Age of discovery: Jeff Gordon opens up

Photo gallery: Jeff Gordon

Has it really been 17 years since little Jeffery Michael Gordon first strapped into a stock car for a full season of Sprint Cup racing?

“Wonder Boy,” the kid who pestered the legendary Dale Earnhardt Sr. on the track in the 1990s — and helped haul NASCAR into the big time — is now an elder statesman, an authoritative voice.

A sprint car standout brilliantly groomed by his stepfather John Bickford and supported by his mother Carol Bickford, Gordon’s greatness was on display from the very beginning. He simply drove to win and has since collected 82 Cup Series victories and four championships driving for one team: Hendrick Motorsports.

Off the track, Gordon married a NASCAR beauty queen, endured a bitter divorce but has since remarried and become a father — the role that brings him the most joy. The 38-year-old has even strengthened his relationship with his biological father Bill, who split with Carol when Jeff was just a toddler. It’s been a remarkable journey and, despite an ailing back, Gordon insists he isn’t done yet.

NASCAR Illustrated: We got a good chuckle at the office when the National Enquirer story came out regarding your impending retirement due to your wife’s concerns over your back.

Jeff Gordon: I’m sure you didn’t get as big a chuckle as I did.

NI: Do you care what people write and say about you — even when it’s misguided?

Gordon: There’s no doubt you want to have positive things said about you. Nobody wants negative things said about them. But I think I’ve gotten thicker skin over the years to understand that I can’t control those things; it’s going to happen and I’m not going to be able to make everybody happy.

When it’s the National Enquirer, we just don’t respond because it’s usually a joke. There are different forms of media. The National Enquirer is one that I don’t put too much thought into [laughs]. It’s entertainment and I just hope other people recognize that. I feel like 40-50 percent of what’s in the National Enquirer has some validity to it. But in this case, I’d say it’s 100 percent wrong.

NI: On a serious note, let’s say chronic back problems force you to retire. Will you have any regrets about not getting seven Cup titles? 

Gordon: The seven thing was never anything I really put a lot of thought into. I was so excited to get one that when we got to four, it exceeded my expectations more than I ever dreamed. I’ve never put a lot of thought into the idea that I’ve got a shot at seven. I didn’t set my goals that way. My goals were to win races, win championships and not really look too far ahead.
I will say, looking back on the change to the point system [which cost Gordon two titles in 2004 and 2007], I think if I had ever gotten to six, now we’re talking about something different.

NI: Can you pinpoint a single personal characteristic that’s allowed you to be so successful?

Gordon: No, I can’t [laughs]. I’ve had success and I’ve not had success. I know that when it comes to racing, it’s not like tennis or golf. It’s not an individual sport. You depend on the people around you and the cars. When the moment comes to get it done, I feel like I have that ability to block a lot of things out of my mind and do my part.

NI: Racing’s given you an awful lot, but is there anything that it’s prevented you from doing?

Gordon: I’ve been given such an incredible life and opportunities because of racing that I feel like I got way more than I ever expected. I don’t feel like I missed out on anything.

NI: Was there a point in your life — a lot of people would point to the divorce — when you faced adversity that was pretty profound and you overcame it?

Gordon: I always go back to 2000. I felt like that was a tough year. [Crew chief] Ray Evernham left in ’99, and we had to re-establish ourselves as a team. That created some new challenges for me — working with a new crew chief, new people and trying to prove to ourselves and others that we could still win championships. And we did in 2001, so that was huge.

I don’t think there’s ever been a more challenging or difficult time in my life than going through the divorce. It’s just not fun. You get extremely frustrated with lawyers and the judicial system. It’s very frustrating but a lot of it is out of your hands. There’s no doubt that it was very distracting, but I think it made me stronger. It took me a little while to get over the bitterness of the whole thing, but now I have an amazing wife and a beautiful daughter.

NI: Do you plan on having more children?

Gordon: There’s no plan to. There’s no plan not to, either. We started later in our lives with having children and there’s pluses and minuses that come along with that. I feel like we’re more patient and we’re more understanding. I think we’re better prepared to handle the responsibilities that come along with being parents. At the same time, we don’t have the energy [laughs]. We would love to have two children, but there’s no plan for that.

NI: Here’s a grim thought: Your life ends tomorrow, hypothetically of course, and you’ve got a videotaped message for your daughter. What does it say?

Gordon: Oh, yeah. I love hypotheticals [sarcasm]. The thing that excites me about being a dad right now is, and I don’t know if I’m really going to answer your question, I’m starting to communicate with her. I can tell when I talk to Ella that she is listening. They learn from you by watching you and you can’t fake that. You realize who you truly are and now you’re going to see it through your child’s eyes and actions.

NI: Has that been the biggest surprise in being a parent — learning about who you are on a different level through her?

Gordon: Yes. Like I said, you can’t fake or pretend. You can do your best to do things as a parent, but you’re an individual and you guys are a couple and that’s what she is reading — how you interact with one another, how you interact with her and the things that you do. And then when they start to mimic some of those things, it’s really amazing. It’s so cool, but it scares the heck out of you at the same time because you start looking at all your faults and start trying to analyze the things you do so that you don’t have those bad habits transfer.

NI: What faults?

Gordon: Just little things. Not necessarily bad language, but not using proper English all the time. I think sometimes I get caught up in my Blackberry and my schedule and I’ll be right in a family-moment and my phone will buzz. I’ll go to it and think it will take just a few seconds. You notice that she’s paying attention and then my wife’s paying attention too. And she’s like, “Is it that important?” It’s the little things like that that pop up.

NI: Do you find yourself drawing on the things you learned in childhood, and now you’re trying to put those things in place as a dad?

Gordon: I don’t remember any grand speech from my parents. I just remember watching them work hard, watching them be great parents doing their best for me and my sister and spending time with us. Looking back on it now, knowing that they both put a lot into work but they also put a lot into us, it makes me really appreciate them so much more now that I’m a parent.

I want to set that example and be that for my daughter, the way that my parents were. I understand that I have to work; it’s just part of life. There are days I don’t want to tear myself away, but I know that I have to work. It’s something I like to do and I’m passionate about it. It’s been a part of my life for so long. Hopefully it will provide her a life of good education and experiences that are going to be very meaningful to her. So, I don’t want it to end tomorrow. I don’t think I could put it into a video [laughs].

NI: Did you ever feel like you missed out on not having a real relationship with your biological father when you were young?

Gordon: He’s like one of my buddies. He’s somebody I can talk to as a friend. He’s thankful for my stepfather John and for the way he stepped in and the job that he did as a dad. But I think he feels like he missed out on a lot. And, you know, that is my dad. Had things been different, I would have been interested to see how that relationship played out over time. Because I see a lot of myself in him, I see the things that we have that are the same, and again, those are good and bad. But I think we would have obviously been a lot closer than we are now because he wasn’t there much.

In this situation, I don’t really put blood before the relationship that I have with my stepfather. I know it’s blood, but I’m all about the time and the bond and the relationship of how it’s built over time. With my mom, I have both. I have that and the blood, so I’m very, very close and tight with her.

NI: Do you talk to your biological father a lot?

Gordon: We talk probably once a week, once every couple of weeks. I definitely talk to him and see him from time to time. He’s trying to live his life. He knows that my mom and my stepdad did a good job with the kids, so I don’t think he’s had to be there maybe as much as one thinks or should if that stepfather hadn’t stepped in or if the mother needed them there more.

NI: People don’t know a lot about your biological father. Maybe that’s the way you wanted it?

Gordon: It’s not that I don’t want people to know about him. It’s just that there’s nothing more or less to the relationship than there is. He probably comes to three or four races a year. I think he knows that while he’s my dad, and there’s some celebrity that might come along with that, he knows that John is the one that really got me to where I am in racing, and he respects that. He’s not looking for anything more than to continue the relationship that we have and come to races from time to time.

NI: So your father is just a regular guy living his life in California. What does he do for a living?

Gordon: He works for the state [of California]. I think it’s the fish and game [department]. I don’t know if it’s a water company or exactly what it is.

NI: When you retire, what would you prefer your legacy to be rooted in: All the good you’ve done for others with your foundation or the wins and championships?

Gordon: You always are going to reflect more on the people you’ve met and the things that you’ve done for people that haven’t been as fortunate. I am very proud that the success I’ve had has been able to contribute toward some great causes out there. I don’t really make that big of a deal out of it because I think it’s your duty. I think every person should make some effort at volunteering or giving back.

When you’ve been successful, I think it’s a part of how you balance life out. It’s your obligation, in my opinion. I don’t think it’s anything extraordinary, but I’m proud of it.

This story originally appeared in the October 2009 issue of NASCAR Illustrated.