pass. Or when Gordon got out of his car and shoved Kenseth earlier this year after Kenseth wrecked him on the last lap.
Loomis said those things have the same affect as the buzz cut.
"He was doing what he wanted," he said. "Part of that thing, and it happens to all of us, you realize so many people are looking at you all the time. Sometime you go, 'I'm going to do something to completely flip them out.'
"Inside you feel good about it and laugh when everybody else is going, 'What in the world is going on?'"
Loomis wouldn't be surprised if Gordon got on a big roll competitively now that he's comfortable being himself.
"When he was married with Brooke that was a great life for the time, but as things grew and Jeff grew and she grew, they kind of grew apart," he said. "Now he's back to being grounded in a way that makes him excel. A lot of people will be in trouble when that happens."
Less complicated
Gordon was the first person Jimmie Johnson went to two years ago when he was considering marriage.
"I went knowing that he was going to give probably the negative side and probably have a negative outlook on it," Gordon's teammate said. "To my surprise, he didn't.
"Now that he's in a relationship again it doesn't surprise me because that's what he's about. He's built for marriage."
Johnson was a part of Gordon's identity search following the divorce. They did everything from explore the nightlife in New York City to boating in the Caribbean without being afraid of public perception.
"He took a couple of years to get out and find out what he wanted," Johnson said. "He's a guy who takes a very methodical approach to things he wants and is very smart about it. Once he knows what he wants he goes after it."
Jimmie Johnson says he went to Jeff Gordon first when thinking of getting married.
That's how the relationship with Vandebosch materialized. They were introduced four years ago by a mutual friend in New York City, but didn't start dating until a year and a half ago.
"We didn't meet on the set of the movie Taxi as I read somewhere," said Gordon, who had a cameo appearance on the movie in which Vandebosch played a bank robber.
By then Gordon had come well out of his shell. His celebrity status had grown outside of NASCAR to stages such as the Regis and Kelly Show and Saturday Night Live.
"It didn't happen because I cheated on her," Gordon said of his divorce. "It happened because I was in a place in my life where a light bulb went off and I started to realize, 'Wow! I feel like I'm missing out there on things in life and I want to express myself a little more.'
"I lost myself somewhere along the way, and it was not anybody else's fault but mine. Over the last four or five years I've been on that search to find what makes it all go around, what makes me fit in this world where I can be happy."
Gordon, who lives in an uptown apartment in Charlotte, has a different perspective on life in general. He doesn't need the fancy big house like the one that became the focus of the divorce, and plans to spend his money more wisely this time.
"That house I had in Florida was ridiculous," Gordon said. "There's no reason to have something like that. Even though the money was coming in to be able to do stuff like that, it really wasn't me. Those things were never important to me growing up."
They weren't important to Vandebosch, either, which adds to their attraction.
"He did really work hard to get here," Bickford said. "It didn't come on a silver platter. He had to dispel all those things and now he's in a lot more comfortable stage in his life. Ingrid's personality and her upbringing are very, very similar to Jeff's.
"She dedicated herself to a career very early on in her life, very much like Jeff did. Her parents came from fairly modest means, very much like Jeff's mother and I did."
That's not to say Gordon won't continue have the finest things in life or travel in luxury. He's purchased a large piece of land "out West" that eventually he'd like to build and settle on.
"It's obviously not going to be a simple life, but it's certainly a lot different than what I've done in the past," said Gordon, who hasn't announced a date for the wedding.
"I want to be smart about how I spend my money, how I live my life. I want to be comfortable, but more importantly I just want to be happy."
He also wants to win a few more races and championships along the way, something he didn't think possible in 2004.
"That would be cool if he could find the girl and win the title all in the same year after saying what he did," Mills said. "Maybe that would be the way to work it out."
Ain't LOVE GRAND?!!!!!
Relationship has changed four-time champ for better
By David Newton, NASCAR.COM
July 14, 2006
08:35 AM EDT (12:35 GMT)
JOLIET, Ill. -- It's March of 2004 and Jeff Gordon is sitting in the back of his No. 24 hauler at Darlington Raceway when asked if he plans to remarry in the near future.
"I'm pretty sure it'll be after my last championship," he said with a laugh.
Jeff Gordon earned the majority of his victories while he was married.
Before and After
Before marriage to Brooke Sealy
Year Wins Rank
1993 0 14
1994 2 8
Totals 2 0
During marriage to Brooke Sealy
Year Wins Rank
1995 7 1
1996 10 2
1997 10 1
1998 13 1
1999 7 6
2000 3 9
2001 6 1
Totals 56 4
After marriage to Brooke Sealy
Year Wins Rank
2002 3 4
2003 3 4
2004 5 3
2005 4 11
2006 2 TBD*
Totals 17 0
* Gordon's two wins this season came after he announced he was engaged to Ingrid Vandebosch.
It's July of 2006 and Gordon is sitting in the back of his hauler at Chicagoland Speedway when asked about his recent engagement to Belgian model Ingrid Vandebosch.
Gordon laughs again.
The four-time Nextel Cup champion knows why he made the first comment. His much-publicized divorce from his former wife, Brooke, left him scarred. He wanted to focus on getting his life in order and winning races.
He didn't think there was room for romance -- much less marriage -- and didn't think he'd marry again until after his racing career.
Now he's talking about being a father.
So what happened?
"Obviously, the person has changed my mind," Gordon said of Vandebosch. "I was probably being a little bit naïve at the time saying that [in 2004]. I don't know.
"Maybe I need to postpone the wedding until sometime in December."
Gordon, 34, laughed again.
He laughs a lot these days. He's won two of the past three races and is back in the top 10 in points as he attempts a return to the Chase for the Nextel Cup he missed a year ago.
After collecting his 75th win last week at Chicagoland he's also only one victory from tying the late Dale Earnhardt for sixth on NASCAR's all-time win list.
More importantly, his life is balanced, which could spell trouble for Gordon's peers. Fifty-six of his wins came when he was settled in his first relationship.
"When you meet somebody like I have it obviously changes your opinion about a lot of things, about marriage, about life, about racing," said Gordon, who got his two wins this season after going public with his engagement.
"Right now I'm committed to racing, but I'm also thrilled that I've met somebody that I want to get married to and spend that much time with."
Those that know the Hendrick Motorsports driver aren't surprised by his change of heart. They've watched him mature into a more confident and happy person in the years since Brooke filed for divorce in March of 2002.
They say Vandebosch allows Gordon to be himself, and Gordon isn't afraid to be himself around her, which wasn't always the case in his marriage to the former Miss Winston.
Jeff Gordon says Ingrid Vandebosch has changed his outlook on a lot of things.
It probably confused him because he had this plan of not falling in love until he got through with racing," said Loomis, who left Hendrick Motorsports after last season to join Petty Enterprises. "But love is a funny thing."
Longtime friend Jack Mills says Gordon and Vandebosch are a perfect match. He wouldn't be surprised if they one day arrived at the track married instead of planning a big wedding.
"They seem to have a way of just being together and shutting out the world," Mills said. "You see them hold hands and hug and do things away from the racetrack, the things you see in a good relationship."
The Gordon buzz
Loomis almost fell over backwards when Gordon arrived at the track with a buzz haircut shortly after his divorce became public.
"I'd always seen him as everything perfect, tailored, buttoned up and in place," he said. "Then for a while he started coming in and eating a sandwich in the truck out of the refrigerator.
"I never saw him do that when he was with Brooke."
Gordon and Brooke were the "Ken and Barbie" of the NASCAR world, from their salon hairstyles to their $9 million, 24,000-square-foot home in Florida.
They said and did, at least publicly, all the right things.
"I was taught at a young age as long as she's happy, you're happy," said Gordon, who married Brooke in November of 1994. "That's not true. You both have to compromise and you have to argue and have fun. But it's got to be more of a balance."
Not all of Jeff Gordon's season has been as good as the last month. His Pocono crash was the third-hardest hit NASCAR has recorded.
DaytonaJeff Gordon gets the worst of a late-race crash at Daytona
PoconoJeff Gordon destroys his car in a hard crash
Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836
Gordon didn't realize it at first, but he felt smothered in his first marriage. He was afraid to do simple things, such as get a buzz cut, for fear it wouldn't portray the image he and Brooke had worked so hard to build.
"When I first came into the sport, which was also about the same time I met Brooke, it was a time I was trying to fit in," Gordon said. "I wanted to be successful. I wanted to win. I wanted to be a champion and all of those things.
"I felt like I was under a microscope and I wanted to do everything right. I was just naïve to think that was possible, but I tried."
And not just at the track.
"I did that same thing in my relationship," he said. "I was constantly trying to make her happy, happy, happy all the time and would not really speak what was on my mind. I started to see myself kind of go into a shell."
It wasn't all bad. Gordon won all of his championships and 75 percent of his races while married.
"Shoot, some of the best years I've had in this series were when I was married and happy," Gordon said. "Maybe I was a little blind to some things, but I was in a very comfortable place and that only made me a better driver."
Gordon's stepfather and business manager, John Bickford, says the so-called "new" Gordon will be tougher to beat on the track.
"It's unfortunate what took place with Brooke had to occur," he said. "Some relationships are so much work and you can't be who you are and that's typically what breaks them down.
"What you see here is a relationship where Jeff is being Jeff. He's older, he's more mature, he knows who he is, what he wants to be. He's not in the midst of trying to prove himself to the NASCAR fan base that he's worthy of being there."
Gordon also isn't afraid to be controversial or speak his mind, which wasn't the case on or off the track during his first marriage.
"Instead of always trying to make sure I'm not hurting somebody's feelings or creating an argument I'm, 'Wait a minute. This is something that needs to be addressed,'" Gordon said.
"I've realized that through doing that and speaking what's on my mind that it's actually made our relationship [with Vandebosch] better. Instead of holding back things that are on my mind I'm able to speak them. It carries over into racing as well."
Some might say that was a factor at Chicagoland, where Gordon bumped Matt Kenseth out of the way with four laps remaining for the winning pass. Or when Gordon got out of his car and shoved Kenseth earlier this year after Kenseth wrecked him on the last lap.
Loomis said those things have the same affect as the buzz cut.
"He was doing what he wanted," he said. "Part of that thing, and it happens to all of us, you realize so many people are looking at you all the time. Sometime you go, 'I'm going to do something to completely flip them out.'
"Inside you feel good about it and laugh when everybody else is going, 'What in the world is going on?'"
Loomis wouldn't be surprised if Gordon got on a big roll competitively now that he's comfortable being himself.
"When he was married with Brooke that was a great life for the time, but as things grew and Jeff grew and she grew, they kind of grew apart," he said. "Now he's back to being grounded in a way that makes him excel. A lot of people will be in trouble when that happens."
Less complicated
Gordon was the first person Jimmie Johnson went to two years ago when he was considering marriage.
"I went knowing that he was going to give probably the negative side and probably have a negative outlook on it," Gordon's teammate said. "To my surprise, he didn't.
"Now that he's in a relationship again it doesn't surprise me because that's what he's about. He's built for marriage."
Johnson was a part of Gordon's identity search following the divorce. They did everything from explore the nightlife in New York City to boating in the Caribbean without being afraid of public perception.
"He took a couple of years to get out and find out what he wanted," Johnson said. "He's a guy who takes a very methodical approach to things he wants and is very smart about it. Once he knows what he wants he goes after it."
Jimmie Johnson says he went to Jeff Gordon first when thinking of getting married.
That's how the relationship with Vandebosch materialized. They were introduced four years ago by a mutual friend in New York City, but didn't start dating until a year and a half ago.
"We didn't meet on the set of the movie Taxi as I read somewhere," said Gordon, who had a cameo appearance on the movie in which Vandebosch played a bank robber.
By then Gordon had come well out of his shell. His celebrity status had grown outside of NASCAR to stages such as the Regis and Kelly Show and Saturday Night Live.
"It didn't happen because I cheated on her," Gordon said of his divorce. "It happened because I was in a place in my life where a light bulb went off and I started to realize, 'Wow! I feel like I'm missing out there on things in life and I want to express myself a little more.'
"I lost myself somewhere along the way, and it was not anybody else's fault but mine. Over the last four or five years I've been on that search to find what makes it all go around, what makes me fit in this world where I can be happy."
Gordon, who lives in an uptown apartment in Charlotte, has a different perspective on life in general. He doesn't need the fancy big house like the one that became the focus of the divorce, and plans to spend his money more wisely this time.
"That house I had in Florida was ridiculous," Gordon said. "There's no reason to have something like that. Even though the money was coming in to be able to do stuff like that, it really wasn't me. Those things were never important to me growing up."
They weren't important to Vandebosch, either, which adds to their attraction.
"He did really work hard to get here," Bickford said. "It didn't come on a silver platter. He had to dispel all those things and now he's in a lot more comfortable stage in his life. Ingrid's personality and her upbringing are very, very similar to Jeff's.
"She dedicated herself to a career very early on in her life, very much like Jeff did. Her parents came from fairly modest means, very much like Jeff's mother and I did."
That's not to say Gordon won't continue have the finest things in life or travel in luxury. He's purchased a large piece of land "out West" that eventually he'd like to build and settle on.
"It's obviously not going to be a simple life, but it's certainly a lot different than what I've done in the past," said Gordon, who hasn't announced a date for the wedding.
"I want to be smart about how I spend my money, how I live my life. I want to be comfortable, but more importantly I just want to be happy."
He also wants to win a few more races and championships along the way, something he didn't think possible in 2004.
"That would be cool if he could find the girl and win the title all in the same year after saying what he did," Mills said. "Maybe that would be the way to work it out."
Ain't LOVE GRAND?!!!!!
