Jeff Gordon's day: Up-to-the-minute account of 'double' duty

Published May. 24, 2015 9:15 a.m. ET

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Tom Jensen

Editor's note: FOX pit reporter Jamie Little and FOXSports.com digital content manager Tom Jensen were at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where they followed Jeff Gordon as he drove the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Pace Car to start the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500. Little and Jensen then flew back with Gordon to Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600. Following is their blog about the day.

10:33 P.M. -- After qualifying 18th for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon fought track position all night long and fuel mileage late, ending his day in a disappointing 15th place in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

"That was a lot of darn work for us to finish 15th," Gordon said after completing NASCAR’s longest race, which was won by Carl Edwards over Greg Biffle.

11:18 A.M. -- As his children finish lunch, Gordon gives one of his last interviews before assuming pace-car duties.

10:28 A.M. -- Press conference time. In a packed Economaki Media Center, Gordon talks about driving the pace car today. "My step-dad called me -- John Bickford, who handles a lot of my business affairs -- and he said, 'I hope you are sitting down. I've got one (offer) and it's pretty big for you.' And I said, 'Oh what's that?' And he said, 'Well, I got a call from Chevrolet at Indianapolis adn they want you to drive the pace car for the Indy 500.' And I was floored. I didn't believe it. I was like, 'Me? Me?' "

Gordon says he's learned what not to do by starting up front a lot. "Being on the front row that many times, I've seen some bad pace car drivers," says Gordon, laughing. "So I want to make sure I'm certainly not one of those."

9:13  A.M. -- Gordon arrives at Chevrolet Racing hospitality, along with Rick Mears (above, right). Gordon introduces his children, Ella and Leo, to the four-time Indy 500 champion. "This was my hero growing up," Gordon tells his kids.

Then, Chevrolet presents Gordon with a replica of the Corvette Z06 pace car steering wheel. They'll give him the real thing later on. "We all have those moments when things start to sink in," says Gordon. "It's starting to sink in now, because it means so much to me."

7:40 A.M. -- The view heading into Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

7:15 A.M. --  To beat the traffic on race day, you need two things -- an early start to the day and a police escort. Jamie Little, Ryan Briscoe and I drove over in a Chevrolet Tahoe behind two police motorcycles and a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 driven by Mark Reuss of General Motors.

6:30 A.M.  -- Chevrolet Racing got a special license plate for Jeff Gordon and the Corvette Z06 Pace Car. Gordon Tweeted Saturday night that he just might have to take it with him.

Jeff Gordon finished his big day between Indy and Charlotte with a 15th-place run in the Coca-Cola 600. 

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