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Gordon: Reunion With Evernham “Best Part” of Racing Return

Jeff Gordon on reunion with former NASCAR crew chief Ray Evernham at The Brickyard…

Photo: Porsche

Jeff Gordon said the best part of his return to racing this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been working again with longtime friend and former crew chief Ray Evernham, who has helped put together the unique one-off program.

The four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion is making his Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by The Cayman Islands debut at the wheel of the No. 24 Hendrick Performance Group-entered Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car at the Porsche Sports Car Together Fest.

Gordon, whose only other outing in modern-era IMSA-sanctioned competition came in the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona, where he claimed victory in a Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R, said the opportunity in the single-make Porsche series came about through his connections at The Thermal Club.

He explained Hendrick Motorsports’ Track Attack program, which takes older NASCAR Cup cars and turns them into customer cars, saw Gordon — who serves as the company’s vice chairman — out at the California country club circuit, where he first got his taste of a Porsche Cup car.

“We were out there playing around with those cars and a lot of the members out there have a lot of great cars,” Gordon said.

“Don [Cusick] had just taken delivery of a 992 Cup car and said, ‘Would you like to drive it?’ So I did and I had a lot of fun.

“When I left there I said, ‘How do I get one of these?

“Little did I know at the time that you have to race this car if you purchase it. I really had no intentions of racing this car but that’s the deal that you have to abide by with Porsche.

“I’m happy I’m here doing this. It’s fun to drive but it’s even more fun to be competitive out there.”

Gordon added: “The best part of this whole thing is working with [Ray Evernham]. [It’s been] 22 years, I think we talked about it last night at dinner.

“Ray and I have been talking about [going racing]… He’s built some cars like his Ghost that he’s wanted me to drive. We’ve just talked different times about doing different events.

“The coolest thing to me was that as soon as this came about, I couldn’t wait to call Ray to see if he wanted to be a part of it.

“I’m glad that he is and that’s what’s making it a lot of fun — for both of us this weekend.”

Evernham went on to become a team owner in NASCAR following the end of he and Gordon’s successful partnership that delivered three championships in four seasons and a series-leading 49 wins, including two Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 wins.

“We always thought it would be great to work together again because we enjoyed it,” Evernham said. “We have good communication and we have fun.

“To race sometimes with so much pressure as a race, it’s hard to have fun. But we always had a lot of fun. So when he said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this car and we’re going to go and race. Would you be interested?’

“I was like, ‘hell yeah. Bring it over there.’

“I’ve been learning as much as I can about Porsche and IMSA and things like that. I obviously didn’t learn enough from the first practice so we’re working on it!

“The neat thing is that we’ve got a really good group of young guys with us again. So having fun, teaching them and working with Jeff.

“It’s a big thrill to be able to work with him and hear him on the radio [again]. It was the best times of my life, the best racing I’ve ever had, he was on the other end of that radio.

“It’s just fun to do that again.”

Gordon ironically set the 24th quickest time on Friday in preparation for qualifying and the pair of 40-minute races this weekend.

While only having had a half-day shakedown of the car at Carolina Motorsports Park prior to this event, the NASCAR legend has set realistic expectations.

“I’m afraid to say this but I want to come out here with a car that’s in one piece because I own this car and I want it as a track car,” he said. “That’s the only reason I went this route!

“I’m a competitor, Ray’s a competitor, so I think if we’re constantly making progress with the car, the speed and the competitiveness, I don’t know where exactly that’s going to put us.

“We’ll see in qualifying and hopefully we can get a clean lap to find that out.

“I really want to have fun. Having fun means pushing the car to the limits, learning about this style of car and this style of racing and staying out of everybody else’s way as well.

“It’s really just a fun weekend of just enjoying being at the race track in a competitive environment.”

Gordon Not Ruling Out Additional Racing Opportunities With Evernham

The 51-year-old Indiana native said he could be open to making more one-off appearances in race cars put together by Evernham in the future but said there’s no definitive plans lined up beyond this weekend.

“We’ve talked about doing things in the past,” he said. “He’s trying to get me do Pikes Peak with him. I don’t know about that!

“Like this opportunity, I knew when the right opportunity came along, he’s the first guy I call in a situation like this.

“I don’t see why we wouldn’t do it again in the future but it’s got to be the right opportunity, whether it’s another one of these races or something else that comes along. I would certainly welcome in.”

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

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