CHAPTER 1 THE STORY OF JEFF GORDON hen he was just a year old Jeff Gordon born August 4 1971 in Vallejo California was taken to his first stock car race meeting at California's Vallejo Speedway The visit was arranged by Jeff's stepfather to be John Bickford For Jeff the visit began a lifelong love of racing cars John Bickford encouraged Jeff to take an interest in racing from an early age When Jeff was four years old John bought him his first BMX a bicycle used for dirt track racing One year later the five year old Jeff became the owner of his first racing car a tiny version Jeff began his racing career in midget cars such as the one pictured here right peps A PON a QUPOND max Tyreke EATONA and GUARD DELPHL GOODYEAR
THE STORY OF JEFF GORDON of a midget car which is a small racing car known as a quarter midget Almost as soon as Jeff received the car he began practicing his driving skills every night completing laps on a local dirt track near his family home in Vallejo By the age of six Jeff was ready to take part in his first race Two years later he won his first quarter midget championship beating a number of older children to take the title By now it was clear that Jeff was born to race STAR STATS During his childhood Jeff Gordon won three quarter midget championships The talented young driver also won four championships in another style of child friendly racing car the go
JEFF GORDON IN THE COMMUNITY MOVING FOR THE DREAM By the time Jeff was 14 it was clear that he was one of the most talented young drivers in the country He regularly beat adult racers in quarter midget races and he was keen to step up to full size midget cars Jeff even wanted to drive sprint cars the next level in car racing Today Jeff is one of the most formidable drivers ever seen on a NASCAR track Here he takes a moment to prepare for the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 race at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond Philadelphia on June 6 2010 Ar
THE STORY OF JEFF GORDON Jeff's parents knew he had the talent to succeed as a professional race car driver However they also knew that very few people ever make it to the top of the sport They realized that if Jeff was to fulfill his dream he needed to experience driving adult size cars against older drivers So in 1986 Jeff's parents made the decision to move the family from California to Pittsboro Indiana close to Indianapolis the home of NASCAR racing The move turned out to be a wise one In 1987 at the age of 16 Jeff became the youngest driver ever to be awarded a license to race by the United States Auto Club USAC STAR STATS Before he turned 18 Jeff had already won three adult midget car races In 1989 he was named the USAC midget car racing Rookie of the
