A four time Winston Cup champion, Jeff Gordon was born on August 4th, 1971 in Vallejo, California.  At the age of five, Gordon was introduced to racing by his stepfather.  Gordon enjoyed racing so much that after practicing for a while, he decided to competitively go racing. At only the age of eight, Gordon won his first championship in the quarter midget series, and ended up winning a second quarter midget championship three years later.  Gordon also competed in Go-kart racing, where he won all twenty-five races he entered in, and all twelve that he raced the following year.

By the age of thirteen, Gordon began to search for new challenges in the field of racing, already having dominated go-karts and the quarter-midget series.  He finally decided to try his hand in Sprint car racing. Successful in making the move to sprint cars, Gordon won many races, and
continued to dominate as he always had in other series of racing.

Several years later, Gordon moved to the USAC Midget car racing series,where in 1989, he was awarded the "Rookie of the year" title.  A year later, Gordon won the USAC Midget car Championship at the age of only nineteen; the youngest winner of the championship in history.   Gordon then went on to win the USAC championship dirt title to become the youngest Silver Crown winner in the history of the series.

Then, in 1991, Gordon decided to make the big leap to stock car racing. Gordon sold all the cars, and parts that he had used in all the series he had competed in and began racing the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series.

In his year competing in the NASCAR Busch Series, Gordon won a record eleven poles, and many excellent finishes.  After that year, Gordon was given the opportunity to race in the Winston Cup series. At that time, no one knew that Gordon would eventually become one of the biggest names in Winston Cup. He was about to take the series by storm.

In 1993, Gordon won the Winston Cup "Rookie of the year" title, and then in 1994 Gordon earned his first win.  He then went on to win one more race before season’s end, including the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  He finished out the season with great statistics, earning two wins, seven top-five, and fourteen top ten finishes.

In 1995, Gordon became the youngest Winston Cup champion in NASCAR's modern era at the age of 24, in only his third full season.  In that year, Gordon posted an astonishing seven wins, eight poles, seventeen top five, and twenty-three top ten finishes. He also led 2,610 laps that season, and collected $4,347,343 million in overall winnings- The most ever by any NASCAR driver in one season.

In 1996, Gordon came just short of the championship by collecting ten wins, five poles, twenty-one top-five, and twenty-four top ten finishes.  In 1997, Gordon went on to win the Winston Cup championship once again; by posting ten wins, one pole, twenty-two top five, and twenty-three top ten finishes.

1998, one of the most impressive seasons Gordon has posted to date, brought an amazing thirteen wins, seven poles, twenty-six top five, and twenty-eight top ten finishes.  He captured the championship, and racked up over $9 million dollars in overall season earnings.

In 1999, Gordon won the Daytona 500 for a second time; making him the youngest driver to ever win the Daytona 500 twice. That year he posted another season of impressive statistics; earning seven wins, eighteen top-five, and twenty-one top ten finishes.  Gordon rounded out the season
finishing sixth in the championship point standings.

In 2000, Gordon re-wrote the record books again by becoming the youngest driver to achieve fifty victories.  He posted three wins, eleven top-five, and twenty-one top ten finishes.  He finished just inside the top ten in points, by placing ninth in overall in points.

2001 brought yet another championship to Gordon, whose previous season had been relatively average. The season brought six wins, six poles, eighteen top-five, and twenty-four top ten finishes to the #24 Dupont team and Jeff Gordon.

The 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup turned out to be a fairly average season, by earning three wins, three poles thirteen top five, and twenty top ten finishes.  Gordon finished fourth in overall points respectively.

For the 2003 season, Gordon and his #24 Dupont team will continue their dominant ways, and hope to get their fifth NASCAR Winston Cup championship.

Jeff Gordon facts:
Birthdate: August 4, 1971
Birthplace: Vallejo, CA
Hometown: Pittsboro, IN
Height: 5'8
Weight: 150

You can write Valerie at VALERIEGAMSKY@RACINGJUNKY.COM

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