Jeff Gordon: NASCAR's Change Candidate

(Originally published on Sept. 10, 2008)

NEW YORK—When Steve Letarte took the reins as crew chief for the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon urged Letarte not to treat him like a four-time Cup champion.
Be careful what you wish for. In a substandard year that means a lot of test sessions often reserved for those on the lower rungs of the sport. Even a dutiful husband/father and dedicated pitchman—he wanted a Pepsi before sitting down with scribes, but chose water when only Coke products were at hand—has to put first things first.
“It’s frustrating when I come home and tell my wife, I won’t be here again next week,” Gordon said while he and other Chase drivers met with reporters in the Big Apple Wednesday. “Luckily, my daughter [Ella] can’t speak right now, because she’d probably have some things to say to me. This is definitely the most testing that I’ve ever done. The nice thing is, speaking of Ingrid, she understands how competitive things are. She understands what it takes. So I’m very fortunate I have a supportive wife. My office, which has a lot of business for me to attend to, they understand. Everything. Testing for races, that holds precedence over everything. Sponsors, they understand. Test comes up, things get canceled. That’s just the way it is.”
Gone are the days when everything was so easy he felt he could hold his own at Martinsville on a riding lawnmower. When NASCAR was listing the COT’s benefits, “humbling” should have made the list.
“You just can’t change some things about your driving style to fit this new car,” Gordon lamented.
But at least Gordon finally gets to benefit from the Chase format. He might be a six-time champion had the pre-2004 championship system been retained. But now in a year when he once would be prepping for 2009, he at least can hope for a turnaround.
“I know that [initial Chase races] New Hampshire and Dover are two good tracks for us. If things can go well for us there, it really can revitalize our whole season.”
He admitted that part of the process for success has included developing a thicker skin in a year when he’s been questioned instead of lauded. He appreciates the role of the press but has to insulate the team so they don’t buy into reports of demise.
And he knows one race can change everything.
“We need to get out from underneath that cloud and get more positive things surrounding us,” Gordon said. “And the only way we’re going to do that is to perform. Even if we come out of New Hampshire, just like Clint [Bowyer] last year, that was the whole story. ‘Oh, my gosh where did this guy come from?’ And that’s all anybody wanted to talk about. Things can turn around that fast. We recognize that. And the way our season had gone, that has to be our focus.”
One thing you can say for Gordon is that frustration has not equated to misery. He was able to break into laughter after being asked about Indianapolis circa 2003, when a then-Formula 1 driver named Juan Pablo Montoya and Gordon traded cars for some practice laps. The irony is that the whispers then were about Gordon giving F1 a spin, but no upstanding F1 driver would ever lower himself to NASCAR.
“Shortly after that, I actually went to Barcelona for an F1 race and was getting hit up by some of the lower-tier F1 teams to sit down and talk to them,” Gordon said. “It was a flattering experience, but at the same time, it wasn’t Ferrari or McLaren.”
And what if one of the big dogs had called?
“I think I would have had to seriously sit down with Rick [Hendrick] if Ferrari or McLaren was talking,” Gordon said. “Even if it was a total failure I don’t see how I could’ve said no to [at least] some testing.”
But maybe it was better that nothing happened. Gordon doesn’t blink in saying he’s a creature of habit who likes to keep doing things he’s good at. (Which, by the way, is why he says you don’t see him in a Nationwide car and will never see him on Dancing With the Stars.) His personality doesn’t jibe with the COT, which is more of a moving target. Throw in a more experimental approach at Goodyear and he’s juggling more change than the presidential candidates.
“I’ve been really frustrated with Goodyear this year,” Gordon said, later adding, “we’ll go to Michigan and be on a tire and go to California and be on a different tire. And those things, I don’t get. They can probably explain it to me and maybe I can figure it out then.”
Gordon has had a lot to figure out recently. And he needs some answers like his car—fast.