CONCORD, N.C. – On May 29, 1994, Jeff Gordon earned his first career Cup Series victory on one of the NASCAR’s biggest stages.
The driver found Victory Lane at the annual 600-mile, Memorial Day weekend race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, winning one of the Cup Series’ famed “Crown Jewel” races at just 22 years old.
Gordon started the event on the pole and led the 400-lap race four different times for a total of 16 laps, including the final nine circuits.
The win was the beginning of many more successes to come for Gordon at Charlotte, as he went on to win two more 600-mile races and five total points events at the 1.5-mile oval.
And Gordon wasn’t finished in 1994, capturing his second win less than three months later in the inaugural Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Today, Gordon remains one of just two drivers to capture both of their first two career Cup Series wins in “Crown Jewel” events – the Daytona 500, the Charlotte 600, Southern 500 at Darlington and Brickyard 400.
He would continue to dominate the “Crown Jewels” after the breakout season, and his 17 career wins in those iconic races still leads all drivers.