Gordon keeps focus on driving

Hendrick driver says he will not go the owner/driver route that Stewart is doing

By TIM TUTTLE - The Sporting News

Don’t look for Jeff Gordon to follow in the tire tracks of Tony Stewart and become Sprint Cup’s next owner-driver.

“What works so well for me is I’m an equity owner at Hendrick (Motorsports), and one day I hope I can have more of a role in the decision-making process,” said Gordon, who will be shooting for his fifth victory in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard on Sunday. “But I never wanted to make those decisions while I was driving. I felt like it would be a distraction.”

Gordon makes exceptions to that rule when it comes to major changes.

“When (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) was coming over, I got involved with the decision,” he said. “When we built the team with Jimmie (Johnson), I was probably more involved with that than any other thing I’ve done. For the most part, I just stick to driving.

“When the day comes that I’m not driving, I’m going to have something to fall back on, and I want to sink myself into it as much as I have as a driver. I look forward to that.”

Gordon, who will turn 37 in August, has a lifetime contract with Hendrick, the only Sprint Cup team he has driven for during his outstanding career.

“I don’t really see myself driving past 40 very much,” Gordon said. “I think that if you love what you do and you’re still good at it, you keep going to some extent. I think in some way, I’m always going to want to drive a racecar. Just full time in the Cup Series, I don’t see myself doing it for more than four or five more years.”

Sports cars could be at the top of Gordon’s list after he departs Cup.

“I’d love to do the Rolex 24 Hours (at Daytona) and Le Mans,” he said. “I’d like to drive some cars I used to drive or didn’t get a chance to drive, even the dirt late models we do at Tony’s place (Eldora Speedway in Ohio) have been a blast. But my primary job per se will probably be involved with Hendrick Motorsports on the management side of it.”