NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon on life, secret talents and duels with Dale Earnhardt

In 1994, Jeff Gordon won his first race in NASCAR’s signature series, taking the checkered flag at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway at age 22.

Gordon would win 92 more times after that, becoming racing royalty and a NASCAR Hall of Famer. Now he’s our latest subject of “Sports Legends of the Carolinas,” the multimedia project in which we interview sports stars about their journeys to iconic status and their struggles along the way.

Somehow, Gordon is 51 years old. He’s been a household name in NASCAR for the past three decades. After a six-year stint in the TV broadcast booth, he now works as vice chairman at Hendrick Motorsports, the place where he launched his own career in the sport. He and his family live in Charlotte.

In his racing prime, Gordon became such a crossover star that he became the first NASCAR driver to host “Saturday Night Live.” In this interview, conducted in his office at Hendrick Motorsports, Gordon talked about his favorite character from that SNL appearance, as well as teaching his daughter how to drive, his secret talent as a breakdancer (yes, seriously) and his rivalry with Dale Earnhardt Sr.

A fuller version of this conversation is available as a free podcast by searching “Sports Legends of the Carolinas,” wherever you get your podcasts. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

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— Scott Fowler: Let’s start off with a simple one: What are you doing these days?

— Jeff Gordon: I’m here every week at Hendrick Motorsports as vice chairman. I’ve been so fortunate throughout my career to not only drive for the best organization and the best owner in Rick Hendrick but also along the way to be partners with him in motorsports as well as in the automotive side with a few dealerships. … This is something I’ve dreamed of doing for a long time when I started seeing myself get closer to retiring from driving. … It’s not a specific role that I’m doing every day. It’s something different all the time.

— SF: Do you still take your kids to school every day?

— JG: Dropped them off this morning.

My daughter is getting ready to start driving to school on her own. She’s about to turn 16, which is crazy for me to think about. Especially now as the kids are becoming teenagers, we’re trying to take time with them. What I do like about this role is that I’m at home on a Friday after work. I’m there on Saturdays and maybe Sunday mornings before I head off to the racetrack.

— SF: Your son Leo is in sixth grade and then there’s Ella, his older sister. Are either of them into racing?

— JG: No racing. We introduced them to quarter midgets early, when they were 5 or 6 years old, the same thing that I grew up racing. We did it for a little while, but it didn’t seem to stick. They have other interests and that’s fine. I want to support them in whatever they’re passionate about.

My daughter is the athlete in the family. She’s a speed demon running track. I love watching her run; she’s a beautiful runner. She plays field hockey and in track she can just about do it all — high jump, pole vault, everything.

And Leo? I think he might want to be a YouTube star one day.

— SF: You and Jimmie Johnson are neighbors in Charlotte, right?

— JG: We are neighbors in Charlotte, and we used to be neighbors in New York. Both our kids were born in New York. My wife Ingrid and I met in New York. But we’ve been in Charlotte for 10-12 years now.

— SF: The very first of your 93 Cup wins came at the Coke 600 in 1994 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. What do you remember about that?

— JG: I had gotten aligned with Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports and Ray Evernham as crew chief. We came close to winning in 1993, my rookie year, but never did. I always felt comfortable driving at Charlotte, though — I finished second in the Coke 600 in 1993 to Dale Earnhardt.

We weren’t going to win that day in 1994, though. We were a second-place car. But luckily, the stars aligned, the cautions didn’t fall, we did a two-tire pit stop that was a great call by Ray and came out first. It was just a very emotional day. When the white flag came out I was like, “Oh my God, this might happen. This is about to happen!” And then it definitely hit me all at once.

The Gordon- Earnhardt rivalry

— SF: You had a classic sort of “opposites” attract rivalry with Dale Earnhardt Sr. How did that evolve?

— JG: When I came into the sport, he was “The Man.” He won his seventh championship in 1994, the same year I won my first race. So when you went to driver introductions, it was all about Dale Earnhardt. When you were on the racetrack, you know, he was the guy. And so I of course looked up to him and admired him. Respected him. That didn’t always come through on the racetrack because he’s “The Intimidator,“ and he’s going to show you why that’s his nickname.

I really wanted to learn from him, on and off the track. My popularity started growing and I think what really happened is in 1995, we battled together for the championship. And so we’re doing more media together. We’re racing together more. It just helped me get closer, or at least to understand him, a lot more that year. And I maybe earned a little bit respect back because we won the championship that year. Not too many people can say that Dale Earnhardt finished second to them.

Dale was also very involved in the business side of things — the licensing and merchandising and, you know, sponsorship side. So he kind of took me under his wing a little bit there.

— SF: Earnhardt also gave you the nickname early on of “Wonder Boy.” Did you like that?

— JG: I didn’t like any nicknames. I’ll be honest. I was just wanting to be Jeff Gordon. And I think early on, I wasn’t mature enough or able to really fully understand what Dale was doing. He was not only trying to get under my skin a little bit to get a competitive advantage, but he also was recognizing what attracts people to the sport, right? A rivalry. A controversy. Personalities.

And he was so confident and comfortable with who he was. He had all the years of experience, but also he had a huge fan base. So he could almost get away with anything.

At first I didn’t understand it and maybe took offense to it. Over time, I started to appreciate it a lot more to where I’m glad he did some of those things. It not only helped the sport grow, it helped my fan base grow.

I would have loved to have had more time with Dale, later in both of our careers. Because I had a lot of questions for him.

Hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’

— SF: Tell me about appearing on “Saturday Night Live” as the guest host in 2003.

— JG: It was an incredible experience. I can’t believe that I actually turned it down the first time. And I didn’t do it because I felt like I was too good for it. I didn’t think I was good enough. You know, why would they want me? I’m going to embarrass myself. But a year later, the invitation came back around, and I had friends talk me into it.

It’s probably in the top five of greatest experiences I’ve ever had.

You’re working in an environment so far removed from anything you’re really comfortable with, and it’s a huge challenge because of that. My heart was pounding out of my chest when they announced me as host. You talk about an adrenaline rush.

— SF: The character people remember most that you played was a guy named Rickey Funke, in the final sketch of the night.

— JG: Yes, I closed it out with Rickey Funke. I put it all out there on the line on that one. I worked at a Super Walmart and had long hair and a fake mustache and played the air guitar.

Breakdancing in middle school

— SF: You grew up at first in California but then moved to Indiana largely because of your racing career. Missed a prom or two to race. And didn’t you race on your high school graduation night?

— JG: I did. I graduated from high school and was racing that night in Bloomington, Indiana. Finished second. It was one of my best races that I’ve ever had to that point. My life was all about racing.

I’ve had a lot of conversations with my wife recently about this: What you sacrifice when you find your passion early. Is it worth it?

I can sit back at 51 years old and say, “Absolutely.”

— SF: What would 51-year-old Jeff Gordon tell 18-year-old Jeff Gordon? — JG:(Laughs) Don’t get married at age 23. That’d probably be the first thing.

(Gordon’s first marriage ended in a high-profile divorce).

As far as a racecar driver, I don’t know that I could have done it much different. It went pretty well. I think maybe I would just try to figure out a little bit earlier on in my life who I am, and then just 100% percent be myself.

I was a little programmed early. I was afraid to make mistakes. I was afraid to say the wrong thing. I didn’t want to lose a sponsor. I didn’t want any fans to boo me. So I wasn’t as much “me” as I would have liked to have been. But that did come over time.

— SF: It turned out that people liked the real Jeff Gordon, too?

— JG: But you don’t know, right? Are they going to like the real Jeff Gordon, who came from Vallejo, California, and likes hip hop music and used to breakdance? It took me years before I would open up about the life that made me who I was.

— SF: Wait a minute. You used to breakdance? — JG: Oh. Oops.

— SF: When did you do that?

— JG: I started getting into it in about the sixth grade. I had a sister who’s four years older than me so I got to see her music choices and her older friends and what she was influenced by. Breakdancing was very popular in California at that time.

So I started doing a little bit of that in sixth grade, and more so in seventh grade as it got bigger in movies and music.

Nobody in school knew anything about racing. That was my weekend thing. But during the week, I was a middle schooler into music and breakdancing. I’d be in the hallways, in between classes and at lunchtime, doing these breakdances. I actually did two talent shows with breakdancing, with a group.

Thank goodness that video does not exist.