HAMPTON, Ga. -- Friday evening at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon reaffirmed that last Sunday's vicious crash in the closing laps of the UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway had done nothing to blunt his competitive spirit.

Gordon was asked if becoming a father to daughter Ella some eight months ago after being wed seven months before that gave him second thoughts about his career. He replied they did not, even though the crash was particularly upsetting to Gordon's wife, Ingrid.

"She was pretty upset about that one, and her reaction, I react to, as well," Jeff Gordon said. "I'm a racecar driver, a racecar driver and a racecar driver until I walk into the bus after a race and see Ingrid and Ella, and then you switch over to father -- and you see the look on her face and you get the big hug and squeeze.

"And there's the reaction -- and then it sinks in, that it does affect you and it affects them. Ingrid has always known that I'm committed to what I'm doing here and as a racecar driver all I can do is push as hard as I can to try to win races and be competitive until the day I decide not to do it -- or I can't do it.

"So that's always going to be my mind-set, and while [the accident] certainly brought family much closer to me, and the thought if it, more so than ever, it also made me more thankful of how safe my racecars are -- and the fact I was able to walk away from that -- in one of the nastiest wrecks I've ever had."

Gordon has repeatedly said the accident was "the hardest I've ever hit in that direction," but he also continues to say it won't change his focus.

"Yeah, it definitely weighs on your mind," Gordon said. But at the same time, I guess I'm a positive thinker, and I always try to think of the positives. It's not going to change how I'm going to race, obviously -- [Friday night] showed that (read more).

"I think it's just part of my nature, I get in the racecar and I put the helmet on and flip the switch and all other things just go out of my mind."

Allison matriarch passes

Kittie 'Mom' Allison

The matriarch of the Allison family, Kittie "Mom" Allison, 101, passed away on Thursday evening, at the Little Flower Catholic Assisted Living Community in Charlotte, N.C., where she made her home for the last few years.

She and Edmund "Pop" Allison had 13 children, including Cup veteran drivers Bobby and Donnie Allison, 25 grandchildren and more than 30 great-grandchildren.

According to an item on bobbyallison.com, Mom Allison, a devout Catholic, was born and raised in New Jersey, but lived in Miami, Fla., most of her life and raised her children there.

She and Pop moved to Hueytown, Ala., to be near their family and racing in the 1970s. A Lifetime Member of the Winston Cup Ladies Auxiliary in Racing (WAM), Mom was always on the racing scene and flew to many tracks with son Bobby to watch him and Donnie race.

There will be a Viewing and Rosary Service at Browns Service Funeral Home-West at 2885 Allison-Bonnett Memorial Parkway in Hueytown on March 11, with viewing at 6-8 p.m. CT with the Rosary being said at 7:30 p.m.

The Funeral Mass will be at St. Aloysious Catholic Church in Bessemer, Ala., at 751 Academy Drive, at 10 a.m. on March 12 with burial following at Highland Memorial Gardens in Bessemer.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Little Flower Assisted Living; 8700 Lawyers Rd.; Charlotte, N.C. 28227 or St. Aloysious Catholic Church; 751 Academy Dr.; Bessemer, Alabama 35022 or Victory Junction Gang Camp. (Continued)