Jeff Gordon Makes 755th Cup Start At Kansas Speedway

By Les Bailey | Oct 1, 2014

It’s hard to believe Jeff Gordon is starting his 755th Winston Cup/Nextel Cup/Sprint Cup race this weekend in the Hollywood Casino 400 from Kansas Speedway. He will begin the Contender Round in the Race For The Chase tied at 3000 points with nine other drivers. The field was cut down from 16 contenders after the AAA 400 at Dover last week, to ten.

Gordon won the 92nd race of his Sprint Cup career, and moved into third place in the standings behind Penske Racing teammates Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano before the the reset occurred.

Jeff Gordon has driven his entire Cup career for Hendricks Motorsports, and remains in third place for all-time wins behind Richard Petty with 200 wins, and David Pearson, with 104.

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Jeff ran his first Winston Cup race in what I call one of NASCAR’s most historical races. The Hooters 500, at Atlanta Moror Speedway, November 15th, 1992.

It was Richard Petty’s final race, and Atlanta being the season ending race in those days, Alan Kulwiki became the first owner/driver to win a Winston Cup title, and at the time, with six driver in contention, it was the closest margin in History.

Of Course, Kulwiki died in a plane crash between seasons, and was never able to defend his title. Jeff Gordon finished in twenty-second spot when they dropped the Checkered Flag.

Although he won his first Gatorade Duel in 1993, and finished fifth in the Daytona 500, he wouldn’t get his first win on the circuit until the 1994 Coca Cola 500 at The Charlotte Motor Speedway. He did win Rookie of the Year honors in 1993.

Jeff Gordon’s career took a big hit during the COT Car days. He could never figure out the car, and has returned to his competitive ways with the introduction of the new Gen 6 Race car at the start of the 2013 season. He won four Winston Cup Championships, but none since the beginning of the Chase format.

Gordon has competed in the Cup series for 23 years, and the numbers for his career are staggering, to say the least. He has completed 214,441 laps, leading 24,126 of those laps.

I’m not sure how many more championships are in Jeff’s future, or how many years he will continue to drive, but after what I saw on Sunday at Dover, it doesn’t appear the end is in the immediate future. He still has the fire, and continues to be a top driver on NASCAR’s top circuit.

I always said that if Jeff Gordon had a 12th place car, he would finish 12th. If he had a winning car, he would win. Being one of the best drivers in Sprint Cup, I always thought, one of the smartest. For the most part, he seldom creates wrecks, and knows when he can be aggressive and knows when he needs to log laps.

The Hollywood Casino 400 drops the Green Flag on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 Eastern Time on the Kansas Speedway. You can see it on ESPN, WatchESPN, or listen to it on Sirius XM. Be sure to tune in for Jeff Gordon’s 750th race, and his quest for a fifth Cup title.