NASCAR Cup Series

Jeff Gordon setting standard for NASCAR drivers

Published Jul. 10, 2010 4:23 p.m. ET

foxsports

In many ways, Jeff Gordon has become the role model for drivers trying to make it in NASCAR. His career is the template they hope to follow, a perfect laying out of the steps to success.

After all, Gordon is the original young gun. At 38 and still going strong, he’s already crafted a shift in the way drivers manage a variety of relationships in the sport.

He helped move NASCAR into a new dimension in terms of driver relationships with sponsors, with the media, with the creation of a charity foundation, with the ability to blend in with the fans in small towns and the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. As he prepares to make his 600th career NASCAR Cup start this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, it’s easy to get caught up in the legend of his on-track success. It’s important, though, to recognize that Gordon’s NASCAR legacy will stretch far beyond the asphalt and the trophies.

He’s a dedicated family man about to become a father for the second time, an informed and thought-provoking analyst of his own sport and a driver still capable of winning championships.

Veterans and young drivers respect Gordon for his prowess on the track, while others admire his off-track accomplishments more. John Bickford, Gordon’s stepfather and vice president and general manager of Jeff Gordon Inc., says in the end, it will be the things other than his victories that will be Gordon’s legacy. Others tend to agree, though they point out it’s hard to overstate the impact of those racing achievements.

A quick look at the numbers shows just how stunning Gordon has been in his career. He has four Cup championships, which ties him with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson for third overall in NASCAR history. He trails only Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, with seven titles each.

A deeper look and the performances become no less impressive. Gordon has 82 career wins, which ranks sixth all time. One more and he ties Cale Yarborough for fifth overall. Two more and he ties Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip for third. Gordon has 68 pole positions, which ranks fourth all time. Again, one more and he’ll tie Cale Yarborough. He has 371 top-10 finishes (eighth all time) and 272 top-fives (sixth all time). He has not missed a race since making his debut in the 1992 season-ending race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. And he has won on all but one of the NASCAR tracks on which he has raced.

He has done so with a combination of aggressive driving and restraint.

“When he's in a position to win a race, he is one of the best I think at putting other guys in compromising positions,” teammate Johnson said earlier this season. “He's very smart at doing that. That's not a knock on him. ... Think of the bump and runs with Rusty (Wallace) at Bristol. I can remember an incident with the No. 18 car (of Bobby Labonte) in it at Martinsville. He doesn't wreck guys, but he knows how to just get in there and upset you a little bit. And that's a very good quality to have, especially trying to close a deal on a race.”

That has led to a stellar list of racing accolades, a list which on its own merit is stunningly impressive.

“Jeff is truly a champion,” says former teammate Terry Labonte, who bested Gordon for the 1996 title by 37 points. “He is awesome. I’ve seen him run cars that I thought, ‘There’s no way that car should be running as fast as it does.’ He can get as much out of a car as anybody and doesn’t make dumb mistakes, runs a smart race. And he’s a nice guy and I think a lot of people, the fans, they either love him or hate him, it’s one of those deals, but he’s a really nice guy and extremely talented.”

It’s that nice guy persona that drew people to him from the beginning. And though his racing has been nothing short of stellar, it is what comes beyond that which is even more so.

Off the track, Gordon has changed the landscape of the sport. He altered the way sponsors viewed their relationships with drivers and took NASCAR to a new audience with his selection of appearances and things to represent.

He literally changed the dynamic drivers can have with their sponsoring companies.

As Bickford puts it, not only was he known for “winning with style and grace,” but the philanthropy side of things is the part that could leave the most lasting impact – on Gordon’s fans and the sporting landscape in general.

He not only took NASCAR to great heights, but to new avenues as well.

“I think his legacy is going to be he revolutionized the sport,” team owner Rick Hendrick says. “He brought it to the front page of Forbes, to Saturday Night Live, he opened the door for young guys, to guys from other types of racing, even open-wheel, Formula One. He really broke the mold. He’s a great spokesman; he’s one of the greatest talents. He was kind of one of the first guys, I thought, that had the whole package. He could go to Wall Street, Main Street. He could go anywhere, do anything.”

So far, he has done just that.

Along the way, he has also charmed a legion of fans new to racing and built lasting relationships with those he has worked with – and for his longtime team owner Rick Hendrick.

“You could say he’s almost perfect, because he’s always been there when I needed him and he motivates the team. He’s unbelievable with sponsors, a great role model,” Hendrick says. “I’m a big fan of Jeff Gordon’s.”

In essence, Gordon has been the complete package. A very human face on a fast and daring sport, a man who captured a nation’s attention and a racing community's respect, he is a future Hall of Famer.

And he’s not done yet.

“He’s going to go down in history as one of the all-time greats, just like Petty, Pearson, Earnhardt Sr. He’s that good,” says Jim Hunter, NASCAR’s vice president of corporate communications, who has spent years in the sport. “He’s done a lot for the sport, too. Times were different when those other guys were involved, but, in his own way, Jeff has taken our sport to an entirely new audience by doing Saturday Night Live show, by doing a lot of nontraditional media that normally wouldn’t cover our sport, Jeff has been responsible for getting us to a (new audience). ...

“Jeff is definitely going to go down as one of the all-time superstars in the sport.”