Jeff Gordon Tag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – William Byron’s face brightened and he laughed a bit talking about his new high-definition reality as a member of the championship Hendrick Motorsports team in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The 20-year old rookie got his first taste of stardom earlier this week and said he was a little taken aback when he unexpectedly got “recognized” having dinner at an Outback Steakhouse near Daytona International Speedway. “That part has been different,’’ Byron said smiling. “I went out to eatRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A week removed from the annual NASCAR Media Tour, the buzz around media tabloids wasn’t about Speedweeks or season expectations, but drivers being vocal about NASCAR’s promotion towards the future as the sport enters its 70th season without a strong media darling like Dale Earnhardt, Jr. The first wave of the “Young Gun Movement” from the early 2000s are now the established veterans who are carrying the sport, but we’re seeing a promotional shift favoring the second movement with drivers Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, WilliamRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer It was 25 years ago when NASCAR saw a changing of the guard, and today will be no different. ‘The King,’ Richard Petty ran his final race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Hooters 500, and a young Jeff Gordon made his debut. After an epic battle for the Championship, Bill Elliott won the race and Alan Kulwicki became one of the last owner-drivers to win the then-Winston Cup Series Championship. This is something that I am calling “The ’92 Effect.” Like the 1992 season,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Ahead of this weekend’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway that will see one of four drivers walk away with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship trophy, we’ll take a step back to 2004 and the first year of the Chase format, along with the drama that played out in the season finale to deliver Kurt Busch with his first Cup championship. With Sprint/Nextel taking over the series title sponsorship from Winston at the end of the 2003 season, a new championship format was introduced, calledRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor It takes a lot to get Jeff Gordon riled up, but when the Cup Series visited Phoenix in November 2012, the four-time series champion had decided he’d had enough. Gordon and Clint Bowyer had been embroiled in a feud stemming from contact at Martinsville earlier in the year and with the season winding to a close, contact between the two at Phoenix just sent the Hendrick Motorsports driver over the edge. As the two were battling for a spot in the top-five with less thanRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor “They touch once! Twice! Drag race! Jimmie Johnson!” When looking back at memorable moments at Martinsville Speedway, the duel between Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon in the spring of 2007 is often near the top of the list. The race, which featured the much maligned Car of Tomorrow in only its second outing, would turn into a Chevrolet showcase with the four drivers that dominated the race all driving a car with a bowtie on the grill. Dale Earnhardt, Jr, Denny Hamlin,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The 2001 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season started off with profound loss, but also ushered in an era of unprecedented growth for the series as they made their way to new markets and new tracks later in the year. One of those new tracks/markets was Kansas Speedway, a 1.5-mile intermediate oval just outside of Kansas City that would make its debut in September 2001. Jason Leffler and points leader Jeff Gordon would start on the front row, but it wouldn’t take long for thingsRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer For this week’s edition of Climbing the Ladder, Seth Eggert sat down with JR Motorsports driver William Byron. Byron is a 19-year-old NASCAR Xfinity Series driver. He drives the No. 9 Liberty University / Axalta Chevrolet Camaro. Byron is campaigning for the both 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship as well as Rookie of the Year Honors. Last year in the very first edition of Climbing the Ladder, Eggert spoke with Byron who was then competing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Kyle BuschRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. – What is in a number? For one driver, namely Chase Elliott, a return to a familiar car and number could mean success. Recently, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Elliott would shift from the No. 24 to the newly rebranded No. 9 starting with the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. The No. 9 is synonymous with the Elliott name. Chase’s Hall of Fame father, Bill Elliott, earned 38 of his 44 career victories in the No. 9 car. Bill Elliott also wonRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer For the first time in the teams’ history, Hendrick Motorsports unveiled the primary colors for all four of the organization’s drivers on the same night. Previously, Hendrick has waited until after the season finale to start unveiling paint schemes for the next season. Helping unveil the cars were drivers Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Jimmie Johnson, and William Byron. Also in attendance were Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, and Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick. Hendrick was asked about whether it was superstition thatRead More