Father Time: Jeff Gordon Awaits the Birth of His First Child and the Start of NASCAR

By Sarah Rothschild

DAYTONA BEACH — Entering his 15th season in the Cup series, Jeff Gordon is talking as much about vying for a fifth championship as becoming a first-time parent.

And he’s aglow about it all.

Building on his series-leading 75 victories. Attending doctor’s visits and reading baby books. Capturing his first title under the Chase for the Cup format. Bracing for some sleepless nights.

He even has his baby’s sonogram as the wallpaper on his cellphone.

"If June 30 comes around, or whenever we have this baby, and all of a sudden my performance isn’t measuring up, that’s going to be the excuse or the story everyone is going to use," Gordon said. "I hope my racing doesn’t skip a beat, but I don’t know the answer to that.

"You can have a child and wrap yourself up in that child and say now everything makes sense and everything just gets put aside. Or, you can be excited and be so encouraged about life and how happy you are in life, and it can actually make you better in your job."

So far, owner Rick Hendrick — a close friend and one of the few guests at Gordon and Ingrid Vandebosch’s private wedding ceremony in Mexico last November — doesn’t see his desire flickering or his commitment wavering. Despite winning NASCAR’s crown jewels — the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and at Talladega — and earning victories at more than half the tracks on the circuit, Gordon, 35, concedes he has unfinished business.

"I’ve won a Winston Cup, but I’ve never won a Nextel Cup, so I would love to do that," said Gordon, whose Daytona 500 on Sunday won’t start the way he expected because his car failed postrace inspection for Thursday’s duels, pushing him to 42nd on the grid. "I’m really proud of the driver championships, and I feel like I’ve got at least one more in me. As far as racing, we’ve won just about everything there is to win out there, but there are still tracks and races I haven’t won."

2007 GOALS

After missing the Chase for the Cup in 2005, Gordon rebounded last season, finishing sixth and winning two races.

"We had a good year but not the best year," said Gordon, who technically owns a share of teammate Jimmie Johnson’s championship last year as co-owner of the No. 48 Chevrolet. "My goal is to try to prove that [this] year."

But his urgency isn’t reflective of a driver in the sunset of his career.

Gordon doesn’t have a timetable for retirement, saying he plans to stick around for several seasons more.

"I’m still really healthy, competitive and enjoying it, and as long as those three things are always there then I’m going to be doing it," Gordon said. "I don’t want to really ever fully step away from this, but I also don’t want to get burned out on it."

One bonus of continuing, Gordon said, would be to perform in front of his daughter. Gordon has had conversations about it with his wife and already has visions of their daughter watching him celebrate in Victory Lane.

Even if his daughter isn’t a race fan, he wants her to be exposed to his racing to "get an appreciation of what it is that I’ve done for all these years to help provide the life that [she's] going to have."

Gordon said several years from now he could see himself following a similar path as veteran Mark Martin, who after 19 years of racing Cup, will scale back to a partial schedule this year.

With his personal life the best it has been in several years, everyone at Hendrick is seeing a different Gordon.

"He’s spending more time with the team than he ever has, and I think that’s because he’s got his personal life exactly like he wants it, so he’s focusing on racing," Hendrick said.

Added Johnson: "Professionally things are rock solid, personally things are rock solid. He’s always wanted to be a father, and now he’s at a point in his life where he’s ready for the challenge that will come with it. He’s always been a pretty happy person, but there’s a sense of peacefulness that he has that is new."

Larry Deas, manager of motorsports for Gordon’s sponsor, DuPont, said Gordon’s bliss became apparent publicly last June when he made an impromptu announcement about his engagement to Vandebosch — a Belgian model — at the DuPont hospitality tent before the Sonoma, Calif., race that he won.

"He’s always upbeat, but it seemed that it picked him up another level and then the announcement of their child has taken it up another level," Deas said.

COMFORT ZONE

Gordon concedes he’s at ease with his married life because when he was single he had a more difficult time balancing his life, saying "you have the openness to the world that you can do anything and sometimes that can be a distraction" from racing.

But with fatherhood less than five months away, Gordon is under a microscope like no expectant father in America — with the exception of Tiger Woods. With a racing schedule and sponsor obligations, Gordon knows this season will be a challenge professionally and personally.

"It’s going to be a heck of a challenge, but I’m looking forward to it," Gordon said. "I really like where I am in my life. I have a better understanding of life than I ever have and of my place in the sport."