Kentucky Speedway presented Gordon with 96 bottles of bourbon from the state’s four master distilleries, four sets of 24 bottles to match his iconic car number. Gordon posed with the bourbon inside a packed media center, one as crowded as speedway officials could ever remember to experience Gordon’s sendoff.
“We might go through half of it if we win this race tomorrow,” Gordon said.
Gordon’s retirement tour continues tonight with the Quaker State 400 (7:30, NBC Sports Network) on Kentucky’s 1.5-mile, tri-oval speedway. Gordon, 43, has won on 22 tracks on the current Sprint Cup schedule, and two more no longer used.
No Sprint Cup driver has conquered every track on which he’s competed.
“It would just mean a lot to win it,” said Gordon, who starts third in the No. 24 AARP Member Advantages Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. “It’s not if we don’t (win) that I’m going to be super disappointed. I’m going to be disappointed if we finish second to come that close, yeah, that would be a little disappointing as far as the stats go. But I would like to have a good strong finish here and just have a shot at it. It would be pretty cool if we pulled it off.”
Gordon’s best finish at Kentucky is fifth in 2012. In four starts he’s never finished outside the top 10.
A win would be well-earned. Kentucky Speedway’s characteristic bumps have left many NASCAR drivers bumped, bruised and beaten.
Gordon hopes it’s his turn to deliver the parting blow at Kentucky.
“When I think of this track, I just think of how challenging it is and how rough it is, how much my back hurts and how much I’d like to win here because we never have,” Gordon said. “I love that when we came here, especially the first time, the way that racing is supported in this part of the country. It reminded me of Indiana.”
The California native moved to Indiana as a teen to give his sprint car racing career a boost. He raced in the Miami Valley at Eldora Speedway and Winchester Speedway, including with Dayton sprint car owner Terry Winterbotham and the Molds Unlimited Racing team in an ultra-successful 1988 season.
In his 24-year Sprint Cup career, Gordon’s 92 wins rank third all-time behind Richard Petty (200) and David Pearson (105).
“Winning at every track is not something that’s easy to accomplish,” Gordon said. “This will be a challenge, and I like a good challenge and the team does, too.”
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