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HOMESTEAD, Fla. — The front of the hat reads “Jeff Gordon 1993 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year.”
“I was a year old,” Kyle Larson says, grinning.
Larson, winner of Saturday’s season-ending NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, will start 23rd in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400, the Sprint Cup Series final race of 2015. He sported the vintage hat as he sat in the media center for his post-race winner’s interview.
Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports) is one of four drivers that will be battling for the series title, along with defending series champion Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing), Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing).
Sunday’s race will be the final start as a full-time competitor for Gordon, a four-time champion and winner of 93 points races. The 44-year-old began his racing career in and around Vallejo, Ca. Larson, 23, hails from Elk Grove, Calif., just south of Sacramento and less than two hours east of Vallejo.
“I got a few vintage hats during the past off-season right before SpeedWeeks, and this was one of the hats that I picked up off eBay,” Larson said. “I probably only got it for like $26 plus tax and shipping. It’s his ’93 rookie season hat.”
Larson, driver of the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates No. 42 Chevrolet, said breaking it out this weekend was a sign of respect for everything Gordon has accomplished during his 23-year career as full-time driver.
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“It’s cool to pay a little bit of respect back to Jeff,” he said. “It’s also neat to say that I was able to win a race on his final weekend of racing.
“I hope I can win it (Sunday). But yeah, everybody in the sport has looked up to him, and it’s going to be sad to see him running his final laps … but man, it’s going to be awesome if he can pull off that championship.
“Quite a party in Miami, too, afterwards, I’m sure.”