Jeff Gordon wheeled the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet the entirety of his illustrious NASCAR Cup Series career. Gordon captured four Cup Series championships and 93 career wins, stamping him as one of the best the sport has ever seen.
Today, Gordon is focused on the business side of the sport as he is the current Vice Chairman of HMS. During an appearance on the “Business of Motorsports” podcast, hosted by Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s older sister, Kelley, Gordon revealed a shocking detail about his driver contract.
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Jeff Gordon had no guarantees in his NASCAR driver contract
In a world full of guarantees, Gordon had none in his driver contract with Hendrick Motorsports. If Gordon performed at a high level on the racetrack or had big-time sponsors, it was something he was a participant in.
“I think people would be shocked if they saw what my driver contract looked like. … There were no guarantees. We work in this world of guarantees, got to have this, got to have that — I had no guarantees. If the car did well on-track, if the car did well with sponsorship. … I participated in that,” Gordon said.
If there was a guarantee, it is that Gordon was consistently a threat to win on the racetrack.
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Nicknamed “Wonder Boy,” Gordon took the NASCAR world by storm throughout the late 1990s. He won championships in 1995, 1997, and 1998, while also winning the Daytona 500 in 1997 and 1999.
Gordon went on to win one more championship in 2001 and another Daytona 500 in 2005. Ultimately, the Vallejo, California native continued to win up until the end of his career, winning his final race in his last full-time season at Martinsville in 2015.
Together, with car owner Rick Hendrick, Gordon said things worked out pretty well.
“Luckily, that was the run we went on until I retired. I think that we both understood that it was something we did together. We made it work for both of us and I was honored to be an equity partner,” Gordon said.
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Jeff Gordon on being an equity partner at HMS
Gordon was an equity partner at HMS when he signed a lifetime contract in 1999. However, the now 55-year-old said that aspect “sat there” for a while.
Then came 2002, when HMS wanted to expand its team to four cars and signed an up-and-coming star.
Jimmie Johnson.
When Johnson burst onto the NASCAR scene in 2002, Gordon gained partial ownership of the No. 48 Chevrolet after a conversation with Rick Hendrick.
“When the 48 came along and I was pushing for Jimmie and the fourth team, he said ‘OK, are you going to play a role in this?’ I said, ‘Yeah, let’s put it under the same LLC.’ He’s like, ‘Fine, then you are going to be responsible’ and I said, ‘Absolutely, I get it,’ which was probably dumb for me to say,” Gordon said.
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Gordon said it was “dumb” of him to say that then as he was unaware of the difficulties of making revenue in racing and gaining sponsorship.
Yet, much like his and Johnson’s racing careers, Gordon said the limited liability company (LLC) of the No. 24 and No. 48 was a success.
“Now understanding how difficult sponsorship is, how difficult it is to make money at racing — and so luckily, right after that, we made that happen. Brought the 48 so it was the 24, 48 LLC and then we got Lowe’s and the rest is kinda history,” Gordon said.
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