Thirty years after Jeff Gordon won NASCAR’s inaugural Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman returns to the speedway this weekend overseeing an organization that has the top two drivers in the points while William Byron carries on the legacy of the No. 24 car.
Gordon also is busy away from the track. He is a member of the negotiating committee for Cup teams as they seek to complete a deal with NASCAR to extend the charter agreement beyond this season.
Gordon spoke about those topics and more this week in a session with reporters. The following conversation has edited and condensed.
Memories about that 1994 Brickyard 400 win.
Gordon: “We won in May in Charlotte in ’94 (his first Cup points win) and all of a sudden it was we’re a team that can win and now Indianapolis is coming up. We put a tremendous amount of effort into it, and we were excited about just competing and going there.
“But then you started to get this sense of how special this event was, how historical that was. At that time, we didn’t know is this a one-and-done thing? So let’s go all out and take advantage of it and soak it all in and enjoy every moment. The fans maybe kind of felt the same because their reaction and the energy that you felt from the people that were there for the test as well as the race. It was just kind of bigger than life. It was just awesome to be a part of it.
“Had no idea that we were actually going to go there and be that competitive and then win the race. Certainly changed my life forever and set the whole 24 team at Hendrick Motorsports on this kind of amazing journey.”
The No. 24 car has won the Brickyard 400 in the 1994, 2004 and 2014. So is there pressure on William Byron and crew chief Rudy Fugle to win this race in 2024 and keep the streak going for the 24 team?
Gordon: “All of our teams have put a tremendous amount of effort in every weekend, but I think when there is a big event where they know it’s either celebrating history or Indianapolis Motor Speedway, they put extra effort into it.
“I’m sure William and Rudy and the team are aware of it. That’s only going to add to the pressure. I expect all of our teams to be competitive. I feel like we were very competitive at Pocono. I think our engine department is really bringing great reliable power to the racetrack right now. I think our teams are ready to go attack this technical racetrack.”
It’s seven months until next year’s Daytona 500 and there is no charter agreement in place. How does that impact budgeting and planning at Hendrick Motorsports and is it getting to a point where the negotiating committee for teams and NASCAR need to be in a room together and stay there until a deal is done?
Gordon: “I’ve had a lot of optimism through this whole process. It’s been a long process, much longer than I anticipated. There were times that I thought we were making great progress and times where I thought we were going backwards. I’m in that optimistic mode right now where all the teams got together and looked at all of our needs and where NASCAR’s response was and how we needed to respond.
“I feel like we’ve put something back in their hands that is very fair and makes sense and with a lot of thoughtfulness from all the teams. It’s hard to get all the teams to agree — and not everybody does with everything that is on the table — but we know that this is what we think is very acceptable and has compromises, not only for the different teams and what they’re trying to achieve and also for NASCAR.
“I think right now it’s not time to panic or anything else. We do have contracts in place and we have a plan as if we’re going to be running a full schedule next year. That’s where Hendrick Motorsports is at today, still very optimistic.”
What’s different with points leader Chase Elliott and the No. 9 team this season after their struggles last year?
Gordon: “I don’t think you can discount what — and we saw it a little bit with Alex (Bowman) as well. But when you get injured and you’re out of the car and you’re going through the rehab of your injury and that’s on your mind as well as getting back in the car and getting back in sync with the team, building that chemistry back, what is the car doing going to each track? If you get back in and you’re not seeing the results right away, then it starts to work on you mentally and physically as a driver and as a team.
“I just think at the end of the year, one, they started making progress on the setups and with consistency. I also think Alan Gustafson and Chase have a very, very good relationship. I think that relationship got tested in some ways through what they went through, but they came out stronger on the other end and over the offseason, I think they made a commitment to one another how hard they’re going to work and bring the whole team together to turn things around this year. And then you’ve got to win and they did.
“I think that win and the performance that they’ve been bringing week in and week has really just built chemistry, confidence and momentum with that race team to go each and every week with a shot of winning and bring home great finishes.”
With Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson first and second in the points, is the dynamic any different among the drivers and teams racing for a regular season title vs. when they are racing to advance in the playoffs or ultimately the championship?
Gordon: “I’ve seen our teams communicating and sharing information and working together more this year than I ever have. Just to me it feels like because all the teams are having success and all the teams are seeing the benefits of that amount of communication going back and forth, they’re bought in on it.
“Of course, as we get this thing winding down maybe to that final lap of that final race for the regular season (title) and if they’re in a tight battle and if they’re on the racetrack together, they’re going to have to race one another.
“I think it’s pretty clear at Hendrick how we expect teams and drivers to race against one another and how they’ve got to go and compete not only against their competitors but against one another. They have a pretty good understanding about that. We want them to go race and race hard, but we want them to come out the other end in one piece and may the best team, the best driver get that regular season championship.”
2. What constitutes a penalty in NASCAR?
There has been much angst lately among fans about why some drivers are penalized and why some drivers are not penalized.
In recent weeks, the sport has seen:
Layne Riggs held for two laps after wrecking a competitor in the Truck race at Nashville and then no immediate penalty to Carson Hocevar for turning Harrison Burton in the Cup race two days later under caution (Hocevar was later fined $50,000 and docked 25 points).
Bubba Wallace fined $50,000 for hitting Alex Bowman’s car after the race in Chicago in retaliation for an earlier incident but no penalty for Chase Elliott for making contact with Daniel Suarez after the same race. NASCAR talked to Elliott ahead of the next event.
Corey LaJoie not being penalized for his contact that turned Kyle Busch and triggered a multi-car crash last weekend at Pocono. NASCAR planned to talk to LaJoie ahead of Sunday’s race at Indianapolis.
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, offered an explanation as to how officials adjudicate matters.
“I think you have to put each one of those situations in a different bucket,” he said in response to a question from NBC Sports. “They’re all looked at differently. I know we hear all the time that even the competitors, or our fan base, or you folks in the media (say) just be consistent.
“Well, it’s really difficult to take every one of those situations and we look at them the same but they’re all different. If you just back up to Chicago, the (Suarez-Elliott contact) vs. (Wallace-Bowman contact). Two completely different scenarios. You’ve got one where (Elliott) and we had a conversation with Chase about the race is over, so we’ve completed the event.
“Both of these two scenarios are post checkered flag and Chase kind of accelerates to get up to (Suarez). We’ve seen that for many, many years. Drivers showing their displeasure when the race is over. Very slight contact. We reviewed it, looked at in-car cameras, looked at all the footage, audio and slight, very slight contact. That rises to a level where we don’t really want to be in the middle of any of that. That’s how we made a decision on that.
“If you take (Wallace and Bowman), obviously they had a situation early in the race. Many laps to think about a decision that you need to make postrace and the decision that was made was to go up and do what (Wallace) did. The right tire comes off the ground (on Bowman’s car after contact from Wallace). The left side hits the wall. Window nets are down. If you look at the in-car camera, seat belts (loosened) in the 48 car. Again, they’re completely different. The situation we felt like rose to a level that we can’t continue to have that at the level of the 23 and 48.
“Back up to this past weekend (between LaJoie and Busch), we’re in-race. We’re in competition. We got two guys racing hard. If you listen to the in-car car audio, the 7, don’t hear anything from the driver. There’s some comments made from the crew chief and spotter. Neither one of them are driving the car. So didn’t hear anything from (LaJoie). Plan to have a conversation with Corey just to make sure he’s in a good place there. That one, in-race, we let guys race.”
Sawyer went to explain the Nashville situations that led to different penalties for Riggs and Hocevar.
“In the tower when that happened (Riggs turning a competitor) I mentioned to Seth Kramlich, series, director, ‘You need to talk to Layne.’ He said, “Well, I’ve already talked to Layne.’ (Sawyer said) ‘Well, the next step is we’ll hold him for two laps.’ So the next step, he’ll probably be in the bucket with Carson, which will get into his pocketbook.
“Yeah, we review these. We would prefer to wait, get all the data, get all the footage, get all the audio so we’re making the right decision. That’s not to say in Cup that we wouldn’t hold someone for laps, multiple laps.”
3. Race of Champions
Ten of the 15 winners of the oval race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway are Cup champions.
NBC Sports analyst Steve Letarte said on this week’s NASCAR on NBC podcast with Nate Ryan that he expects the top teams to lead the way at Indy (2:30 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC).
“Denny Hamlin did the tire test,” Letarte said of the session that also included Kyle Busch and Todd Gilliland. “(Hamlin) is going to be breathtakingly fast. I assume that’s going to trickle over to (Martin Truex Jr.).
“(Christopher) Bell, when they’re good, they’re unreal. Now it’s weird, they’ve had some other races where they kind of just miss it, but when they’re good, they’re really, really good. Ty Gibbs, I think it’s just a matter of time before he wins a race. So there’s all of JGR I expect to be fast.
“Unless you see something I haven’t seen, I don’t think Hendrick is going to be slow. So now you have eight (contenders). I would argue that I actually think that (Chase Elliott) was the best at Pocono. We just never got to see it because he was in traffic so much. (Alex) Bowman has his swagger back. … Now you have eight cars full of swagger. We have about filled the top 10 already.
“We haven’t even gotten to the Ford camp. Ryan Blaney just won at Pocono and he said (Indy) is (car owner Roger Penske’s) backyard so that’s on their mind. No offense to (Austin) Cindric, being the younger of the two, let’s take (Joey) Logano and Blaney. Now we have 10 cars.
“This is going to be an absolute heavyweight battle. I just don’t see a random good run cycling away into the top 10 or 12.”
4. International Cup race
NASCAR has yet to announce next year’s schedule, but the prospect of an international race in the Cup Series grows.
“I’d repeat probably the words of (NASCAR President) Steve Phelps and (Executive Vice President Ben Kennedy) is I don’t think it’s an issue of are we going to eventually get the Cup Series outside of the U.S.,” said Chad Seigler, NASCAR chief international officer. “It’s more a matter of when.”
Reports have stated that Canada or Mexico are likely sites for a Cup race as soon as next year.
But what about a Cup race someday outside of North America?
That could take some time.
“I think we’d all probably agree the number one logistical issue you have is just our schedule,” Seigler said in response to a question from NBC Sports. “Thirty-eight weekends that you race. Once you start taking stuff across the sea … whether that is via land or via sea or through the air, there’s an additional cost. There’s a lot of time. That’s probably number one.
“Then number two, I think as an industry, we just have to get comfortable doing that. It’s not something we do. We traditionally move our product via land and truck. So that’s the biggest thing you start to look into where on the schedule you could fit stuff.
“I think the positive, though, is if you talk to us on the NASCAR side or if you talk to anyone in the industry, there’s kind of what I feel like is a universal understanding that we need to start expanding outside the U.S. There’s this huge opportunity.”
5. Numbers to know
0 — Cup starts on the Indianapolis oval for Austin Cindric, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe, Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland, Justin Haley, Ty Gibbs, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar.
1 — Cup win by Team Penske on the oval at Indianapolis. The organization has 20 Indianapolis 500 victories, including this year with Josef Newgarden winning his second consecutive 500.
6 — Drivers who have ended winless streaks of 42 or more races this season. That’s one off the series record for most drivers to snap a drought of 42 or more races set in 2010 and ’13.
7 — Different drivers who have competed in the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same season. Kyle Larson will join a list that has John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, AJ Allmendinger, Juan Pablo Montoya and Kurt Busch.
15 — Feet wide each pit stall is at Indianapolis, which is tied for second narrowest on the Cup circuit. Each pit box is 47 feet long, the longest on the circuit.
23 — Consecutive weekends in the NASCAR Cup Series without a break with Sunday’s race at Indianapolis. This is the longest stretch in a season for Cup without a break in the modern era (since 1972).