Jeff Gordon’s real dad to see him race at Sonoma on Father’s Day

By Kris Johnson - Assistant Managing Editor

Thursday, June 18, 2009

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Jeff Gordon will have a healthy rooting section when he returns to compete at Infineon Raceway on Father’s Day. Among those the Vallejo, Calif., native expects to be there is his father, Bill Gordon.

While Gordon was raised by his mother, Carol, and stepfather John Bickford, he maintains a good relationship with his father.

Gordon discussed that relationship as part of an extensive sit-down interview June 12 at Michigan International Speedway. A full transcript of that interview will appear in an upcoming issue of NASCAR Illustrated.

NASCAR Scene: Father’s Day is coming up and it’s only natural to think of your father figure. Did you ever feel like you missed out on not having a real relationship with your blood father when you were young?

Jeff Gordon: “Well, he’s like one of my buddies [now]. He’s somebody I can talk to as a friend. And I’ve explained this to him; to me, because I was in the situation I was in with my stepfather … he’s thankful for my stepfather the way that John 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 been obviously 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 stepdad. 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.”

NS: It doesn’t sound like you harbor any bitterness toward your real father. Do you talk to him 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, but it’s not really any different than it was or it has been. It’s always kind of been the same thing. 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 [he] should.”

NS: Is he somebody that you’ll see in Sonoma this weekend?

Gordon: “Oh, yeah.”

NS: People don’t know a lot about him. 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. When I’m out in Sonoma, everybody who sees him knows him [among the people I encounter]. 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, that he knows John is the one that really got me to where I am in racing, and so 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.”

NS: 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. He’s had a couple of different jobs. The job that he has now, and I don’t know all the details of it, but he works for the state of California. I think it’s the Fish & Game [Department], where they preserve [the habitat].”