Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael "Jeff" Gordonis an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and currently an announcer for Fox NASCAR. He formerly drove the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in 23 full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series seasons between 1993 and 2015, and currently serves as a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRace Car Driver
Date of Birth4 August 1971
CityVallejo, CA
CountryUnited States of America
We're not in the top 10 battling for the championship -- it doesn't matter to me where we finish. It's where we finish each race to get ourselves prepared for next year.
You know, we really are going to have to be as on top of our game this weekend as we've ever been. You know, certainly we're capable of that, I know that we are. We haven't shown that this year, so I'm hoping that when it is all on the line that we do step it up. I know the team is capable of doing that.
When I first came in the sport, it was sort of like his time to be the top guy. I don't think he was expecting a young guy ... to come out as strong as we did and become as popular as we did. He and I kind of had a rivalry starting in 1994 and it carried on for a number of years.
We had a top five that would have been a great finish and it was taken away from us. I'm sure he didn't mean to do it and all that stuff, but I wasn't happy about it.
I don't carry any grudges. I know that in order to finish in the top five you have to make as many friends as you possibly can and stay out of trouble out there. I had a pretty incident-free race out there today.
It was a long day. I think we had a shot a top 10 with that tore-up race car.
He's tough here, there's no doubt about it. When I look at guys that run good here, I put him as one of the top guys.
I'm curious to see, once they lock in the top 10, how aggressive they're going to be. To win a championship, you really have to go for it. You can't be out there racing for points every week.
It was really a cool day to be able to get back in the top five and have something for those guys.
There's always pressure on everyone. It doesn't matter if you're trying to get into the top 35 in points or just trying to make the race or make the top 10, or if you're leading the points and trying to win a championship. There's extreme pressure throughout the field. You might be in a position where you don't know if you have a ride next year, you might not have a sponsor. There's always pressure on all of us.
I do believe in karma, but I also do believe in consistency. If you are running in the top five week in and week out, you'll put yourself in position to eventually get into Victory Lane.
I thought we might have had something for him. The car just stuck so good through (Turns) One and Two. I thought I was going to get a run on Tony down the back straightaway, but then the caution came out.
I thought there was no way Jimmie could win the race, or I wouldn't have left. All of a sudden I hear he wins, and I go, 'You've got to be kidding me?' That was just a phenomenal win.
I think we're united in a lot more ways. I feel like we were always a family, but I feel like we have a tighter bond with the family. We've all experienced a loss.