LAS VEGAS — Story by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Audio courtesy of NBC and NASCAR Media — Ethan Miller/Getty Images for NASCAR photo —
After 23 years, 797 starts and countless memories along the way, Jeff Gordon’s career as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver officially came to an end on Friday night during the premier series’ annual awards banquet at the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel.
After everything that the four-time Cup champion had done for the sport, it was only fitting that Gordon’s final speech as a driver (he will transition to the FOX television booth for 2016) be both impactful and emotional, wasn’t it?
And so it was.
In a surprise twist that the Vallejo, Calif. native was unaware of when it began, Gordon was introduced to the banquet hall crowd by longtime friend and multi-million dollar actor Tom Cruise, who had the highest of praise for the driver who changed NASCAR without ever truly realizing he was changing it at the time.
“When you’re treated to excellence every week for 23 years, well, that’s not something that you let go of easily,” Cruise said of Gordon. “Brian France called him transcendent, and that set the foundation for his farewell, a victory lap that played out on stages throughout the world. Daytona International Speedway. 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Rwanda, the Waldorf Astoria, the White House and now the Wynn.”
Cruise explained his concept of transcendence further, sharing several of the levels and layers that Gordon connected together throughout his illustrious career.
“He felt as comfortable discussing a championship with George Bush as breaking down Homestead with Kyle Busch; as at ease discussing SNL skits with Jimmy Fallon as racing door to door with Jimmie Johnson. And with that he brought joy to millions and used his immense and deserved popularity for the betterment of the world, both at home and abroad.”
“Transcendence. Few reach it — he did. And although many of us want to say we’ll miss you, what we really mean is we thank you.”
And the massive crowd at the Wynn showed their thanks with a standing ovation as Gordon joined NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France on the main stage. Once there, the surprises were not done, as France presented Gordon with a rarely-seen honor bestowed upon only the highest of names in the auto racing community — the Bill France Award of Excellence.
“It’s been an honor to watch Jeff’s exceptional career,” France said. “From the very beginning, he has represented this sport with dignity and class. He’s the very definition of a champion and quite simply he changed the sport for the better — ushering in a new era of excellence on and off the track.”
“All of us at NASCAR know that he’ll always keep the sport close to his heart,” he added. “This award tonight will always be a reminder of everything that he gave to the sport that he and we all love so much.”
Gordon is the first recipient of the award since his team owner, Rick Hendrick, was awarded the France Trophy in 2009.
By the time he reached the podium, Gordon was already holding back tears, and it was easy to see that he had been crying prior to taking the stage.
It didn’t get any easier emotionally from there.
Gordon began by recognizing Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch for his accomplishments and his rise back from adversity, acknowledging the time that they spent as teammates from 2005-2007.
“You’ve come a long ways from being that kid wanting to get my autograph,” Gordon chuckled on looking over at the head table. “And then you were my teammate knocking the right side off the car every practice. But I’m really proud of you, of how you’ve matured … how you’ve grown as a person, and how you’ve handled adversity. You deserve this, buddy.”
He continued by answering the fans’ question of “Why not go one more year, to make it 24 years at the Cup level?” with a resounding ‘No’ and recognized stepfather John Bickford for getting his racing career started in the process — calling the ride he’s been on for nearly four decades nothing short of “absolutely amazing,” and that he “couldn’t have ever imagined” how his life would turn out.
Then, as Gordon began to take in the thanks and appreciation glittering in every eye across the room, he began to offer a chorus of thanks to all the people and supporters that have stood by him since his Cup debut on that fateful November day in 1992.
That chorus stumbled when he reached the only premier series car owners he ever drove for, Rick and Linda Hendrick, and he had to fight through tears three separate times in trying to explain what the duo has done for and meant to him over the course of his career in NASCAR.
“Both of you, thank you — thank you so much for choosing me as your driver,” a teary-eyed Gordon finally choked out. “I’m so proud to say I drove for one car owner, the best car owner, my entire Sprint Cup career.”
That career came to a head and a stunning conclusion in 2015, as Gordon capped off a resume that included four Cup championships, 93 wins, 81 poles and 797 consecutive starts over 23 years with a shot to win a fifth title at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
While Gordon couldn’t complete the fairy tale ending, he did call it a “perfect rebound” after the rocky start to the year that he fought through.
“It was an interesting year to say the least,” Gordon admitted. “It didn’t always look like we were going to be able to pull this thing off the way we did at the end, but Alan Gustafson, you never gave up. I love working with you. It has been a pleasure, and I’m so proud of the way that this team battled, that you led them and that we were able to go to Homestead and battle for that championship. I appreciate what you and the team did, and that effort — I appreciate that effort more than you’ll ever know.”
Finally, after recognizing longtime partners Chevrolet, Axalta (formerly DuPont) and Pepsi — as well as the legions of fans that once booed him, but learned to love him over the years — Gordon finally addressed the one question he had kept under his hat: whether he would miss getting behind the wheel or not.
“Am I going to miss it? There’s no doubt there have been some incredible moments and experience that is will be impossible to duplicate in the next chapter of my life,” Gordon said. “Yeah, sure, I’m going to miss, you know, having that opportunity to win a Daytona 500, maybe another Brickyard 400 or what it was like in that last Martinsville win. I’m going to miss the excitement in my team after we score a win and they get to celebrate all of the hard work that they put into it knowing that it paid off, or seeing Ingrid and the kids walk into Victory Lane and getting to catch the looks on their faces. Hearing those screaming fans and cheers of thousands of fans pulling for you. I’ll miss all of those things.”
He did add that there are some things that, on the flip side of that coin, he won’t miss at all.
“I won’t miss practicing in the middle of the day when it’s 90 degrees knowing that it’s a night race and you’re going to be racing in 70 degree conditions. What’s that all about? Standing next to a fan — in a urinal — who’s so excited to meet you that they don’t want to take the time to watch their hands before they shake your hand. Oh, yeah. That one’s happened many times. Or when you’re leading the race, just about to see the white flag; the flag man’s got that thing in his hand, he’s getting ready to wave it, and inches before you’re there a caution comes out.”
“Even being the last car on old tires — this one’s for you, Alan — on a restart knowing that everyone behind you is on new tires and they’re about to blow your doors off on that restart, but your crew chief’s going, ‘No problem, man, you’ve got this one, man. You’ve got it. Don’t worry.’ And last but not least, debris cautions. Enough said about that subject (laughs).”
Of course, as a broadcaster next season, he knows he will have to raise those exact issues that he would never miss as a driver, and he’s prepared for that.
But at the end of it all, Friday night was about paying tribute to a legend, and about the chance for a legend to salute the sport he loves so much one final time as one of its greatest competitors — a far cry from his humble beginnings growing up in Pittsboro, Indiana.
“Motorsports has provided me lifelong memories and stories that I get to reminisce and talk about for years and years to come. NASCAR in particular has changed my life in ways that I could never really even describe. It’s still really just a blur to me. It seems like it was just, you know, not that long ago that I was traveling from Indiana to North Carolina to see what NASCAR was even all about, and now here I am 25 years later stepping away from one of the most prestigious series in all of motorsports and talking about what a fulfilling career I’ve had.”
“That can truly only be described as remarkable, and for that I am forever, forever thankful. Thank you all.”
And as he backed away from the podium one last time, the room graced Jeff Gordon with a standing ovation — just as one of the sport’s greatest-ever champions so quietly deserved.
Listen in to the presentation of the Bill France Award of Excellence, as well as Jeff Gordon’s complete NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Banquet speech, below:
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 21-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com
Follow Jacob on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
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