Jeff Gordon: From “The Kid” to 3 Time Daytona 500 Winner
(PRWEB) March 9, 2005
Jeff Gordon was born on August 4, 1971 in Vallejo, California and began his ascension in the world of racing at an early age. He was only 5 years old when his stepfather, John Bickford, bought him a Quarter Midget race car. He raced nearly every day after school and won his first Quarter Midget championship when he was 8. Jeff later had won four class championships in Go Carts by the time that he was 13. This was extra significant in that he was competing against kids who were 17 and older. He was simply born to race.
Jeff and his family moved to Indiana when he was 15 to advance his racing career. This was due to the fact that Indiana not only had more racetracks but that he could also legally race Sprint Cars there with his parents permission.
The experience in Indiana, though, was not easy. Bickford in an interview with Newsweek stated that his family Â?slept in pick-up trucks and made our own parts. That’s why I think Jeff is misunderstood by people who think he was born to rich parents and had a silver spoon in his mouth.”
Jeff later went on to win 3 sprint car track championships before he was old enough to get a drivers license. He was also the youngest person ever to get a license with the United States Auto Club when he was 16 and had won over 100 races by the time he had graduated from Tri-West High School in nearby Lizton, Indiana in 1989. He became the youngest USAC National Midget Champion in history in 1990 at the amazing age of only 19.
The next chapter was Cup racing with NASCAR in 1993.He was named NASCAR Rookie of the Year after having seven top five finishes during his first year. JeffÂ?s first victory was the Coca Cola 600 in 1994 and it became blatantly obvious that he was a competitive threat in the world of NASCAR racing.
He took home the NASCAR driving title in 1995 and again in 1997, 1998 and 2001 as well. His most recent accomplishment was winning for the third time the Daytona 500 in 2005. The Daytona 500 is considered to be the granddaddy of all NASCAR races. He has had impressive victories all over the NASCAR circuit throughout his career. ItÂ?s no wonder that he has in the past earned the nicknames of Â?Wonder BoyÂ?, Â?Flash GordonÂ? and Â?The KidÂ?.
The record also shows that despite crashes, blown engines, lapses of inconsistency, a divorce and general bad luck that Jeff has always forged ahead with fierce determination to achieve his best. Stay tuned for many years of Â?The KidÂ? to come with an unbroken passion.
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