Gordon's success allows him to live on own terms

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Jeff Gordon has to get used to pink.

"I've had to succumb to lots of pink being around," the four-time NASCAR champion said with a laugh. "I haven't had to do any painting myself, fortunately. But we are definitely in full nursery mode."

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As well they should be. Gordon and his wife, Belgian model Ingrid Vandebosch, are now only days away from the birth of their first child, a daughter. Next week brings tests and meetings and decisions over whether to induce labor. Mark Martin will be on standby next Sunday in Sonoma, Calif., in case the Nextel Cup points leader needs to skip the race. And another chapter will be written in the fascinating life of NASCAR's most fascinating personality.

They perform each Sunday before thousands in person and thousands more on television, in a profession defined by danger and speed. Yet the men behind the wheel often live rather cloistered existences, their lives one race and one test and one sponsor appearance after another, their version of secluded paradise a dirt track in the middle of nowhere. Their worlds have orbited around racetracks since they were young. Mashing the accelerator is all they have ever known. Sure, it sounds fun -- but do it 38 weeks a year for 10 years, and it can become as rote as clocking in at the factory every morning.

Which is why Gordon is, and has always been, so refreshing. He's among the minority of participants in this sport who see driving less as a lifestyle and more as a job, keeping a degree of perspective many around him lost long ago. That much becomes evident at times like this weekend at Michigan International Speedway, when his sheer giddiness over his impending fatherhood was palpable.

"What I've had to do is assemble a lot of things that I never thought I'd be assembling, whether it's a stroller or whether it's a crib or whether it's -- I don't know what they call them -- one of those bouncy things," he said. "I'm reading directions left and right."

That's not to say other drivers haven't been exited about the births of their children, or that Gordon doesn't still burn to win races and championships -- something that became abundantly clear to anyone listening to team radio as the frustrated driver tried to get past teammate Jimmie Johnson in the final laps at Martinsville, Va., on April 1. But with Gordon, it all seems so much more tangible, so much more real, so much more human. There are no questions about where his priorities lie. This is a guy who over the years has gradually scaled back, dropping out of Busch and IROC and limiting his hospitality appearances, so he can have a semblance of something so few others in his sport do.

A real life.

If baby Gordon is born on a Friday or Saturday, he'll have no qualms about turning his No. 24 car over to Martin.

"We have real high hopes that it won't be necessary for me to get in the car, and maybe it won't be necessary for me to be there. But whatever it takes," Martin said. "I'm going to have gas in the plane on Thursday, and we're headed to California unless we get a different word, and we'll be standing around in case he needs us if we need to go out there. Hopefully, everything works out where they have the baby before California and he gets to drive his car. I really hope it works out for him."

Hendrick team ready to welcome Junior

Jeff Gordon and his Hendrick teammates are excited to welcome Dale Earnhardt Jr. to their garage next season.

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It always has. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has the mass appeal and the rock and roll image and the famous last name, but in many ways Gordon is the Jack Kennedy of NASCAR, a figure whose personal life attracts the attention of Us Weekly and Page Six as well as motorsports publications. And by most accounts, he doesn't seem to mind. Understanding the interest, he's making arrangements for the first photos of the baby to appear on his personal Web site.

It's more proof of the fact that Gordon, as much as any superstar athlete on the planet, gets it. He understands his sport and his role in it -- the purpose of the media, how to make sponsors happy, that running around in circles may make a man wealthy but not necessarily content. His four championships and 79 race wins have afforded him the luxury of living life on his terms. That's a rarity in a sport where plenty of guys have big houses, fat wallets and beautiful girlfriends, but are also beholden to the steering wheel.

Whether it's living in New York or retiring early -- always a possibility with Gordon -- he breaks the rules. When he climbs out of his car for the last time, he's always said, he's going to get as far away from the sport as he can for a while. He's not going to be one of these guys who linger around the garage area, trying to hold on to the only life they've ever known. So perhaps it's appropriate that Gordon is having a daughter, rather than a son that would bring the inevitable questions about following in daddy's footsteps.

But in an era of Danica Patrick, someone still wondered if there would be a little go-kart, ready to go. "No go-karts," Gordon said. "We've got a little car, but no go-karts."