HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Jeff Gordon’s history is still being written.
Even the driver himself thought he knew his favorite win, his favorite moment, his favorite championship.
Then 2015 happened.
“You know, I didn't think anything could top the Brickyard 400 in 1994, that win, until Martinsville,” Gordon said. “I didn't think anything could top that 1998 championship where we won 13 races -- I've always had a tough time trying to balance out which one is the most meaningful, because '95 was the first one. It was going against (Dale) Earnhardt; that was huge. '98 was big because of the wins, the 13-win season and how we dominated that season. But '01 was extremely personally gratifying to me, to do it with (crew chief) Robby Loomis, and again, I got a lot of respect in the garage area by doing it with someone other than (crew chief) Ray (Evernham).
“But this one is so much different because my final year, my final race, (wife) Ingrid and the kids. Kids motivate you in a whole new way, and no matter what we're going to go out and be happy and celebrate, but to do it as a champion -- oh, my gosh, I just can't imagine anything that would be more emotional and more exciting and more gratifying than to look at my wife in the eyes and see that reaction from her when that race is over if we win it.”
So when it’s all said and done, Gordon’s final season could hold his favorite win and favorite championship. But it all comes down to Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
And if the race ends with Gordon on stage as a five-time champion, Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick has an idea of what would happen.
“I think we'll all go bananas,” he smiled. “It'll be just like what you saw at Martinsville on steroids.
“Everybody will be so proud and happy for him and the fact that he can – it’s a walk-off home run and I don't know how it could get any sweeter than to see a guy, especially for me, that meant so much to me personally, to our organization, could end his career that way. It would just be a fairytale story. I think it would be probably the biggest championship won in the last I don't know how many years. I don't ever remember an athlete doing that. I don't remember him -- kind of a single-handedly, whether a tennis champion or someone like that, a golf champion, to win it all and just walk away.”
Gordon believes it would become his biggest championship – so what would it mean for Hendrick Motorsports?
“Well, I think it would have to rank up there,” Hendrick said. “When you start thinking about your first, Jimmie (Johnson) winning five in a row, all that is important, but if you think about what one individual has meant to so many, and for him to go out, I would say it would be the most important one we've ever won.”
That opportunity is in front of Gordon Sunday at Homestead.
“That's how you want to go out,” the driver said, “and that's how I hope I can.”