Jeff Gordon says NASCAR needs to keep working to make Brickyard a success
INDIANAPOLIS — Twenty-three years ago, Jeff Gordon, a rookie living west of Indianapolis, broke out and won his first Brickyard 400. He went on to win five of them.
Now, Gordon is the retired legend who can walk around the track and just enjoy Indianapolis Motor Speedway like he used to as a kid. He’s driven the pace car for the Indianapolis 500, and Sunday he drove the pace car for the Brickyard 400.
It’s not any obligation that brings him back. He claims this is just where he wants to be.
“It’s not you, it’s me,” Gordon said. “I’ve loved it since the day I passed by when I was a quarter midget racer hoping one day to race at this amazing speedway.”
Standing next to the blue and black Camaro ZL1 with 650 horsepower, Gordon spoke about the honor of pacing the field at a race he holds so close to his heart. When they mentioned pulling the car in, he joked, “I don’t want to pull it in. Do I have to?”
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Gordon said he is enjoying retirement, because it means he can do things like he is Sunday.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled with how my career went, but I’m also ready to join this next chapter of my life,” he said. “Spend a little more time with my wife and kids, do some fun things, things I never had the opportunity to do when I was driving full time.”
Gordon said IMS means the world to him and the world of motor sports. Because of that, he cares about the Brickyard succeeding. He admits flat tracks are a big problem for NASCAR because of the long straightaways.
He discussed the new Xfinity Series package used for Saturday’s Lilly Diabetes 250 that was intended to create more competition throughout a race. He said he liked some of the aerodynamics he saw and was pleased with how the race went.
“I thought that was a nice step,” Gordon said. “A little more spread out, overall, than I was hoping for, but the fact you can get behind, draft back up, you’re working together with your cars.”
He said the challenge then becomes how to incorporate that package into the Cup Series for the Brickyard 400. He said maybe they could pair the package for both the Brickyard and Pocono Raceway.
“We saw they can do it with Xfinity, so why can’t they do it with the Cup Series?”
Gordon also has his mind on how to draw new fans into NASCAR. It’s why he was so excited about music artists like the Chainsmokers and Major Lazer playing their concerts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday.
“I thought one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen was hearing music being played on the big stage with the crowd over in turn four and race cars going by as they were finishing qualifying,” Gordon said.
He said the goal is to get some of the NASCAR fans over to the concerts and concert fans over to NASCAR. It’s that kind of joint effort that he hopes could bring a new generation into the sport.
“This place means too much to motorsports and NASCAR not to have it continue its success.”
Miller writes for the Indianapolis Star, part of the Paste BN Network.
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