Jeff Gordon's Road Course Legacy

Jeff Gordon has always been a name associated with road courses. From Sonoma to Watkins Glen, the media always treats his visits with just a little more purpose due to his history at their tracks. Whether it was his incredible stretches in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s or his impressive showings in the later years of his career, Gordon has always been associated with road courses because of all of his success at them.

Gordon’s career at both Sonoma and Watkins Glen didn’t start off well. At the Glen, he encountered an engine problem in 1993 and finished 31st. At Sonoma, he was pushed to the rear end and finished 37th in 1994. Those instances would be the end of his early struggles as Gordon would go on to dominate Sonoma and the Glen for the remainder of the 90’s.

His first win at each track started a series of three straight wins. At Sonoma, he captured his first victory in 1998 and went on to win in ’99 and ’00. At the Glen, he won his first in 1997 and went on to win in ’98 and ’99. It’s rare that you see a driver dominate a track like that but it says so much for Gordon considering the fact that he never lost a road course race from August 10th, 1997 to June 25th, 2000.

Jeff Gordon At Watkins Glen:

Wins: 4
Top 5’s: 6
Top 10’s: 9
Starts: 23 (most all-time)
Poles: 4
Laps completed: 1,985
Laps led: 262 (most all-time)
Average finish: 17.7

Watkins Glen has always been a track that has been attractive to Gordon. He vacations with his family in New York and does many other things outside of racing in the state, which makes those races more special. The fact that he likes racing there just makes it even better.

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Though he didn’t quite dominate it statistically like he did Sonoma, Gordon still had many great accomplishments at what some people think is the best track in NASCAR. Leading more laps than any other driver in NASCAR history is no small feat and neither is starting there 23 years in a row. During his three year reign at the track from 1997-99, he led 142 laps, including 55 each in ’98 and ’99.

Gordon has had a few bad times at the track such as when he was involved in a scary wreck in 2009 or finishing below 33rd his in his last 3 races at the track, but that doesn’t mask over his greatness at Watkins Glen. The fans love him and he loves being there. Though he won’t be racing at the Glen anymore, his legacy will always live on since it was the track where he earned his first road course victory; the track that started it all.

Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Jeff Gordon At Sonoma:

Wins: 5 (most all-time)
Top 5’s: 14 (most all-time)
Top 10’s: 18 (most all-time)
Starts: 23 (most all-time)
Poles: 5 (most all-time)
Laps completed: 2,343 (most all-time)
Laps led: 457 (most all-time)
Average finish: 8.30 (best all-time)

Can you say dominance? There are very few drivers in the history of NASCAR that “own” a track but it’s safe to say that Jeff Gordon “owns” Sonoma. He has the all-time record in almost every category possible and this is easily known as his specialty track.

Gordon has been so good at Sonoma that he has only finished outside of the top 10 five times. FIVE TIMES out of 23 total races. Two of those times, he didn’t even run the full amount of laps due to issues during the race. From 1995-2001 and 2006-2014, he never finished outside of the top 10. He considers this one of his home tracks since he is from California and it has shown time and time again over the years.

Jeff Gordon’s Road Course Legacy

By Cole Mentzel | Aug 13, 2015

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