US racing category nominee #5: Jeff Gordon
Friends, team-mates, rivals…
Vol 88 No.1 – January 2012
And add employer and employee to that list. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have a unique relationship in NASCAR, as well as being two drivers who have redefined the sport
By Gordon Kirby
Between them they have nine championships and 140 wins in NASCAR’s premier division. They are by far and away US stock car racing’s most successful active drivers, and beyond that they have already secured their places in NASCAR lore. They also happen to be team-mates and good friends. But what Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are not, never have been and never could be are the stereotypical ‘good ol’ boys’ who ruled NASCAR’s past. These guys have spearheaded a new generation that has broken the old image of what a stock car ace is supposed to be. They’re urbane, worldly-wise fellows and great ambassadors for their particular form of motor racing.
When NASCAR rolled into New Hampshire for the 28th round of this year’s (2012) mammoth 36-race Sprint Cup series in September, Motor Sport caught up with Gordon and Johnson to gain an insight into the world of the modern NASCAR star.
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