 | | Credit: AP |
By Marty Smith, NASCARCOM
October 30, 2004
09:26 AM EDT (13:26 GMT)
HAMPTON, Ga. -- Starry-eyed young boys ride rainbow-colored big wheel tricycles in circles for hours, wearing grooves in the gravel as visions of glory at Daytona and Indy and Charlotte dance about sporadically in their heads like the wind-blown tassels capping their handlebars.  |  | | Marty Smith |
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Grown men slap No. 24 stickers on the back window, hit the four-lane and seek out red Chevrolet Monte Carlos to tailgate. Somewhat like James Taylor, they've gone to Talladega in their minds. Like millions worldwide, these folks emulate Jeff Gordon, may even want to be Jeff Gordon. You can't blame them. He has fame. He has fortune. Charisma. Character. Talent. Determination. Generosity. Humility. The list is as long as Yankees/Red Sox playoff game. He has it all. What more could he possibly want, possibly ask for? To be more like Rick Hendrick. "He's just one of those guys you want to be," said an emotional Gordon Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, addressing the media regarding the Hendrick Motorsports plane crash five days prior. |  | | Jeff Gordon Credit: AP |
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"He just holds himself so well. He's professional yet personable. He's humble, just a lovable guy who loves his family, loves his friends and has had extreme success, and yet can sit down with you and talk about things. "I think that's kind of the person we all want to be. He's certainly been somebody that I have looked up to for a long time." The admiration doesn't end with Rick. Gordon feels similarly about the entire family. "Every member of that family, the Hendrick family, has a special quality about them that you just don't find every day," Gordon said. "They all have it." Gordon signed with Hendrick Motorsports 12 years ago as a fresh-faced 21-year old. He was blessed with as much talent as Hendrick had ever seen, a bad mustache about the only thing capable of slowing him down. |  | Hendrick Videos | |
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Hendrick supplied everything Gordon needed to prosper on the racetrack. But more importantly, he supplied a foundation for development off it. Hendrick helped nurture Gordon's values, helped develop his Christian faith. He's given so much. And over the past three months, he has had so much taken away. Never has Gordon felt such overwhelming drive to validate Rick Hendrick's love and devotion, to win a championship for the man who gave him the opportunity to do so. "I have never been so inspired and driven in my life," Gordon said. "This is an important weekend for us for so many different reasons, but I can't think of anything that could drive us harder and stronger than this loss. "One, we want it bad no matter what. We work very hard for it but I think there is something that's going to allow us to dig a little deeper to try to make a difference, whether it be for the families that are grieving, to try to ease their pain some, or for those that are looking down on us. "I think that instead of this being something that's a negative, we're going to take something and make something positive out of it and try to do our jobs better than we ever have before." He means this. There is no question. |  | EMAIL | |
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Jeff Gordon is one of the most mentally resolute men I've ever known. Forget unbreakable. He's unchipable. And I know that he's endured difficult times, personally, during my time in the sport. But until Friday I'd never seen him cry. When asked how Rick Hendrick's graceful, resolute nature had helped mold him, Gordon nearly broke down. But he didn't, wouldn't. Won't. He'll approach the rest of the season the same way. He wants too badly to make the Hendrick family proud to consider any other method. The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer. | 
