Next up in PTR’s Career Statistics article series for retired NASCAR drivers is Jeff Gordon. The four-time Winston Cup winner ended his long career at Martinsville in 2016 – with a position six finish in the #88 car (substituting for Dale Jr.). He started racing with Go-Carts and Sprints Cars and then worked his way up to NASCAR Busch Series (1990) and then to Winston Cup Series (1992). Jeff Gordon is the youngest driver in Winston Cup history to achieve 50 careers wins. Jeff Gordons first race at Atlanta 1992 also marked the end of NASCAR legend “the King” Richard Petty. In 1995, Jeff won his first championship in Winston Cup, beating Dale Earnhardt with 34 points. He also got 7 wins, 17 top-5, 23 top-10 and 8 poles that season. Gordon is ranked third among the all-time NASCAR Cup Series winners with 93 victories. He holds the record for most wins at the Southern 500 (Darlington) with 6 wins and the Brickyard 400 (Indianpolis) with 5 wins. I will wrap up this short text with one ord – Legend.
Jeffery Michael “Jeff” Gordon
Born: Vallejo, California, August 4, 1971
Education: Tri-West High School, Pittsboro, Indiana (1989)
Nickname: Rainbow Warrior/Wonder Boy
NASCAR Career achievements
1995, 1997, 1998, 2001 Winston Cup Series Champion
2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona overall winner
1991 USAC Silver Crown Series Champion
1990 USAC National Midget Series Champion
1997, 1999, 2005 Daytona 500 Winner
1994, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2014 Brickyard 400 Winner
1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2007 Southern 500 Winner
1994, 1997, 1998 Coca-Cola 600 Winner
1995, 1997, 2001 Sprint All-Star Race Winner
1994, 1997 Advance Auto Parts Clash Winner
NASCAR Career Awards
1993 Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year
1991 Busch Series Rookie of the Year
2009 National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame inductee
2009 Silver Buffalo Award recipient
2012 Heisman Humanitarian Award recipient
Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers (1998)
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career
805 races run over 25 years
2016 position: 38th
Best finish: 1st (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001)
First race: 1992 Hooters 500 (Atlanta)
Last race: 2016 Goody’s Fast Relief 500 (Martinsville)
First win: 1994 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
Last win: 2015 Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 (Martinsville)
Win: 93 | T5: 325 | T10: 477 | Pole: 81 | Laps: 231223 | Laps Led: 24936 | AvSt: 10,5 | AvFn: 12,5 | LLF: 706 | DNQ: 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
73 races run over 5 years
2000 position: 57th
Best finish: 4th (1992)
First race: 1990 AC-Delco 200 (Rockingham)
Last race: 2000 Miami 300 (Homestead)
First win: 1992 Atlanta 300 (Atlanta)
Last win: 2000 Miami 300 (Homestead)
Win: 5 | T5: 21 | T10: 32 | Pole: 12 | Laps: 13559 | Laps Led: 1428 | AvSt: 11,7 | AvFn: 13,8 | LLF: 29 | DNQ: 3
Source: Wikipedia, racing-reference.info
Photo credits: Jonathan Moore/Getty Images (NASCAR Media.com