NASCAR loses only true crossover star
Can anyone fill Gordon’s shoes?
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. First Jeff Gordon wanted to be a race car driver. Then he wanted to become a celebrity.
The process of attaining both helped transform NASCAR from a burgeoning regional phenomenon into a national league.
“I wanted to take things to the next level, do things maybe a little different than had been done and pursue opportunities to get on red carpets, to get into magazines,” Gordon told USA TODAY Sports. “And I had people around me influencing me, saying, ‘ Hey, I think there’s an opportunity here. You’re young, you have a certain look, you have things the sport hasn’t really had and, you being successful on the track, there’s an opportunity there.’
“And it made me think. And my personality was, ‘ Yeah, I do want to pursue that. I want to be more than just a race car driver. I want to be a superstar.’ ” Now it’s someone else’s turn. The 44- year- old, freshly retired fourtime Sprint Cup champ remains a celebrity. He and wife Ingrid Vandebosch cavort with Jay Z at charity galas. Tom Cruise fetes Gordon at banquets. Country music star Brad Paisley pops in for laughs at Hendrick Motorsports Christmas parties. But in the Daytona International Speedway infield Friday, Gordon continued to cast his long shadow overNASCAR even as he began a career as a Fox analyst.
Who emerges from that shadow could do wonders for his or her profile and NASCAR’s.
For most of his career, Gordon was able to exploit his on- track success, relatability and desire to attain the celebrity he sought. In the process he brought NASCAR to an amenable mainstream in the 1990s and 2000s. Gordon’s departure creates a sizable void, an opportunity for some other similarly motivated driver and a task for NASCAR as it continues to vie for interest in amarket that has grown considerably more fickle after its explosive growth.
Gordon remained among NASCAR’s most recognized and positively viewed figures through his final season as a driver, ac-
cording to Q Scores, which measures athletes’ awareness and positive perception among the total population. In a September study, Gordon was the third- most- recognized NASCAR driver at 54%. Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s perennial most popular driver, led the series at 63%. Danica Patrick ( 51%) was third. Six- time series champion Jimmie Johnson was tied for fourth ( 40%).
Most drivers are offered to the mainstream as spokespeople for their sponsors, the tracks or the series. They enjoy or tolerate it as an ancillary part of a profession in which sponsor benefaction enables their livelihood.
But there is a subset of drivers who have displayed ambition beyond the track and the commercial shoot. Drivers such as Carl Edwards, 36, and Denny Hamlin, 35, have dabbled beyond a driver’s typical comfort zone.
But as in most areas of the job description, Gordon set a high bar with his hosting of a 2003 episode of Saturday Night Live and his appearances as a guest host of Live With Regis and Kelly.
NASCAR still has probes in pop culture. In January, Hamlin was a guest via Skype on ABC’s The Bachelor Live.
“I think it’s better to have us out without ( sponsor branding) to kind of get people seeing your face in something other than your driving suit or your race car. I think it is cool,” Hamlin said. “Obviously, there’s a great opportunity, and maybe ( it) opens a few eyes here and there for people that have never seen a NASCAR race before.”
Hendrick Motorsports President Marshall Carlson said NASCAR lacks a figure that can fill Gordon’s charisma gap as a driver, although he expects him to connect as a broadcaster.
“I couldn’t point to anyone,” Carlson told USA TODAY Sports. “We have different folks. Dale Earnhardt Jr. clearly, most popular driver many years in a row. But when you really start talking about transcending motor sport altogether, or even in some cases sport, I think Jeff is the only guy I can think of who could step outside of all sports.”
Gordon’s ascension as a mainstream figure was not only about his personality but also NASCAR’s status as a booming national sport in the 1990s, says David Carter, associate professor of clinical management and organization at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.
“What made Gordon so special was the combination of his timing and broad appeal given the state of NASCAR at the time,” he told USA TODAY Sports.
“If you want short term, I think you can make a splash, you can do something cool and fun and interesting or exciting,” Gordon said. “But eventually you’re going to have to show success, that you can win. And not just win one race.
“If you want to be a true superstar — and when I say superstar, I’m talking about a LeBron James, those elites that stand out in their sport — if you want to do that, then you’re going to have to back it up with all the goods.”
And few ever do.