CONCORD, N.C. -- Jeff Gordon really isn't leaving NASCAR. We've all been snookered. Maybe he should give back all those cool presents he is getting on his "final lap" victory tour.
We kid because we care, of course. NASCAR fans will see plenty of Jeff Gordon next season. The only thing missing will be the firesuit, which Gordon is ditching for more professional business attire as he joins Fox as an analyst.
"I'm very passionate about this sport and I have been for a long time as a driver," Gordon said on "NASCAR Race Hub" on Fox Sports, making it all official. "I got the chance to do some Xfinity races this year in the booth and I really enjoyed it. It was a bit of an adrenaline rush that I think is important for me to have.
"As a race car driver, I've always had it, but off the track and in this next chapter in my life, I always wondered, 'Will I be able to still feed off of some of that?' And being in that booth gave me that."
Burt first, Gordon has some work to do in that firesuit. He will start 18th in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600, looking for his first victory of the season. Despite the victory goose-egg, Gordon is ranked ninth in points and remains a strong Chase contender.
Gordon, 43, has been a great ambassador for NASCAR, always a bit guarded about crossing lines of criticizing the sport. But he's gotten a bit more feisty with age. Note his comments about NASCAR safety after Kyle Busch went slamming into an unprotected wall at Daytona International Speedway in February.
"Everybody knows we have to do something and it should have been done a long time ago," Gordon said then. "All we can do now is hope they do it as fast as they possibly can."
The hope is that Gordon continues to share his thought bubbles with the same candor and leaves his pom-poms at home.
"The good thing about it is that he's going to have a different perspective on it when he's on the outside looking in because he's already got that voice," points leader and defending season champ Kevin Harvick said.
Gordon is forever part of the NASCAR family now, embraced by a wide majority of fans. It wasn't always that way, especially back in the days when he was intertwined in an intense rivalry with the late Dale Earnhardt.
Earnhardt was called "The Intimidator" and beloved. Gordon was called a lot of unflattering terms and loathed even as he racked up wins and championships.
Those days are long gone. The cheers that Gordon hears today will subside, but only because he's no longer walking the big stage during driver introductions. He will fit in just fine.
"I've always said that no matter what I do, I'm going to be a part of racing because racing is my life," Gordon said. "It's been my life since I was 5 or 6 years old. There's nothing I know more about or feel more comfortable being a part of than racing. I've never wanted to step away from racing. It just felt like it was the right time for me to step away from being behind the wheel as a driver.
"I've been very successful in ways I never even thought I would be behind the wheel. But the time is right for me to do something different from driving but I still want to be a part of this sport. I think this is a great time for me to continue to show how much I really care about racing, how much I love it; take the knowledge I've had over the years and hopefully be able to bring that to the fans in a little bit of a unique and new way."
Sports on 05/24/2015