The first time I met the little guy face to face was at Darlington, for the spring race in 1994. I was doing my 30-minute weekly radio show at that time and was in the garage area during pre-qualifying work and this little guy was standing behind the rainbow painted Chevrolet which he would make famous. I don't remember what I asked during that interview and I don't remember Jeff's answers, but what I do remember is that he was almost a shy little kid who looked as though he still belonged in high school somewhere instead of the Darlington garage. I don't remember where Jeff finished in the race that weekend but he would go on to practically own the tricky Darlington track in the years ahead.
Yesterday, Sunday, I watched some of the pre-race from Homestead to see all the recognition Jeff was getting. I tuned in and out of the race through the day to see mostly how he was doing in his last race. He appeared, in the early stages to be in the hunt and I was beginning to think that he may end that rainbow career with his fifth Championship, but it was not to be. I guess all race fans know, by now, that Jeff would finish sixth in his final outing as a driver. The fact remains, however, that although he didn't win the Championship, whatever that may be now in the dismal world of NASCAR politics, he was one of the "Final Four" (how I dislike that term) at the end of his career. That, folks, is an awesome accomplishment. Jeff did not go out as an afterthought, but as a contender for the Championship.
I may not be considered a die-hard fan of Jeff Gordon, but I have always liked him and pulled for him above most others. I respected him from the start and when I was doing that radio show in 1993 and 1994 on the local FM Sports Station, he had quite a few detractors. Many, in fact. Jeff got more than his share of publicity, not so much in the early days for his success on the track but because he was a different type than fans embraced at the time. He won over a new generation of race fans and now he's moving on. What he accomplished on track will remain the substance of record books. What he accomplished off track, such as hosting Saturday Night Live, and co-hosting, more than once, live with Regis and Kelly. The shy guy I interviewed at Darlington in 1994 was soon in the company of presidents and heads of state of other countries and very much at ease.
Jeff went through some rough times with his marriage to Brooke, which ended in a divorce, kept mostly from the headlines, but known to be less than an amicable parting of the ways. Jeff looks very happy every time you see him with his family these days. I can't help but wonder if little Leo will one day be a racer, but then in today's world you have wonder the same about Ella. With Jeff to guide them, as his stepfather, John Bickford, guided Jeff, the racing world awaits.
I am well aware that Jeff had a stellar career behind the wheel of a number of different kinds of racecars prior to his introduction to NASCAR. Anyone interested can find a couple hundred thousand places to read about his start and his rise to stardom, or perhaps more accurately, his rise to somewhere over the rainbow.
Jeff Gordon was, and still is, a different kind of racer. I was at the 1994 World 600 which Jeff won for his first Cup victory, and although I wasn't in Victory Lane afterwards, I soon heard of the tears he shed. Later, I saw the television interviews which clearly showed his emotions overflowing as he pulled into that Victory Lane. I remember thinking, at the time, that I could not recall any incident in my long years around racing where a driver had shown that kind of emotion. I wasn't quite sure how to handle it at the time, but soon thereafter I realized that what Jeff exhibited in that emotional response was the pure passion I had always felt for racing.
Ok, so what now for Jeff? He is moving on to cover the races for television. I am expecting him to exceed the best efforts of any previous driver turned broadcaster and that includes the mighty big shoes of Ned, Benny, Buddy, and Neil. He will surely bring an excellence to the booth that is sorely missing these days. So, we must ask, what happens for the fans of Jeff Gordon? Will they move on to Chase Elliott who takes over the number 24 next year?
Let me share these thoughts with you. When my Uncle Bobby was taking me to races as a kid, he was a Lee Petty fan. As for the weekly races at Columbia Speedway, it was Dink Widenhouse. I've told Dink that I could thank him for my uncle keeping me in the racing world more than any other driver. The year before Uncle Bobby passed away, I was telling Dink I had hoped to bring Bobby with me to Mooresville that day, but Bobby just wasn't able to travel. Dink signed one of his cards to Bobby and sent if home with me. When we were cleaning up Uncle Bobby's house after he passed, I picked up his Bible from the table next to the chair where he sat almost 24 hours a day. Dink's signed card fell out of that Bible. Guess haven't told Dink that yet.
Back to Uncle Bobby's pulling for Lee Petty. When Lee had his career ending accident at Daytona in 1961, after a few days the newspapers stopped covering his condition. My Uncle Bobby, shy guy that he was, put me up to calling the hospital in Daytona to check on Lee. I remember that if I called just as I got home from school, the same nurse, either Hilda or Hulda, can't recall, would answer the phone. This was long before the HIPPA laws that prevent release of medical information and the kind nurse would tell me what I needed to know as Uncle Bobby stood next to me to get the reports.
After Lee quit racing, Bobby tried to pull for Richard Petty, the driver I had switched to the night Richard ran his first race. Although he tried, it was never quite the same as when Lee was running. As for Dink, Bobby would have kept going to races anywhere and anytime Dink was racing. Not sure Bobby ever even talked to Dink because I'm telling you Bobby was a shy man, but he would talk about Dink Widenhouse all the way to the race and then all the way home, no matter how Dink had done on the track that day, or night. When Dink retired, and Lee was not racing, Bobby slowly started to keep up with racing only by listening on the radio. He would watch those on television in the later years but he said that took so much away after being at those tracks so many years.
As Jeff ran his last race Sunday, I remembered that he ran his first Cup race when my guy, The King, was running his last. Looking back, that sort of calls for a quote taken t of context, a line from the inauguration speech of JFK, “Let the word go forth, from this time and place, that the torch has been passed". Although Jeff's performance in that first race didn't seem to indicate that torch was going to burn brightly, that surely was the day the torch was passed to a new generation of racers. Jeff would take the sport nationwide, in fact, international, as his approach to all things racing was a first class operation of a first class individual. What the Flock boys, Herb Thomas, Buck Baker, Lee Petty, and Fireball Roberts, among others, had done in the beginning, to be followed by Fred Lorenzen, Richard Petty and David Pearson, among others could not have been more honored than by Jeff's promotion of the sport as a first class operation at the time. The sport has certainly declined in many ways, but the legacy of Jeff Gordon has not. 797 starts, 93 wins, four legitimate championships, not to mention international fame. Good job Jeff.
I recall the feeling I had that day in November of 1992 when The King ran his last race. I chose not to attend that race as I didn't think I would be able to handle the emotion of that day. I had been to Daytona that year, both Darlington races and both Charlotte races, but that last race was not one I wanted to be a part of in person, although I didn't miss a lap of it on television. Looking back, that was a wise choice. Let me tell you why. When Richard won number 200 in Daytona in July 1984, I went out and bought a bottle of Andre Champagne. I had Richard autograph that label and then I wrote "201" on the label, anticipating being able to celebrate with that bottle before the end of the '84 season. That was not to be. I had, however, placed that bottle of Champagne on ice the day before that last race in 1992. When the race was over and Richard was driving that destroyed Pontiac around on that last lap as a salute to the fans, I popped the cork on that bottle and drank every last drop. That empty bottle sits on a shelf here in the Lair.
As hard as I tried, I could never get the enthusiasm for Rick Wilson who took over the car the next year, still the STP red and Petty blue but now number 44. I have to admit I really liked Bobby Hamilton and did pull for him, but it wasn't the same. In fact, it never has been the same for me. I'm left to wonder about the Jeff Gordon fans. I wish them the best just as I wish for Jeff. What will become of the future of the 24 is unknown, but Jeff's the legacy is as sparkling as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Well done Jeff. Godspeed my friend!
