JockBio: Jeff Gordon Facts

	Jeff Gordon — Facts
	bio	facts	what they say	my say

JockBio Vital Stats
• NASCAR Driver	• #24
• Height: 5' 7"	• Weight: 150	• Born: 8/4/71

Jeff restored and rebuilt a 1933 Ford sedan when he was a teenager. He used a motor he had hand-built for the pickup he drove in high school.
At 19, Jeff was the youngest national champion in the history of Midget competition.
Jeff attended his first Indy 500 in 1983. Tom Sneva won the race.
Jeff’s first Winston Cup race, in 1992, was Richard Petty’s last.
At 21, Jeff was history’s youngest winner of the 125-mile Daytona qualifying race.
Jeff’s $613,000 winner’s check at the 1994 Brickyard 400 was the largest in NASCAR history at the time.
Jeff’s Winston Million bonus in 1997 was the first since Bill Elliott won the mega-bonus in 1985.
Dale Earnhardt teased Jeff publicly when he cried after his 1993 Daytona qualifying win. In 1998, Earnhardt shed a tear after finally winning the Daytona 500. Yes, he admitted, he had “pulled a Gordon.”
Jeff recorded 17 consecutive Top 5 finishes in 1998, the longest streak of the Winston Cup era.
In 2005 Jeff won a $1 million bonus for being the top-ranked driver outside the Chase.
Jeff and Ingrid were married at the end of the 2006 racing season. A few weeks later, they announced she was pregnant. Their baby, Ella Sofia, was born in June 2007.
Ingrid was featured, along with the spouses of other top athletes, in the 2008 Swimsuit Edition of Sports Illustrated.
In 2006, Jeff and teammates Max Angelelli and Wayne Taylor finished third in the 24 Hours of Daytona race.
In 2007, Jeff, Jimmie Johnson and their crew chiefs were penalized by NASCAR for illegal front-end modifications of the Car of Tomorrow designed. The drivers were docked 100 points each, while Steve Letarte and Chad Knaus were banned from the track for six races.
Jeff finished the 2007 Daytona 500 10th despite being involved in a wild, last-lap crash.
In 2007, Jeff won the Pole for the first official Car of Tomorrow race, at Bristol.
In 2007, Jeff established a new modern-day record when he surpassed Darrell Waltrip’s 59 career Poles. That year he also passed Dale Earnhardt on the all-time win list with his 77th victory, at Talladega.
Jeff’s 30 Top 10 finishes in 2007 set a new modern-day NASCAR mark. He eclipsed his own record of 28, set in 1998.
Jeff was chosen by EA Sports as the “cover boy” for its NASCAR 09 video game.
When Jeff was 12, he made extra cash at races selling Jeff Gordon t-shirts. These are among the racing world’s most highly prized collectibles today.
Jeff says his Lap 198 pass of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at Daytona in 2005—without benefit of a draft—was the finest of his career.
It took more than 60 years for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to have its first four-time winner at the Indy 500, AJ Foyt. Jeff won his fourth race there in his 11th try.
Jeff’s crew chief, Robbie Loomis, was in the pits for three Winston Cup victories before teaming with Jeff—two by Bobby Hamilton and one with John Andretti.
Jeff and Jimmie Johnson first became friends when Jeff admired his aggressive driving at Darlington in 1998. In 2004, they traveled together with their girlfriends to Spain, New York and the Bahamas.
Jeff’s favorite TV show is Friends. His favorite video game is Tiger Woods golf.
Jeff established his own wine label in 2005.
Jeff hosted Saturday Night Live in 2003. In 2004, he filled in for Regis Philbin one morning.
Off the racetrack, Jeff has never had an accident—when moving forward. He admits to having backed into a few things.
Jeff, who stands 5-7, says the athlete he’d most like to swap places with is 7-1 Shaquille O’Neal.
If racing hadn’t worked out for Jeff, he says he would have tried to get into the space program.
Jeff appeared on Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown. He won in his preliminary game, beating Angie Dickinson, Kathy Griffin, Penn Jillette and Ron Livingston. In the championship round, he was matched against fellow winners David Cross, Steve Harris, Seth Meyers and Dave Navarro. Jeff was the first to exit.

Tom Sneva, 1992 All World

Dale Earnhardt,
2001 Stock Car Racing

Jeff Gordon,
2005 Pepsi Ad Campaign

Shaquille O'Neal, 2001 Heritage