Gordon ready to go win one for baby Leo

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Jeff Gordon has fielded questions about possible retirement dates in the past, most notably last season when he was enduring back problems.

But there's nothing like the birth of a new baby to make you feel like a kid again.

Jeff Gordon celebrates his victory at Talladega in October 2007 with daughter, Ella Sofia, born less than four months earlier.

At Michigan International Speedway, Gordon was overjoyed to talk about the birth of his son, Leo Benjamin Gordon.

"Oh, it's so amazing," he said. "It was a great, great, great week. I can't say enough. I'm thankful that everything went as planned and everybody is healthy and doing well. Just every day you just smile bigger and bigger because it's an amazing experience."

Gordon said naming his first-born son was equally amazing, yet every bit of a challenge.

"You know Gordon is not the easiest name to put a name with, it's just not," Gordon laughed. "You need a single syllable really. It's either a single- or triple-syllable name to make it work. And then you start running into the initials and you've got so many issues that come along with names. You have no idea how much goes into this. LBG: We're good with that."

Bouncing back and forth from questions about the Michigan race track to sponsorship and then back to baby Leo, one thing was clear: Gordon is committed to racing for the next four or five years or at least until his son can see his father in Victory Lane.

"There is definitely something to that. You know, right now, [daughter] Ella is 3 and she is just starting to realize what I do and get into it," said Gordon, who turned 39 on Aug. 4. "Four or 5 years old is a great age for them to be able to experience that. Even though I feel like I am making a commitment to myself, the team and sponsors for four or five years, that doesn't mean I am going to be winning races four or five years from now. But I certainly hope we continue to be competitive and put ourselves in that position."

Gordon, with 82 career victories in the Cup Series, certainly has a special incentive in Leo because, as all parents understand, what you do for one must be done for the other.

Ella Sofia Gordon, the first child born to Gordon and his wife, Ingrid Vandebosch, in 2007, got to join her four-time championship-winning father in Victory Lane at Talladega in October that same year.

Don't think Leo won't want his own photo with Dad in the family's trophy room.

"I hope it's this year," Gordon said with a laugh. Gordon remains winless this season but is second in points with 10 top-five finishes.

In the meantime, Gordon is enjoying his new bundle who he says looks just like Ella when she was a baby.

"Ingrid and I are both really anxious to see just what characteristics change because they change so much. I look at Ella now at 3 and how much different she looks than when she was born," Gordon said. "You start to see more. I think right now we're starting to see more of Ingrid in Ella, but I still see some of me. I'm just more anxious than anything else. It was really truly just an amazing week."

One of Gordon's fondest memories of the experience was the drive home.

"It was so much fun getting in the car and driving home from the hospital with all four of us. Ella was really excited, talking about how much fun it was," he said. "The three of them were sitting across the back seat together and so I was driving. It was fun. We're a foursome now."

And now that baby Leo has arrived, Dad can get back to the business of racing.

The contract with longtime sponsor, DuPont, expires at the end of this year and plans for next year are uncertain. Negotiations are ongoing.

"I don't think too many sponsors are apprehensive about having a five-year, four- or five-year commitment because sometimes they might want to make a change after that, too," Gordon said. "I think, though, when I was going through some of my back issues, it was, 'Is it going to be three-, four-, five-year?' I think we have gotten past that hurdle pretty good. But they ask, definitely."