The double-takes at the U.S. Airways ticket counter must have been priceless. It's difficult to imagine, Jeff Gordon lugging his suitcase through an airport terminal, waiting in line to check in, removing his shoes at the security screening checkpoint, and wandering up and down the aisle looking for available overhead storage space. But hey, in these economic times, even a four-time champion who's made $100 million in 17 years on NASCAR's premier circuit knows the value of saving a little money.

Big-name cutbacks

On the final Monday in January, four major NASCAR sponsors, including title sponsor Sprint/Nextel, announced layoffs and cutbacks.

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"I'm frugal," said Gordon, who ranks sixth on the sport's all-time win list with 81 career victories, although none of them came last year. "I just don't like wasting money. And I think that in these times, it's easy to look at where you are in terms of spending extravagantly or doing things that are unnecessary."

And these days, with the economy in deep recession and every industry suffering through mass layoffs and no clear end in sight, unnecessary can mean the private aircraft NASCAR's movers and shakers have traditionally used to get from place to place. Not surprising for a sport built on speed, people in stock-car racing love to fly. This is a series where one of the first big purchases is usually a jet, where several top drivers hold pilot's licenses, where the unrelenting schedule almost requires that people be able to get from Charlotte to Phoenix -- or wherever the stop is this week -- on demand.

But in this recession, with people losing jobs and federal bailout money being passed out like free candy on Halloween, the private aircraft has become something of a pariah, in many minds a symbol of what's wrong with the country. Sure, it looks like fun when Vinnie, E, Turtle and Drama whisk a few supermodels to Hawaii. But the reputation of the private aircraft has been besmirched, at least temporarily, by the CEOs of the Big Three automakers each flying to Washington in private jets before asking for a $25 billion loan. By the chief executive of Citigroup, which received $45 billion in federal money, reportedly using a corporate jet to take his family on a vacation to Mexico. By the same company reportedly buying a new corporate jet -- because who doesn't need a Dassault Falcon 7X -- at the cost of $50 million.

The private jet has become the new poster child for excess. Mention to someone that you flew private and you risk getting the same pitiful, I-can't-believe-you-did-that look as those who admit to voting Republican in the last presidential election. Gordon, as savvy as any driver who's ever put foot to accelerator, surely knows this. He probably also knows that his primary sponsor DuPont, which backs his No. 24 car, laid off 2,500 employees in December. Flying commercial, even a little bit, not only saves money, but sends the message that Gordon isn't deaf to the larger economic concerns around him.

“

I'm frugal. I just don't like wasting money. And I think that in these times, it's easy to look at where you are in terms of spending extravagantly or doing things that are unnecessary.

”

-- JEFF GORDON

"I couldn't believe he did it, but I'm sure it made a lot of people on U.S. Airways happy to see him on there," Rick Hendrick, Gordon's car owner said. "But I think he really made a statement. I think that's the mentality you see the whole country in right now. If we can save money, we're going to save money."

By flying commercial and not being able to test -- NASCAR banned testing on all sanctioned tracks for 2009 -- Gordon estimated that he saved $100,000 in the month of January alone. He flew commercial home from the recent fan fest at Daytona International Speedway, and did the same to get from New York to Charlotte for the Hendrick portion of the annual media tour. He flew out of LaGuardia one day before another U.S. Airways jet bound for the same city crash-landed in the Hudson River. "That slowed my bookings down for a couple of days on commercial flights," he said. "But the fact that they landed safely and everyone got off OK, that was a miracle. So that got me right back up again."

Yet don't expect a groundswell of change here. Flying commercial from time to time is a nice, cost-saving gesture. Trying to do it all the time is impractical. Nobody with the money to do otherwise is going to spend an extra night in Fontana or Sonoma, rather than immediately hop a Gulfstream home. With so many cars to prepare, so many races to get to, and so many crewmen with jobs both in the shop and on the road, the private airstrips near race tracks will continue to buzz with activity. Even Gordon said he won't fly commercial if his wife and daughter are in tow, although that's partly due to the expense. Asked if his team could fly commercial to race weekends, Hendrick offered a definitive no.

"Part of the problem with going commercial is you lose a day. It's gone," said J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. "The guys don't get a day off, and you lose a day of work in the shop. So it's difficult to do. Trying to get back and take care of your guys, that's hard to do. We're going to work some more commercial in there."

Gibbs said the organization's testing and Nationwide teams will fly commercial more often, because those schedules are more flexible. It's good P.R., too. Because really, where does a lot of the money in NASCAR's premier series come from? From title sponsor Sprint, from car sponsors like Home Depot and Caterpillar, from manufacturers like Chrysler and General Motors, all of whom have suffered through mass layoffs. Granted, if that marketing money wasn't spent on NASCAR, it might very well still be used for other advertising platforms. But with corporate logos featured so prominently on their car hoods, NASCAR teams become closely identified with the companies they represent. And when those companies are in difficult financial straits, even the appearance of extravagance can send the wrong message. Plenty of bank CEOs can attest to that.

Gordon said he plans to take more commercial flights this year. He hasn't had to sit in coach -- yet. How long has it been since he did so? "Maybe six years," he said. And then there's the reaction he gets as he goes through the same, tiring check-in and screening processes so many of us have been through before. After all, it's difficult to look inconspicuous when you're trying to shove a HANS device in the overhead bin.

"I think I made a few new fans," Gordon said with a laugh. "I think everybody's kind of giving the double-take, but everybody was very cool."