(born
August 4 ,
1971 in
Vallejo, California ) currently lives in Charlotte, NC and is a four-time
NASCAR Winston Cup (now NEXTEL Cup) Series champion and driver of the #24
Chevrolet Monte Carlo . His sponsors include
DuPont ,
Pepsi ,
Quaker State , Haas,
GMAC ,
Georgia-Pacific , Sparkle, and
Nicorette .
Jeff Gordon was a racing and
Dale Earnhardt (both had seven titles). In 2004, Gordon also became the only NASCAR driver with four
Brickyard 400 victories at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway , and one of only four drivers to have four victories at the historic track.
Gordon is widely regarded as the best active driver in NASCAR because he achieved so much through sheer talent at such a young age. He currently has 73 Nextel Cup victories and has yet to pass
Dale Earnhardt 's 76 wins, or
Darrell Waltrip 's modern-era NASCAR record of 84. It is also thought by many that he opened NASCAR up to the rest of the nation; before Gordon's success in NASCAR, the sport and organization was not popular outside of the Southeast United States. Gordon is still one of the best known drivers in NASCAR, often finishing 2nd in the Most Popular Driver Award seemingly every year.
at the
EA Sports 500 in
2004 .]]
Fan reaction to Gordon's continuing success has been sharply divided. Gordon remains popular in his home state of
Indiana and his birth state of
California , but is often booed by fans in the Deep South. Part of this schism in popularity is attributed to Gordon's "
Madison Avenue " appeal, and the resentment of the Deep South of "
Yankees ." NASCAR for years had been a predominantly Southern sport, and many fans today attribute NASCAR's changes, not all of which are popular, to the influence of corporate sponsorships and the media. Rumors of Gordon's alleged
Homosexuality have been the subject of
Parody songs, comic
Web Site s and
Blog s. In the Internet journal ''
Slate.com '', an article speaks to the rumors, which have largely been fueled by
''The Globe'' , a tabloid of little to no credibility:
- ''NASCAR star Jeff Gordon also gets drawn into the Globe's web of gayness. Gordon's recent split from his wife has reportedly "reignited inflammatory talk that the racing hunk is gay." His wife, Brooke, is said to have complained that her husband was a "cold fish" who didn't satisfy her in the bedroom. And a friend explains that "because he's good-looking and dresses well, he's an obvious target to pick on." Obvious. As if the nice clothes weren't enough, the story further explains that "Gordon's slight build and soft-spoken manner also sparked the gay gossip, not to mention that here was a clean-cut California kid kickin' butt in a Southern sport."'' {Link without Title}
In his memoir, ''Jeff Gordon: Racing Back to the Front'', the driver actually addresses the rumor, which he denies. Part of the rumor was fueled by a comment by Dale Earnhardt, Sr. intended as a joke. At the time Gordon had been dating Miss Winston, Brooke Sealy , but because Sealy worked for Winston the couple was required to keep the relationship a secret. When they finally went public with the relationship, Earnhardt, making a joke, said "Whew, I'm glad to see you've got a girlfriend. Some of us were beginning to wonder if you liked girls." Gordon's response to the rumors is both classy and diplomatic, "I'd like to think if I were gay, I would be comfortable enough to say so and get on with my life. The fact is I'm not, and I never quite understood why so many people want to believe otherwise." Gordon married Brooke Sealy in 1994. Their marriage ended in a very public and bitter divorce in 2003, fueling the rumors all over again. Since his divorce, Gordon has publicly dated runway model Amanda Church , and is currently seeing aspiring actress and model Ingrid Vandebosch .
Gordon has also participated in some off-road events, including a winning drive with Team USA at the 2002
Race Of Champions . He was slated to run it again in 2004 against
Formula 1 Champion
Michael Schumacher but was sidelined by the flu, and
Casey Mears took his place. In 2005, Gordon competed in the Race of Champions event again, this time held in Paris, France, where he was partnered with famed motocross racer/X Games winner Travis Pastrana. Gordon was unable to qualify for the finals, as his car had trouble starting up in the quarterfinal round of the competition.
On
June 11 , 2003, at a special exhibition at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Gordon took laps in
Juan Pablo Montoya 's
Williams BMW , while Montoya did laps in Gordon's Nextel Cup car. The exhibition was broadcast live by
SPEED Channel , in a special called, ''
Tradin' Paint ''.
On
February 20 ,
2005 Jeff Gordon won the
Daytona 500 for the third time. He previously won "The Great American Race" in
1997 and
1999 . Also, Gordon won the Brickyard 400 on August of 2004, obtaining his 4th Indy win. He claimed wins at the famed raceway in 1994, 1998, and 2001.
Gordon even became a subject in
Nelly 's second hit song "E.I." A passage from the rapper's
2000 hit goes:
: ''I drive fastly, call me Jeff Gordon''
: ''In a black S.S. with the navigation''
In 2004, he finished 3rd in the NEXTEL Cup points behind
Kurt Busch and teammate
Jimmie Johnson even though he scored the most points throughout the whole season.
Effective
September 14 ,
2005 Crew Chief Robbie Loomis resigned from #24 team. Loomis stayed on with Hendrick Motorsports as a consultant for Jimmie Johnson's #48 team through the Chase for The
Nextel Cup in 2005. Steve Letarte, Gordon's car chief for most of the '05 season, replaced Loomis as crew chief effective at
New Hampshire International Speedway on September 18th, 2005. Letarte will serve his first full season as crew chief for Gordon throughout the 2006
Nextel Cup Season.
Jeff Gordon failed to qualify for Chase for the Nextel Cup in 2005 due to a disappointing finish at
Richmond after a last minute run to attempt to make the Chase in the last 5 races before Richmond, where he made contact with the wall. Gordon also had very inconsistent results throughout the season, despite a victory at Daytona, which led to his missing the Chase for the Cup. On October 23th, 2005 Jeff Gordon won the
Subway 500 at
Martinsville Speedway . It was his first win in 22 points races. He went on to finish 11th in the Championship and received a $1,000,000 bonus.
In 2006, Jeff Gordon has scored 3 top 5 finishes and 4 top 10s and currently sits sixth in points through nine races in the season.
