Business and motorsport In popular culture Jeffery Michael "Jeff" Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American professional auto racing driver who competed in the NASCAR Cup Series over a 25-year career.

An impressive stint in a stock car at the North Carolina Motor Speedway, as part of the Buck Baker Racing School, led to a three-race deal from businessman Hugh Connerty to compete in the Busch Grand National Series late in the 1990 season, with Ray Evernham as the crew chief.

Gordon later reached a deal with car owner Bill Davis to compete in the Busch Grand National Series full-time for the 1991 season, under crew chief Keith Simmons.

[8][26][28] When one of Gordon's competitors broke an arm in a crash,[29] Carol successfully convinced John to make Jeff quit racing bicycles after just a few months,[10] due to the number of injuries and concussions in the sport.

[35] In July, Gordon won the 1977 Western States Novice championship at Baylands Quarter Midget Track in Sunnyvale, California,[37] and the "fuzz car" was retired after just a few months in competition.

[89][90][61] Despite impressing veteran drivers and receiving an invitation to return to Hanford, Gordon continued to face challenges looking for sprint car opportunities statewide.

[93][94] Following the conclusion of the school year, Gordon and his stepfather hit the road with the sprint car and traveled throughout the Midwestern United States, participating in racing events each week during the summer of 1985.

[85] After Carol picked out a house and signed the contract,[85][61] she stayed in Indiana until Jeff and John arrived to see the property for the first time, giving their sprint car a new base.

[145][146] Vogler, who was leading Gordon at the time of the crash, was declared the race winner, as USAC rules stated that the leader of the last green-flag lap before a race-ending red flag be credited with the victory.

[174] The incident shattered Gordon's confidence to pursue a stadium truck career, and despite calls from Wells to continue to try out, this did not result in a mutual agreement for a permanent ride.

[150][174][136] During a visit to the Grand Prix of Cleveland, where Jeff attempted to shop himself to Indy teams, he earned chance meetings with Al Unser Jr. and A. J. Foyt, who both recommended NASCAR to Gordon.

As one of the biggest stars on ESPN's Thunder program, Gordon worked alongside auto racing announcer Larry Nuber, who also covered the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit at the time.

[174][142][136][172] Nuber saw the potential for Jeff to try out in stock cars, so he and John Bickford reached a deal with two-time Grand National Series champion Buck Baker to allow Gordon to run laps at his stock-car driving school, which operated at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham.

[182][183][8][178][179] On the second day of the program, Baker introduced Gordon to Hugh Connerty, a property developer and a son-in-law of Cup team owner Leo Jackson.

[187] Baker worked out a deal with Connerty to let Gordon run some laps in the car built for the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series.

[190][191][192] Still in need of a crew chief for Gordon, Petree made a phone call to his friend Ray Evernham to offer him an opportunity to meet Jeff for a September test session at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

[192][172] Evernham was amused by Gordon's small height, as he thought Jeff looked about thirteen to fifteen years old; and for the briefcase the young driver brought with him, which contained a cell phone, Game Boy, stock-car magazine, gum and peanuts.

[178][194] An open-practice day, the test session included notable competitors such as Davey Allison and eventual Busch Grand National Series champion Chuck Bown.

[194] When Gordon realized the car was capable of going faster than he expected, he went ahead and outran Bown's laps; Jeff ultimately continued to improve throughout the day and was second fastest overall, just behind Allison.

[198] The 1990 season also marked his introduction to Ray Evernham—a man who would later play a central role in Gordon's NASCAR career—but for now the two would part ways, as Evernham returned to his home in New Jersey.

[199] Morse agreed to meet with Gordon at the end of the season in Dearborn, Michigan, where they sat in Michael Kranefuss' office and watched a videotape Larry Nuber made highlighting Jeff's fifteen-year career in racing.

[205] He shared an apartment in North Charlotte with Andy Graves, who had a job in the chassis-building division at Hendrick Motorsports, a two-car team in the Winston Cup Series.

[220][151] Three weeks after that, he finished second behind Todd Bodine in the Budweiser 200 at Dover Downs International Speedway on June 1; after this race he was 10th in the standings, 404 points behind leader Bobby Labonte.

[225] The following day, the second half of the Busch Grand National season began with the running of the Carolina Pride / Budweiser 250 at Myrtle Beach Speedway, where Gordon started eighth and finished 13th.

[155] Midway through the 1991 Winston Cup Series season, Yarborough had fired drivers Dick Trickle and Lake Speed, so he reached out to Gordon to help him with his organization.

[237][155] Lee Morse admitted the team's decision to use a rival General Motors car was ironic, but he believed the move was worth it in order for Ford to win Rookie of the Year with Gordon.

[252][254] Unbeknownst to Gordon at the time, his performance at Atlanta caught the attention of Rick Hendrick,[255] the owner of a Chevrolet Winston Cup team, who normally did not attend Busch Grand National races but happened to be at the track a day early for a sponsorship appearance ahead of the 1992 Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 on Sunday.

[275] On May 6, one day after signing with Hendrick, Gordon boarded a plane with Davis and PR manager Bill Armour to Minneapolis to meet with Target Corporation executives.

[210] The tensions were high within the Ford camp, however, and according to Armour, Davis allegedly questioned to Kranefuss and Morse whether they would have a problem with firing Gordon in victory lane.

[290][286][8][210][281] On November 15, one week after his final Busch race for Davis, Gordon began his Winston Cup Series career with Hendrick Motorsports, competing in the 1992 Hooters 500 at Atlanta behind the wheel of the No.