Legendary NASCAR driver and champion, Jeff Gordon sits down with Joe Buck to talk about the TRUE STORY around his decision to retire from #NASCAR. #JeffGordon #daytona500
NASCAR has never been the same since Jeff, Tony, Dale Jr, Kurt, and all those guys from the early 2000's retired. What a great era the late 90''s and 2000's was! Great racing, awesome cars... and so many big personalities! They have not replicated this in the new era and likely never will. All the young guys are just robots more or less. NASCAR needs more personality that's what it's really missing. Well that and the rules suck... there's that too. Stage racing is terrible and nobody understands the point system. I was fortunate enough to be at this race in Martinsville. So cool to see Jeff's last win as a die hard Gordon fan!
I agree 100 %. Nowadays cookie cutter cars , the stupid playoffs, driver's have no personalities ( a bunch of babies) . I used to watch every weekend back , but now only once and a while.
@@ddavidone6538 The actual speeds of these cars is rather irrelevant to the racing. The truth is, speed only makes fatalities more likely. NASCAR has tried to mitigate this with all the safety structures they have put in place, but truth be known, the toll on the drivers becomes almost unsustainable for the length of these races once the speeds approach 180 mph. Nascar has evolved away from true racing. With the rules in place to bunch up the cars artificially. There is no reason to do that other than create a show. Maybe it is time to return to actually racing showroom based cars instead of silhouettes of the cars that are made. But it won't happen because they (NASCAR ownership and the teams) have too much invested in this make believe series. Want to make the pit stops more interesting? Take away the impact wrenches and single nut wheels. Make the gas cans 10 gallon capacity.
Jeff Gordon is a true gentleman. Several years ago my girlfriend (I am a widower and this all occurred before we started seeing each other) had recently tragically lost her husband of many many years. She had a friend who had worked in public relations for NASCAR and knew all the drivers. There was a race up at the Michigan Speedway and this friend invited Jana to go up and hang out the night before race for a bit. Jana was around 60, her friend was in her early 30’s. She was reluctant to go but decided to get out of the house and go. Once there, her friend found Jeff and explained the tragic loss Jana had suffered. Jana did not know any of this was going on. When Jeff met Jana he spent several hours taking Jana around on his golf cart introducing her to other drivers and making sure she had a great time. He was an absolute gentleman and fantastic human being. He did not have to this, he was not looking for any recognition, he was doing it because he wanted to help a grieving widow through a difficult time. He is a fantastic person and I wish him all the happiness in the world, thank you Jeff.
I really miss seeing him out there every week, I didn't appreciate him until late in his career. He's definitely on the Mount Rushmore of nascar drivers in my book.
If his body allows it, I’d love to see Gordon at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Franchitti, Jimmie Johnson, Jenson Button, Gordon, on the same track at the same time. It would be epic vintage racing.
I’m a long time NASCAR fan, and there has never been any racing that compares to the racing that Jeff Gordon and the late Dale Earnhardt gave us to appreciate. Whether Jeff was on Dale’s rear bumper, or vise versa, that was two incredibly talented drivers battling each other like nothing that we’ve ever seen before. They made each other better. I am glad that I was able to watch those intense moments. Great entertainment! Thank you Jeff, and God bless you Dale! ❤
It also think back to 1998 when Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin were basically just trading wins back and forth all season. While I'd rather see Mark win the Championship that year it was fun to watch and now, to look back upon.
I am a semi driver. I know what it's like to spend hours in a seat, and I can understand his pain. Most people don't realize that every time you hit a bump, it pile drives your spine. That's not factoring in the accidents he has had that most people don't experience.
You hear people complain about having bad knees etc from being on their feet for their jobs, but muscles are activated when seated upright all the time and it does take it's toll. At the end of this week, my wife and I our driving 14 hours for vacation on the coast and I am not looking forward to being in a car that long.
I've personally met Jeff Gordon and had drinks with him, and didn't appreciate him until then. I even told him that and we chuckled about how many times he's heard that.... great guy, and have good memories with him
I was an Earnhardt fan and honestly I wasn't a gordon fan but the Earnhardt and Gordon rivalry was awesome it was the greatest thing for nascar and to find out that Earnhardt tought him alot of things is awsome
@davidmathewson1088 I'm sure many people care about Byron. His girlfriend, his family, Rick Hendrick, etc. If by "No one," you mean YOU, then you'd be correct. You don't care about Byron.
He's my FOREVER Champ and #24♥️♥️♥️ I miss him but glad he chose his health over more racing years. Love you Jeff! This Gordon gal is your forever fan.
Great driver. I was at Atlanta for his first and Patty's last race. He took some hard hits over his career. He races before the safer barriers and the Hans device.
The day NASCAR has spent 30 years and burned countless bridges trying to artificially reproduce, and they still haven’t learned you can’t just reproduce moments like that. They just happen.
I am not sure about that one but it always the Texas '99 race when he hit head on that sent him back a ways. Arguably that wreck was the one which turned SuperG into just Jeff Gordon, 3 time NASCAR champion at the time.
They call me Jeff Gordon, with the black SS and the navigation. My favorite Nascar driver. Hasn't been the same since. Also, shout out to all the other drivers. They all are great!
Jeff went down swinging. 2014 was a championship season til Texas, he won in his final season. Not all retired nascar drivers can say they went out while winning races. Had the old points system stuck around, he’d be a 7 time champion.
Gosh , i remember his younger years. I would watch him and some of those amazing races. I was mostly an F1 fan but always respected and would watch when i could , nascar. Seems different now, not the same as it was back then. Time moves on. I See him now and still is that young guy but father time always wins.
I think the old school guys were just tougher. They worked regular jobs, raced short tracks on the weekends and hopefully got a lucky break to make it to the big leagues. Somehow now these kids are getting top notch rides at 19 years old straight out of high school and wanting to retire by 40.
I "loved to hate" Jeff Gordon. I always respected his talent and ability, though. An absolute icon of his sport. I'm glad he got out before his aches and pains disabled him.
Even though I was a huge Dale Earnhardt fan since his passing I really like and respect Jeff Gordon everything he did on the track in the 24 and still being a great recognizable figure in the sport present day.
That is a shame too. I think he can relate to Larry Bird on his Back. Or Bobby Orr and Joe Namath with his knees. I can imagine if he tried the World Rally Championship. Or Sports Car racing. If he did not have the back problems. And he chose health over racing.
Good to see him healthy. Especially those bad crashes in late of his career. Kept finding himself crash in bad spot in the track that nascar had to add safer barriers like in Las Vegas and Atlanta.
I met Jeff in the Dupont tent many years ago, back when people in the industry gave out hospitality tickets like crazy. We had shrimp cocktail and took pictures together and nobody cared. It was cool back then.
Hendrick withheld the in-car footage from his Las Vegas wreck because of “his bodies unnatural movement in the accident” if that tells you just how bad and violent it was. Hearing that is frightening, we may have been closer to losing Jeff than we imagined watching that race live.
Yeah that was a nasty hit. Probably one of the worst hits we've ever seen and certainly in the modern era. 130-140 head into a concrete wall. Vicious! Probably every bit as hard as the hit that killed Dale Sr if not harder. Jeff just had better safety in the car. He'll even tell you between this and his Pocono crash he was never quite the same in the car. Constantly in pain while he was racing. It's a testament to his toughness that he lasted as long as he did and remained competitive.
I thought so! I remember when Jeff Gordon had back surgery. After that, it seemed like a little bit of his sharp edge was gone. If you can't feel the car, you can't drive it as well. I road raced for 30 years, and drove a truck commercially for 4 years and 400,000 miles. I have over a million miles on my back, and I'm sore every day. I talked to many truckers when I was in it, and they had back problems also. I imagine that Jimmy Johnson didn't win in his last few seasons for the same reason.
I think the should bring back the old racers that retired they can sit down and talk about what track how many laps I think that would be a great idea and I bet the stands would be packed 1 race a year maybe?
I was at the '94 Coca-Cola 600 for his first Cup Series win and at Martinsville in 2015 for his last. I doubt I'm the only person that can honestly say that but it has to be a very small group. I'm so grateful I got to enjoy his entire career. Jeff retired at age 44 and raced 22 years in NASCAR. Even in perfect health would he have really continued much longer?
That wteck at Vegas in 08 was a bad one it almost took him out of the car early but the kid is a tough one and was able to push through it and go on to have more success on the track for a few more years
I think a combination of the 2006 Pocono and 2008 Vegas wreck are what really messed up his back. I was at Vegas in 08 and that was a hard hit, we all held our breath. He was definitely slow getting out, had my binoculars on him and that net didn't come down for a minute or two.
Jeff was an amazing driver and by far my favorite all time. Nascar lost its appeal after Dale passed. And I dont think Ive watched a hand full of races since Jeff retired as I just cant stand watching the product that they put out these days. I wish we could go back to the old days when our heros were on the track.
Jeff Gordon is the man! Almost got Kyle Larson a championship last year at Phoenix but he’ll try again to make any of his four Hendrick drivers to contend in 2024.
I started watching in the early nineties and he was my man. It was so awesome watching his great career. Sad to see him go but understand why. Now I get to pull for the 5 and watch his unique talent.
And still he was on top of his game, incredible 2014 season, and a good 2015 season even though he only won once he was still pretty good. Easily the greatest driver NASCAR has ever had!
Knowing his back was starting to get bad in 2005 but was way worse by 2010 actually makes a bit of sense considering his drop in performance. 2005 and 2006 were pretty off years despite the wins and even though he bounced back in 07, 08 was the first winless season since 1993, and 2010 was abysmal by Jeff Gordon standards. I'm glad he was able to have a late career resurgence and go out on top.
He's actually a 7 time Winston Cup champion. Under the old points format, Gordon would be the champion in 2004, 2007 and 2014. Jimmie Johnson would only be a 3 time Winston Cup champion
@@isaiahmarker407and if you think about i think Jeff Gordon would've won Auto club and Texas he would have 95 wins and 5 championships and he won the 2015 championship in my opinion and had Jeff Gordon won these championships Jeff Gordon would've won 8 championships
@@isaiahmarker407they would’ve raced differently. Jimmie did what he had to do under the format he was given and would’ve still done it under Winston format lol
Jeff Gordon was one of the few American drivers in the last 40 years who could have been a great Formula 1 driver. But we appreciated him when he raced.
That Vegas wreck where his car just happened to find that place where there was a hole in the wall and he T-boned that wall was the beginning of the end. Imagine going 500 miles and those seats are not for comfort those cars aren't for comfort. Imagine if from 2007 till 20?? if he wasn't hurting how many more wins and years he had left in him..I am glad he never cameback full-time after 4 or 5 years a way and be remembered for that. No driver that great who retires and returns could ever live up to his status. I would have loved to see him race in the Tony Stewart/Ray Evernham series. Which Tony can continue to Lie about it wasn't making money it was on Network TV. Short track Saturday night. He put that series to the side to drive his wifes Top Fuel Dragster!
When Jeff retired, I began losing interest in Nascar! The big personalities are missed - Remember the WINSTON CUP! Appreciate all you have done for Nascar Jeff and enjoyed watching your career!
Racing one of these cars is not easy by any means. Just the heat is stifling. The noise is deafening. The vibration running through the car for hours drains your strength, and this car is not made to be comfortable. Your body takes a physical beating from rigid suspension. We haven't gotten near talking on a radio while focusing on a 200 mph vehicle in traffic.
@@dsz2448 One of Jeff’s many concrete wall hits well after the SAFER barrier was introduced. Atlanta 2015 was the last one I can remember. NASCAR hasn’t let that live Vegas 2008 Gordon in-car footage see the light of day.
These drivers get their bodies beat to death for decades. The suspensions are sprung so hard ,its like they are sitting directly on the asphalt, as the car slam over the bumps. The inevitable crashes make the long term damage even worse. When Dale Earnhardt senior passed away in his crash, alot of drivers said, one of the toughest drivers ever, got taken out on track, and people wanted to know why. It turned out that Dale Senior had been driving with profoundly painful body damage for many years. He had even had blackouts where he drove races he could'nt remember. Dales loss of his life may well have saved his son's life, because Dale Jr. saw the warning signs, and he got out of the car. People were so ugly to Dale Jr. when he did it but it was time. Like Jeff Gordon said, your body can only take so much damage and then you are simply not competitive. But even worse, it can be deadly. Some people have said that Dale Senior used to leave his harnesses loose because his back and neck hurt so bad. I remember when Cale Yarbourough was at Talledega and CBS had a camera with sound in the car while he was qualifying. He moaned all around the high banks from pain. At some point, you gotta stop. We all wished Dale Senior had stopped but, for him, there was a huge company and a family to support and bills to pay. Rest in Peace, Great One and we hope that bill never has to be paid like that ever again.
I really enjoy racing and will tune in for the 500 and select races here and there, but it’s just not the same without Jeff. I’m like Jimmie Johnson, I run a limited schedule and only pop in every know and again.
I’m not a NASCAR fan thus I never knew that racing was so hard on the body. Makes sense once I thought about it. All that sitting and being jostled around.
Just like an NFL player, most careers are relatively short because the body can only endure for a short time. Players like Barry Sanders are smart as they choose to retire earlier and can still get out of bed in the morning.
Severe back pain is the worst! It will completely control you until it lets up and that can take awhile in many cases. Although Jeff didn't seem to be hurting after the M-ville win!
I’m a professional tree man now when I first started I fell out 45’ been 30 years ago but everyday I struggle with it I suck it up and just keep going I’m 51 now and it’s taken its toll but I keep going 😊
NASCAR lost me when we lost Plymouth, dodge and Pontiac from the mix. Adding Toyota who isn’t even an American car manufacturer was a smack to many nascar fans. Nothing better than those traditional ford Chevy mopar rivalries that would spill over into the coffee shops across the country all week long. Good natured fun and lots of laughs over the years. Just a memory now.
Those manufacturers have been gone 20 years and you are still posting on modern day nascar youtube content. Sounds to me like you want to sound old school but are still watching. Nothing wrong with that. I been watching since the early 90s
@@williamhills6039 Yes, in the early days I believe up to 58 races a year. Many still on dirt. The Hi-point was 1967. Twenty seven wins! Including ten in a row.
Most of today’s drivers are retiring earlier. They make so much money now that they can retire whenever they choose to. A lot of them get into broadcasting after retirement. Very few will drive past 50 anymore. They just don’t have to. The last driver to really extend his Career and drive on was Mark Martin. Nobody since him has driven full time at that age.
@@nilla003 I’m glad he stayed. I don’t worship at the altar of F1 and think it’s the end all-be all. They weren’t close, but Dale Earnhardt and Ayrton Senna knew each other and viewed each other as equals. That’s all the endorsement I need.
I get that Undeniable was Joe Buck's venture into the unknown and an opportunity to flex some broadcasting skills he hasn't historically used. Sure, he has interviewed people but, not in a weekly, studio format and setting like this. Joe Buck is not one of my favorite broadcasters and I go back to Howard Cosell in the 70's as my frame of reference. So, I come in with some bias. Joe is not terrible by any means but, after nearly 50 years of watching sports on TV now, Joe is pedestrian. Furthermore, Joe has never covered NASCAR or motorsports in any capacity. And let's remember, we are now talking about Undeniable in the past tense as it went off the air in 2018 and we have not see him in this format since. Hey, few people are successful in everything they do, failures happen to all of us. All of this is to ask...If you are Joe Buck, why are you interviewing not only "a NASCAR driver" but, the likes of Jeff Gordon who is, dare I say, UNDENIABLY one of the top 3 drivers to ever participate in NASCAR? And if you are Jeff Gordon, who is a legend who transcends his sport, why would you agree to give an interview to someone like Joe who has never covered your sport? I just don't see what Jeff was hoping to accomplish here. Finally, overall for a guy who doesn't cover NASCAR, I think Joe does a fine job. He clearly did the number one, most important thing which was hire good people around him who would help him professionally prepare for any situation. He does not come off here trying to sound like a veteran NASCAR journalist, nor is he completely lost either.
Jeff actually retired and stayed retired. Not like all these other drivers that retire, and they all come back. Basically they have no life outside of racing.
