| ||
---|---|---|
Business and motorsport
| ||
Jeff Gordon is an American racing driver who drove in the NASCAR Cup Series full-time from 1993 to 2015, winning 93 Cup Series races and four Cup championships. Gordon made his stock car debut in the NASCAR Busch Series on October 20, 1990, at North Carolina Motor Speedway for Hugh Connerty, crashing out on lap 23 and ending up with a 39th-place finish. [1] The following year, Gordon began racing in the Busch Series full-time, driving for Bill Davis Racing. [1] In his first year as a Busch driver he won Rookie of the Year. [1] In 1992, Gordon set a NASCAR record by capturing 11 poles in a single Busch Series season. [1] Later in the year, Rick Hendrick watched Gordon race in a Busch Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Gordon joined Hendrick Motorsports two days later. [2] Gordon made his Winston Cup debut in the season-ending race, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta, finishing 31st after a crash. [3]
During Gordon's career with Hendrick, he won his first race in 1994 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600, [4] and later became a four-time Cup Series champion. He won his first title the following year in the 1995 season, and went on to win it in 1997, 1998, and 2001. [5] He also won the Daytona 500 three times in 1997, 1999, and 2005. [5] As of 2017, he ranks third on the all-time Cup wins list with 93, [5] the most in NASCAR's modern era (1972–present). Gordon's 81 pole positions is also third all-time; Gordon won at least one pole in 23 consecutive seasons, a NASCAR record. He was also the active "iron man" leader for consecutive races participated in, with 797 through his retirement at the end of the 2015 season. [6] [7]
Over the course of his racing career, Gordon won a total of 98 NASCAR races, 93 of which were in the Cup Series. [5] [8] He also won five races in the Busch Series. His final NASCAR victory came at Martinsville Speedway in 2015 in the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500. Although he returned on a part-time basis in 2016 as a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr., this did not result in any further victories; his best result in his return was a sixth-place finish at Martinsville. [8]
In the NASCAR Cup Series, which was sponsored by Winston, Nextel, and Sprint during Gordon's career, Gordon, the 1993 Rookie of the Year and four-time series champion, won 93 races. [9] Throughout his career, he won at 24 of the 25 tracks at which he competed, leaving Kentucky Speedway the only track where he failed to win. [10] As of the end of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, Gordon's 93 wins rank third all-time behind Richard Petty (200) and David Pearson (105). [11] [12]
In NASCAR's second-level series, known variously as the Busch Grand National Series, Busch Series, and Nationwide Series during Gordon's driving career and now as the Xfinity Series, Gordon won five races. [106] All of those wins were during the period in which Anheuser-Busch's Busch beer brand was series sponsor. Gordon was also the 1991 Busch Series Rookie of the Year. [1]
No. | Date | Season | Race | Track | Location | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | March 14 | 1992 | Atlanta 300 | Atlanta Motor Speedway | Hampton, Georgia | [107] |
2 | May 23 | Champion 300 | Charlotte Motor Speedway | Concord, North Carolina | [108] | |
3 | October 10 | All Pro 300 | Charlotte Motor Speedway | Concord, North Carolina | [109] | |
4 | November 6 | 1999 | Outback Steakhouse 200 | Phoenix International Raceway | Avondale, Arizona | [110] |
5 | November 11 | 2000 | Miami 300 | Homestead-Miami Speedway | Homestead, Florida | [111] |
Kyle Thomas Busch is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro also for RCR, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports. Busch is the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion and the 2015 and 2019 Cup Series champion. Busch is currently 9th on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list and his dominance of NASCAR's three major series has him ranked as one of the greatest racing drivers of all time. Busch is also a one-time WWE 24/7 Champion. He is the younger brother of 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion Kurt Busch.
Martinsville Speedway is a stock car racing short track in Ridgeway, Virginia, just south of Martinsville. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in stock car racing, being built in 1947 by partners H. Clay Earles, Henry Lawrence, and Sam Rice, nearly a year before NASCAR was officially formed. It is also the only race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948. Along with this, Martinsville is the only oval track on the NASCAR circuit to have asphalt surfaces on the straightaways and concrete to cover the turns. At 0.526 miles (847 m) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. It is owned by NASCAR.
Anthony James Allmendinger, nicknamed "The Dinger,” is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the Nos. 16 and 13 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s for Kaulig Racing.
Bradley Aaron Keselowski is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and entrepreneur. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 6 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RFK Racing, a team he also co-owns. He was the owner of Brad Keselowski Racing, which fielded two full-time trucks in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization founded by Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs. His son, J. D. Gibbs, ran the team with him until his death in 2019. Founded in Huntersville, North Carolina, in 1992. JGR has won five Cup Series championships.
Regan Lee Smith is an American former professional stock car racing driver and a current pit reporter for Fox NASCAR. He most recently drove part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro SS for JR Motorsports.
Aric Michael Almirola is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the Nos. 19 and 20 Toyota Supras for Joe Gibbs Racing and the No. 16 Toyota Tundra for Hattori Racing Enterprises in the NASCAR Truck Series. Almirola previously competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series as well as what are now the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East and ARCA Menards Series West.
Jeffery Michael Gordon is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series and Sprint Cup Series, and also served as a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in select races during the 2016 season. He is regarded as one of the best and most influential drivers in NASCAR history, helping the sport reach mainstream popularity.
The 2011 Goody's Fast Relief 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on April 3, 2011 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. Contested over 500 laps, it was the sixth race of the 2011 season. Kevin Harvick from the Richard Childress Racing team won the race, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished in the second position ahead of Kyle Busch. Scenes from this particular race are shown in The Simpsons episode "Steal This Episode".
The 2011 Irwin Tools Night Race was a stock car racing competition that took place on August 27, 2011. Held at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, the 500-lap race was the twenty-fourth in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Brad Keselowski of the Penske Racing team won the race; Martin Truex Jr. finished second and Jeff Gordon finished third.
William Clyde "Chase" Elliott II is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro for the same team. He won the 2014 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, becoming the first rookie to win a national series championship in NASCAR and the youngest champion in that series.
William Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing.
Alexander Michael Warren Bowman is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro for the same team. He owns a Dirt Midget and Sprint car racing team Alex Bowman Racing. He is known for a record six consecutive front-row starts in the Daytona 500, from 2018 to 2023, winning the pole in 2018, 2021, and 2023.
The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 67th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 44th modern-era Cup season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Sprint Unlimited exhibition race, the Budweiser Duels, and the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kyle Busch won the championship, despite missing the first third of the season due to severe leg injuries suffered in an Xfinity Series race at Daytona. Busch also became the first Toyota driver to win a Cup championship. Despite not running the full season, Brett Moffitt was named Rookie of the Year.
The 2006 Subway 500 was the 32nd stock car race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the sixth in the ten-race Chase for the Nextel Cup. It was held on October 22, 2006, before a crowd of 65,000, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, a short track that holds NASCAR races. Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson won the 500‑lap race starting from the ninth position; Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing finished second, and Petty Enterprises' Bobby Labonte was third.
William McComas Byron Jr. is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro for the same team. He won the 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Championship and the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award in the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. The following season he won both the 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship and 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year. Byron also won the 2018 MENCS Sunoco Rookie of the Year award. He is the 2024 Daytona 500 winner.
The 2004 Advance Auto Parts 500 was the eighth stock car race of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. It was held on April 18, 2004, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia before a crowd of 91,000. The 500-lap race was won by Rusty Wallace of the Penske-Jasper Racing team after he started from a seventeenth position; It was Wallace's fifty-fifth and final victory of his career. Bobby Labonte finished second and Dale Earnhardt Jr. came in third.
Harrison Brian Burton is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 21 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Wood Brothers Racing. He is the son of former NASCAR driver Jeff Burton. In 2020, Burton became the first driver born in the 2000s or later to win a NASCAR Xfinity Series race, and in 2024 became the first to win a NASCAR Cup Series race.
The 2017 Ford EcoBoost 400 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on November 19, 2017, at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) oval, it was the 36th and final race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, and was also the final race for the Chevrolet SS which debuted at the 2013 Daytona 500, as its replacement for 2018 would be the Camaro ZL1.