LOUDON, N.H. — Jeff Gordon had a knack for pinpointing the unprotected wall when the No. 24 crashed.
His car was shot.
Gordon rarely was.
Sure, he bruised his ribs in 1999 at Texas Motor Speedway. He had a minor headache when the car lost its brakes, sliced through the grass and mud and slammed the wall in 2006 at Pocono Raceway. His 2008 wreck at Las Vegas tore the radiator out of the car and left it a mangled mess.
Gordon always walked away. And he always slid back in the seat for the next race. Track after track. Year after year.
Gordon’s mettle through a 23-year career long ago solidified him as one of racing’s greats. And he’s first yet again, NASCAR’s new ironman.
Without much fuss, Gordon will make his 789th consecutive start Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, passing Ricky Rudd for the record. Rudd, who once used duct tape to keep his swollen eyes open so he could drive, set the record in 2002 when he broke Terry Labonte’s run of 655 consecutive races.
Gordon’s durability has been as remarkable as anything else. He’s had a balky back for the latter part of his career, and it nearly ended the streak last season at the Coca-Cola 600. He cut short his practice runs because of back spasms, and there was some concern if he could race. Hendrick even had backup driver Regan Smith on standby.
Gordon started and gutted out all 400 laps.
“I think that certainly stands out in my mind when I’m lying on a table and they are injecting big long needles into my back so that I could race,” he said. “When you look back on it you go, ‘You know that’s kind of crazy. Why did I do that? I probably didn’t need to do that.’ “
The 44-year-old Gordon will retire after this season and shift into the Fox broadcast booth for telecasts.
He has four championships, 92 career wins and spent his entire career in the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.
New Hampshire is a fitting venue for him to become the new ironman. He is the only driver to compete in all 41 Cup races there and leads all drivers in top-five finishes, top-10s, laps led and laps completed (11,967) at the 1.058-mile track.
