May 24, 2008
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600
September 14, 2007
September 14, 2007
September 14, 2007
September 14, 2007
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is a
professional American race car driver. He was born
in Vallejo, California, raised in Pittsboro,
Indiana, and currently lives in Charlotte, North
Carolina. He is a four-time NASCAR Winston Cup (now
Sprint Cup) Series champion, three-time Daytona 500
winner, and driver of the #24 Chevrolet Impala. His
primary sponsor is DuPont, though Pepsi and
Nicorette both supplement the team as secondary
sponsors. Other sponsors include Quaker State, Haas
Automation, GMAC, Bosch Spark Plugs, and
Georgia-Pacific/Sparkle. He, along with Rick
Hendrick, are the co-owners of the #48 Lowe's
sponsored team, driven by Jimmie Johnson, who won
both the 2006 and 2007 NEXTEL Cup series
championship. Gordon also has an equity stake in his
own #24 team.
Jeff Gordon began racing at the age of five racing
quarter midgets. In fact, the Roy Hayer Memorial
Race Track (Previously the CrackerJack Track) in Rio
Linda, California is noted as the first track Gordon
ever competed on. Supporting his career choice,
Gordon's family moved from Vallejo, California to
Pittsboro, Indiana, where there were more
opportunities for younger racers. Before the age of
18, Gordon had already won three short-track races
and was awarded USAC Midget Car Racing Rookie of the
Year in 1989. The next year Gordon won the USAC
Midget title. In 1991, Gordon moved up to the USAC
Silver Crown and at the age of 20 became the
youngest driver to win the title.
Gordon then went on to spend two successful years in
the Busch Series in 1991 and 1992, driving for Bill
Davis Racing (with whom he set a NASCAR record by
capturing 11 poles in one season) with Ray Evernham
as his crew chief. He was sponsored by Carolina Ford
Dealers in 1991 and Baby Ruth in 1992.
Coincidentally, Gordon's first NASCAR Winston Cup
Series race, the 1992 Hooters 500 at the Atlanta
Motor Speedway, Cooincedentally was also the final
race for Richard Petty. He went on to finish 31st,
crashing after 164 laps of competition.
Gordon's parents are Carol Ann Bickford (née
Houston) and William Grinnell Gordon of Vacaville,
California. He has an older sister, Kim.
Gordon met first wife Brooke Sealey after he won a
Busch race. Sealey was then a college student and
had been present as "Miss Winston" in the victory
lane in 1992. The pair began dating in secret, due
to a rule that didn't allow drivers to date Miss
Winston, and were married in 1994. In 2003, Gordon's
divorce from Sealey became tabloid fodder. In court
papers, she asked for "exclusive use of the couple's
oceanfront home, valued at $9 million, as well as
alimony, two cars and periodic use of their boats
and an airplane."
Gordon was introduced to Ingrid Vandebosch by a
mutual friend in 2002, but they didn't begin dating
until 2004. Jeff announced their engagement on June
24, 2006, at a croquet event at Meadowood Resort in
St. Helena, California. According to Gordon, they
had kept the engagement secret for the past 30 days.
Gordon and Vandebosch were married in a small,
private ceremony in Mexico on Nov. 7, 2006. On June
20, 2007, Vandebosch gave birth to their first
child, Ella Sofia Gordon in New York City.
Gordon owns a private jet, a British Aerospace
BAE-125-800 also known as a Hawker 800 with a tail
number on this jet matching his car number, N24JG
and also owns a Lazzara 106 yacht ironically called
the 24 Karat.
In 1999, Jeff Gordon established The Jeff Gordon
Foundation to help support children facing
life-threatening and chronic illnesses. In 2007,
Jeff Gordon along with Andre Agassi, Muhammad Ali,
Lance Armstrong, Warrick Dunn, Mia Hamm, Tony Hawk,
Andrea Jaeger, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Mario Lemieux,
Alonzo Mourning, and Cal Ripken, Jr. founded
Athletes for Hope, a charitable organization, which
helps professional athletes get involved in
charitable causes and inspires millions of
non-athletes to volunteer and support the community.
