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MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Jeff Gordon‘s career will always be closely linked to Martinsville Speedway‘s tight confines, the site of many early successes and the provider of eight trophy timepieces. The remembrances are fond, the fan appreciation off the charts and the rhythm at an ever-finicky track seems to have never left.
It’s a double-edged blade for the four-time champion — familiar like a well-worn chair, but with pitfalls lurking for a misstep outside the comfort zone.
“It seems like no matter what changes in the sport, with the rules and the engine package, we always seem to be able to come here and find speed,” Gordon said after Friday’s opening practice. “So, we certainly have that kind of confidence within our program. But at the same time, going over the debrief this week and the planning and all the things we’re looking at for this race, we are also reminded of how tough this place can be.”
Should a ninth grandfather clock come his way Sunday, the bonus that comes with Victory Lane laurels could give Gordon the memory of a lifetime.
Gordon, in the final season of his Hall of Fame career, enters Sunday’s Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 (1:15 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM) as a pre-race favorite for what likely will be his final event at the historic .526-mile track. He’ll start fifth in the 43-car field, landing him a strategic spot near the front and a favorable pit stall on an often-treacherous pit road.
Martinsville hosts the kickoff event in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs’ Eliminator Round, the final three-race series that will determine the four-driver championship field in the Homestead-Miami Speedway finale. With Gordon among the eight title-eligible drivers remaining, an automatic berth into the final round would be Martinsville’s ultimate parting gift.
“That would be pretty amazing,” Gordon said. “There is nobody that has any more motivation and reasons to get that ninth victory than our race team this weekend.”
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If experience counts, Gordon possesses a clear edge with 45 career Martinsville starts and eight wins — Gordon’s highest total at any track on the circuit. Among the remaining seven Chase drivers, only Kurt Busch (30 Martinsville starts) and Kevin Harvick (28) come close. Busch has won here twice and Harvick once; the other five Chasers have yet to scratch the win column at the paper-clip-shaped layout.
There’s also a chance for more history to be written. If Gordon leads 23 laps on Sunday, he’ll break Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough’s all-time record for the most laps led (3,766) at Martinsville.
There hasn’t been one clear-cut secret to success at Martinsville, a track that Gordon says “goes against all of the normal instincts that you have as a race car driver.” Instead, it’s a delicate balance of several factors — keeping composure, maintaining rhythm and trying not to overdrive the car in often-maddening gridlock for 500 laps.
“It takes a lot of patience here,” Gordon said. “I think that not only suited my style, but it also allowed me to communicate really well with the teams so that they could just fine-tune that set-up. It didn’t hurt that I’ve always had really good race cars here, as well.”
Though the 44-year-old veteran has enjoyed a warm reception from fans as he visits tracks for a final time as a driver, Gordon said the greeting from the No. 24 faithful has been among the most enthusiastic at Martinsville. Gordon was present for a Thursday night autograph session at a local Wal-Mart, with many fans hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite in the twilight of his career.
“The interactions, conversations and the memorabilia they brought out rivals the biggest fans that I have throughout the country,” Gordon said. “That is what stands out to me is the loyal support that I have here. Obviously winning here eight times helps, but still, these folks have a lot of choices as far as drivers that they can pull for and how avid that they pull for that driver. I saw it at the height of it all (Thursday) night during that event.”