CONCORD, N.C. -- There was a time not too long ago when Jeff
Gordon wondered if he'd ever win another race.
His personal life was in shambles, and a long losing streak had
the four-time series champion doubting himself for the first time
in his storied NASCAR career. The wins were few and far between,
and the consistent title contender had turned into a perpetual
also-ran.
Now five years later, Gordon can't be stopped -- he's ticking off
wins, marching toward another title and, no coincidence here, has
never been happier.
With his sixth win of the season Saturday night at Lowe's Motor
Speedway, Gordon opened a healthy 68-point lead in the Nextel Cup
points standings. He then celebrated with friends and family,
including his only sister, Kimberly Coykendall, who through bad
timing had missed the first 80 victories of his Cup career.
As he approaches his first wedding anniversary with wife Ingrid
and delights in the joys of fatherhood with infant daughter Ella,
Gordon insists he'll be satisfied no matter where he winds up in
the final season standings.
"I'm going to tell you right now, I don't care what happens
with the championship. This is my year," Gordon said. "Even with
the wins that we've had so far, the kind of year on and off the
racetrack, for me personally, it's just been the most incredible
year."
One that seems destined to end with the fifth championship that
has eluded NASCAR's Golden Boy for the past six seasons.
The 22-year-old kid who sobbed in Victory Lane after his first
Cup win here back in 1994 matured into one of the most dominant
drivers in series history. He reeled off 56 wins and stormed to
four championships in a seven year span from 1995 to 2001.
Along the way, though, his picture-perfect marriage to former
NASCAR model Brooke Sealey crumbled. He was 30, at the top of his
profession and had more money than he ever dreamed possible. But
living in Florida, isolated from family, friends and the NASCAR
community, he realized just how miserable he was.
The couple entered into a nasty, public divorce in 2002 that
captivated the garage area and coincided with the worst losing
streak of his career. The one driver who contended each and every
week was in a nearly yearlong slump, failing to visit Victory Lane
for an unheard of span of 31 races.
But when he finally broke the streak, using a cold-hearted
bump-and-run on Rusty Wallace with three laps to go at Bristol, it
hardly kickstarted his comeback. He knocked down wins every now and
again, but wasn't quite a threat for the title and missed the Chase
for the championship in 2005.
Team owner Rick Hendrick responded with an immediate crew chief
change, promoting one-time parts clerk Steve Letarte into the
biggest job of his short career. Letarte came to Hendrick as a
15-year-old enrolled in a work-study program, and spent nine years
working his way up to the most pressure-packed job in the company.
They instantly clicked and have been on a high-speed comeback
ever since.
"Steve waited a year, could have been a crew chief earlier, to
wait for Jeff Gordon, and that chemistry (between them) has been
unbelievable," Hendrick said.
Gordon has nine wins in his 77 races with Letarte, and they have
been flawless this season while building a lead of more than 300
points during the "regular season." It was all wiped out when the
Chase began, but Gordon has quickly taken command of the title
hunt.
With five races remaining, it looks to be Gordon's title to
lose, and Hendrick believes it's a direct correlation to his
personal life.
"I think I see a real happy Jeff Gordon," Hendrick said. "I
think that his life outside of racing is probably the best it's
ever been, especially with his little girl."
This resurgence has helped Gordon continue his assault on the
record books. He passed the late Dale Earnhardt for sixth on the
career wins list this spring, and with 81 career victories, he's
poised to shoot up the standings.
He needs just three wins to pass Cale Yarborough for fifth, and
four victories will slide him past Bobby Allison and Darrell
Waltrip. Gordon will never touch Richard Petty's mark of 200
victories, but there's no reason to doubt he can claim No. 2 and
pass David Pearson's 105 wins.
Gordon didn't want to speculate when asked Saturday night if he
had 25 wins left in his tank.
"A couple years ago, I didn't think I had any left in me,"
Gordon said. "So right now, we're just having one of those
spectacular seasons. We're just going to try to finish it out and
see what we get, and next year is a whole new season. Who knows?"