That poor Jeff Gordon

By Cathy Elliott

Special to the Citizen

At the end of the race at Martinsville Speedway on October 19, I heard these words spring from the lips of an actual human, with my very own ears: “That poor Jeff Gordon.”

Say what? You have got to be kidding. Surely I didn’t hear that right. Gordon had just finished fourth in the race and moved up one spot in the driver standings.

It seemed ludicrous to me that anyone, anywhere, under any circumstances, could ever feel sorry for this particular driver.

Much like Pigpen in the old “Peanuts” cartoon series, Jeff Gordon seems to move through life surrounded by a constant cloud of dust. The difference is that Gordon’s cloud is made of gold dust.

In an arena known to be the most competitive in all of professional sports-the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit-Gordon has thumped 42 other teams in the head four times during his career to win as many series titles. That ranks him third on the overall championship list, behind Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, Sr., who each earned seven titles.  Even if Jimmie Johnson manages to accomplish the nearly impossible feat of winning a third consecutive title this season, Gordon will still be one up on him.

Part of NASCAR’s 50th anniversary celebration in 1998 was a comprehensive list of the sport’s 50 all-time greatest drivers. The 26-year-old Gordon made the list. That’s a great accomplishment, but just so there would be no question as to whether he deserved such an honor, Gordon went on to win the championship, his third, that same year. Then he followed it up with a fourth title in 2001. Jeff Gordon likes a lot of icing on his cake.

With 81 career Cup Series wins, Gordon ranks sixth on the all-time win list. Two more victories will tie him with Cale Yarborough for fifth. Three more wins would tie him with Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison for third place.

Gordon is included on Sports Illustrated’s list of the 25 richest American athletes. Not the richest NASCAR drivers, mind you, but the most financially successful athletes in all of sports. Some of the other names on the list are Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, and some guy named Tiger. I think he may be a golfer.

You can probably understand now why my first reaction to that overheard comment was to say something along the lines of, “Yeah, cry me a river for that poor Jeff Gordon.”

But then I thought about it, and I kind of understood where the guy was coming from.

In life, there is a distinction to be made between things that you do, and things that you are. For example, we do know how to ride a bicycle, but Lance Armstrong is a cyclist. We do write, but Pat Conroy is a writer. Some of us do play the guitar, but Eric Clapton is a guitarist.

And make no mistake about this. Most of us do drive cars, but Jeff Gordon is a racecar driver.

There is a quality every NASCAR competitor seems to have indelibly stamped on his or her personal DNA. Appropriately enough in this instance, it is often referred to as … drive.

It is desire and determination. It is the unwillingness to accept anything less than the ultimate prize, and the utter inability to give anything less than your personal best.

So while four championships are great, five or six would be even better, and eight would be best of all.

If Gordon does tie Allison and Waltrip for third on the winners’ list (my money’s on him), second-place David Pearson (105 victories) just might start looking a little squirmy, if you know what I’m saying.

The 50 greatest NASCAR drivers of all time? How about the top 10, or the top five? 

It is unlikely that Gordon this year’s Sprint Cup Series championship. He has an outside chance, at best, at this late point in the Chase. He will don his designer tuxedo and make a charming speech at the awards banquet in New York City, but you can bet it will gall him that some other driver is hoisting the trophy at evening’s end. He will consider what would constitute a banner year for plenty of other racers to be just not good enough. He will present a gracious face to the public–yet another thing he does remarkably well–and then he and his team will head back to the shop to puzzle and ponder and problem-solve until the 2009 Daytona 500 rolls around and they can give it another go.

Like that elusive brass ring on the old carnival carousels, perfection is something we all know we cannot reach. But as we grow and progress and our arms get longer, we can come a whole lot closer with each attempt, and we never stop trying.

Jeff Gordon’s arms have grown longer and stronger with the passing years, and have embraced a great many accomplishments along the way.  On our own individual roads to success, we could do a lot worse than to emulate his driving style, both personally and professionally.

After thinking it through, I’ve decided I’m sticking with my first reaction. That poor Jeff Gordon? I don’t think so.