When history looks back at the career of NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon, there will be two phases, and those are his driving career and the executive career that followed.
But there will also be memories from the six years that came in between, when he served as a NASCAR on FOX television analyst from 2016 to 2021 following his retirement from full-time Cup Series competition.
Simultaneously, Gordon also had an executive role with Hendrick Motorsports, the only team he ever raced for at the highest level of the sport and it was long believed that he was the successor to team owner Rick Hendrick.
Gordon, during an interview with former Cup Series racer and his successor in the FOX broadcast booth Kevin Harvick, explained the timing of his decision to leave television and focus entirely on the Hendrick Motorsports business side.
“What happened was I looked at doing TV and it’s half the season,” Gordon said on the Happy Hour YouTube show interview. “Great schedule and the folks at Fox were amazing. I just went straight from a team environment to another team environment (and) I liked that (and) liked that a lot. I like the live-action and there’s pressure and there’s a real responsibility there.
“It was challenging, and I like that. But what was happening as soon as TV would end, I immediately, and even in between, I was going into the office and trying to do more things with Hendrick Motorsports. I wanted to stay in touch with it because I knew second half of the season this is what I do kind of full-time. … So the second half of the year, I found myself trying to play catch-up in everything that was going on at the shop and with the businesses and the teams. I felt like I was a stranger (because) I would walk in, they’re like, ‘Okay, he does TV but he’s got this role over here.’ I feel like I was doing a good job with TV I didn’t feel like I was doing a good job on that side or really adding value.”
Gordon also said there was a point where Hendrick told Gordon that it was nearing time for him to go all-in pertaining to team management, and that is when the four-time champion signed what he knew was his final three-year extension with FOX and was ready in 2022 when he took his current role.
That position is the executive vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, where he oversees partnerships and business opportunities — what he detailed as someone who is in a lot of meetings and answers a lot of emails.
With that said, he also said that being able to move from competition to television was a valuable experience when it comes to how he views NASCAR holistically.
“It was the right move,” Gordon revealed. “I learned so much about a different side of the business by doing TV (and) I loved it. I love the people that I got to interact with, the friendships that I made and the things I learned about business. So I think it really added a lot of value to what I’m doing now as vice chairman of Hendrick. But I realized how much I was missing by not being there on a daily basis and really being focused on it all the time.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.