Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Jeff Gordon loved racing at Darlington right away

Jeff Gordon is a seven-time winner at Darlington.
No. 24 3M Chevrolet SS / Jeff Gordon

Driver: Jeff Gordon
Hometown: Pittsboro, Indiana
Age: 44
Resides: Charlotte, North Carolina

Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 3M Chevrolet SS, is scheduled to visit the Darlington Raceway media center at 2 p.m. local time Friday.

POINTS UPDATE: Two races remain – Darlington Raceway and Richmond International Raceway – before the 16-driver Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field is set with Jeff Gordon currently ranked 13th, 52 points ahead of the cutoff position. Along with seven wins at Darlington, the four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has two victories at Richmond.

NEARING 25K: Gordon, driver of the No. 24 3M Chevrolet SS, is 169 shy of 25,000 career laps led. He has led more than 169 laps at the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped oval twice – in 1996 and 2005.

TOPS AMONG ACTIVE DRIVERS AT DARLINGTON: The 44-year old driver ranks first among active drivers in the following statistical categories at the South Carolina track: wins, top-five finishes, top-10s, laps led and average start (6.8).

MILLION DOLLAR PAYDAY: In the final year of its existence, Gordon won three of the four “Winston Million” races in 1997 to capture the $1 million payday from the series sponsor. Gordon held off a hard-charging Jeff Burton during the closing laps at Darlington to become only the second driver to claim the prize. Bill Elliott, the first $1 million victor, won in 1985.

ANOTHER MILLION DOLLAR VICTORY: On Sept. 6, 1998, Gordon again won $1 million from the series sponsor as part of its “No Bull 5” program – his fourth consecutive victory in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

NEW 3M TAGLINE: 3M’s new corporate tagline “Science. Applied to Life.” will appear on the No. 24 Chevrolet SS again at Darlington Raceway. This weekend marks the seventh time 3M has been the primary sponsor of the No. 24 Chevrolet SS. It previously appeared on Gordon’s car at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Dover International Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and will be the primary for a total of 11 races in 2015.

Jeff Gordon on racing at Darlington
“When I first started racing at Darlington, I loved it right away. There was a patience needed there – you had to hold back, not abuse the tires and stay out of the fence. You had to ‘race the racetrack,’ but you don’t hear that quite as much anymore.

“Darlington has changed a lot over the years since it was repaved. Now you’re racing track position, how far you can push the tires and how hard you can push the car.”
 
 

2015 Season

  • 13th in standings
  • 24 starts
  • 0 wins
  • 3 pole positions
  • 3 top-five finishes
  • 12 top-10 finishes
  • 167 laps led
 
 

Career

  • 785 starts
  • 92 wins
  • 80 pole positions
  • 323 top-five finishes
  • 466 top-10 finishes
  • 24,831 laps led
 
 

Track Career 

  • 34 starts
  • 7 wins
  • 3 pole positions
  • 19 top-five finishes
  • 23 top-10 finishes
  • 1744 laps led
 
- Hendrick Motorsports

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