Jeff Gordon

From ArticleWorld

Jeff Gordon was born in 1971 in Vallejo, California. He is a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series winner. He drives the #24 car, a Chevrolet Monte Carlo. He has numerous sponsors including Nicorette, Haas, Quaker State, DuPont, Pepsi, Georgia-Pacific, GMAC and Sparkle.

Beginning

Jeff Gordon began racing when he was four years old. His family relocated to Indiana because of the racing opportunity Jeff would have there. By the time he turned 18, Jeff was on a roll. He had already won three short track races and, in 1989, was given the USAC Midget Car Racing Rookie of the Year. His first Winston Cup Race was in 1992.In 1993, he won the Rookie of the Year Award while racing for Hendrick Motorsports.

Winner

In 1995, when Jeff was only 24 years old, he won his first NASCAR Winston Cup. He would go on to win three more. To date, he has 73 Nextel Cup victories. Four more and he will surpass Dale Earnhardt’s 76 wins. Jeff Gordon is said to have opened up racing to the rest of America. Until then the sport was mostly confined to the southeastern United States.

”Madison Ave”

Racing “purists” often criticize Gordon for his “Madison Ave” appeal. Racing is popular primarily in the south and has long since been thought of as a southern sport. Gordon was born in California and raised in Indiana and many southerners consider him a Yankee. Many fans feel that, because of Gordon, many of the changes made in the sport are ridiculous. Their dislike for the new rules translates into a dislike for Jeff Gordon. Not all fans dislike Gordon, of course. He still has his fan base and they make him the most popular man in racing today.