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RELATED: Gordon discusses Iron Man mark

LOUDON, N.H. — Jeff Gordon smiled widely but demurely as he accepted a granite trophy recognizing the important milestone he will mark Sunday afternoon.

Still a little superstitious, the four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champ suggested he shouldn’t hoist the hardware just yet. There’s still a matter of rolling off the grid.

When Gordon takes his 789th consecutive green flag in Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM) he will break a record of consistency, toughness and longevity held by retired driver Ricky Rudd and officially become NASCAR’s newest “Iron Man.”

“To me if there was a race and I was scheduled to do it then I was going to do everything I could to be healthy and to be focused and to give 100 percent,” said Gordon, who has not missed a start since his November 1992 debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“I think just by having that mindset and that effort that is what got me here. It’s not that I was looking at, ‘Hey, I want to set an Iron Man record,’ or anything like that.

“I remember when Ricky Rudd did that and Terry Labonte and other guys that had these incredible records and streaks and I thought, ‘Man they are old. I will never be around long enough to set that record or achieve that.’

“Now here I am. Yeah, I’m old, too, but now I appreciate what those guys did and the effort they put into it and the commitment.”

NASCAR.com caught up with Rudd, 59, this week to talk about the Iron Man record he established from 1981-2005, how he’s spending his racing retirement and if he thinks this mark of tenacity will ever be broken again.

Rudd set the bar in an era when there were fewer races a year — on average 30 a season compared to the 36-race slate now — and a time before the focus on improved car safety and soft walls that occurred in the 2000s.

Yet it turns out for Rudd, it wasn’t the obvious risks of the job that came closest to derailing his starts streak, but a very ordinary situation that he says was toughest to suffer through.

Rudd famously taped his eyes open with Band-Aids — true story he confirmed — to compete in the 1984 Daytona 500 still feeling the effects of a frightening tumble a week earlier in the Budweiser Shootout (then called Busch Clash).

He won the race a week later at Richmond, Virginia — again using Band-Aids to hold his swollen eyes open.

“That (Daytona) would have been the perfect opportunity to have ended the streak right there,” Rudd conceded.

“I really should have spent some time in the hospital and gotten recuperated from that one, but at that time, after you got out of car for the weekend, you might not get that ride back.

“Then I got hurt in an accident in 1988 when the tire war with Hoosier and Goodyear was going on,” Rudd continued. “I had torn ligaments in my left knee, and it was real touch-and-go if I’d be able to go.
  

“At Martinsville around 1995 or ’96, we were testing and my throttle hung wide open and I pretty much went straight into the Turn 1 wall and it knocked me out and I was knocked out for a while. Didn’t have my wits about me for a good four or five hours. Probably should have sat out then, but we didn’t know as much about concussions then.

Since retiring in 2007, Rudd has slowed down in velocity but not in activity. He hasn’t attended a Sprint Cup Series race since his final start at the Homestead-Miami Speedway season finale, but the Virginia native still lives outside Charlotte, where he is an avid mountain bike rider.

You can find Rudd at the GoPro Motorplex in Mooresville, North Carolina, most days of the week where he keeps his go-karts and regularly laps the 1-mile road course.

“I ran a full season last year and chose to run against the young kids in the most competitive class,” Rudd said. “Those were some of the fastest kids in the country and I use karting for a workout session.

“I finished third in the championship out of 60 drivers, won a pole, ran second and came close to winning one. I just enjoy seeing the new talent come up. It’s not unusual to go out there and (Indy car driver) Will Power to be there and we’ll chase each other around.

In fact, Rudd gets a kick out being recognized by fans for his post-racing life.

“It’s sort of surprising because I really do get recognized more than I thought would happen,” Rudd said. “I did two episodes of the Dallas remake TV show and I think people recognize me more from stuff like that than the racing.

“It’s not as much, ‘Hey, you won the Brickyard 400,’ it’s, ‘Hey, I saw you on Dallas.’ “

Actually, it’s Rudd’s victory mark — including the 1997 Brickyard trophy — in which he takes the most satisfaction.

He won at least one race for 16 consecutive seasons between 1983-1998 — a modern-era record that still stands.

“If I had to weigh one against the other I guess I take more pride in the consecutive-win streak,” Rudd said. “To me, that meant a little bit more, but since I’ve retired and looked back, both are nice. Sometimes, I’ll meet people who aren’t familiar with the sport and they’ll know me as the Iron Man.”

Neither Rudd nor Gordon would venture to guess whether the impending record would be broken again. Gordon can extend Sunday’s mark of 789 by eight races — finishing at 797 when he makes his final career start on Nov. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

To put the mark in perspective, Matt Kenseth, 43, is second on the consecutive-starts list but is 223 races behind Gordon entering this weekend’s race at New Hampshire.

“Even from when Jeff came up, the cars were a lot safer,” Rudd said. “And after Earnhardt passed away (in 2001), the cars are even safer and they are constantly updating the technology.

“I can’t even count how many concussions I’ve probably had, and now they’ve virtually eliminated concussions. (Setting the starts record) is going to be more about desire. Some guys I see could be around and the record very much in jeopardy. Kyle Larson, he’s young and seems to love what he’s doing.

“I think it’s kind of amazing someone did break that record,” Rudd said. “It kind of hung around a long time.

“I still think of Jeff as a kid from when he came to the Hendrick organization. I remember one time because Rick (Hendrick) knew I worked out, I remember him telling me, take this kid to the gym, he’s never been to the gym before.

“I still think of Jeff as a young man.

“I have to say, he’s done a great job. He’s made a lot of money, won a lot of races and it hasn’t seemed to change him. He still seems real grounded, a real family guy and I admire that.”