1971-
Race Car Driver

King of the Track. Jeff Gordon was born 4 August 1971 in Vallejo, California. He was not an overnight phenomenon in the world of auto racing, but his direction, if not his destiny, was determined early. Young Gordon, encouraged by his stepfather John Bickford, raced go-carts and quarter-midgets as a five-year-old. A regular winner on the midget and open-wheel racing circuits as a teenager, Jeff made a natural transition at twenty to National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) racing. By then, in 1986, he and his family had moved to Pittsboro, Indiana, to be near the center of the racing world. He had already become the youngest driver ever to obtain a United States Auto Club (USAC) license and had gained valuable experience by driving every kind of competitive vehicle from dirt cars in Indiana to sprint cars in Australia. In 1990 he became...