Nextel Cup Series

PERSONAL Birthdate: Aug. 4, 1971 Hometown: Vallejo, Calif. Resides: Charlotte, N.C., and New York City Marital Status: Single Children: None Hobbies: Skiing, video games, golf, racquetball, bowling, scuba diving

HIGHLIGHTS Four-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion (1995, ’97, ’98, ’01) Two-time winner of Daytona 500 (1997, ’99) 11 consecutive years in NASCAR Top 10, including last four among top five NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series' all-time winnings leader with $66,956,249 Seventh on all-time win list with 69

YEAR-BY-YEAR NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES RECAP 2004 Finished third in series points, only 16 points behind champion Kurt Busch. … Won five races, including two back-to-back victory performances: Talladega-California in the spring, and Infineon-Daytona in the summer. Fifth win of season was the obvious highlight: A fourth Brickyard 400 victory, making Gordon one of only four drivers to win four races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway; four-time Indy 500 winners A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser are the others. … Six poles was series’ second-best total behind Ryan Newman’s nine. …Led points for four weeks, including the opening week of the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. During Chase, never was lower than third in the standings. 2003 Finished fourth in series points. … Won three races, sweeping Martinsville’s two events and winning at Atlanta in the fall. … The second Martinsville win and the win at Atlanta came on consecutive weeks, the 14th time he had registered consecutive wins. … Won poles at both Martinsville races, at Watkins Glen and at Bristol’s summer race. … Climbed to second in the NASCAR Top 10 after finishing second at Chicago in July, but finished 24th (New Hampshire) and 36th (Pocono) the next two weeks to drop from serious contention. … Other highlights of season were runner-up finishes at Atlanta in March, Dover and Infineon in June. … Also, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the car Gordon co-owns with Rick Hendrick, finished second in the championship standings. 2002 Finished fourth in series points. … Overtook rookie sensation – and Hendrick Motorsports teammate – Jimmie Johnson in the points standings by one place; 2002 was Gordon’s first year as part-owner with Rick Hendrick of Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s team. … During a season filled with adversity, Gordon posted three victories, the first of which at Bristol’s night race where he bumped past Rusty Wallace with less than three laps to go, breaking a careerlong streak of 30 races without a win. … Won at Darlington the next week, marking the 13th time in his career he had back-to-back victories. … The Darlington win pushed him to second in the points with 11 races to go, but four finishes of 36th or lower in the following seven races effectively ended his shot at a fifth title; he had been as far back as fifth in the points as late as mid-August at Michigan. … Suffered first DNF in 57 races 9/7 at Richmond, dating back to 3/18/01 at Darlington. … … Registered 13 top-five and 20 top-10 finishes, the 10th straight season in which he finished in the top 10 in both categories. … Built on his lead in active driver wins (61) as well as on the all-time money list, topping the $50 million mark. … Used first-ever provisional – the first time in 329 events – to start season’s final race at Homestead; was 37th on the grid but managed a fifth-place finish. 2001 Won fourth series championship, third on the all-time title list behind only seven-time champions Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. … Won series single-season record $10,879,757, breaking own mark set in 1998 and passed Earnhardt to take over the all-time money lead. … Led the circuit in victories and poles with six, the sixth time in seven years he posted more wins than any other driver.… Finished second six times and totaled 18 top-five and 24 top-10 finishes, best in the series in all three categories. … Won “The Winston” all-star event for the third time after coming back from a first-lap crash and in the process, tied Earnhardt for the most wins in the event. … Became first threetime winner of the Brickyard 400 and scored seventh career road course win at Watkins Glen the next week, extending his series record for road-course wins. … Won inaugural Kansas event in September. 2000 Finished ninth in series points. … His three wins – at Talladega, Infineon and Richmond – accounted for the smallest total of his career since 1994. … Had 10 top-10 finishes in the final 11 races of the season. 1999 Finished sixth in series points. … Won seven times, breaking a streak of three seasons in which he won at least 10 races. … Set all-time series record for road course wins, sweeping races at Infineon and Watkins Glen for the second straight year. 1998 Won third series championship in four years and second consecutive and became the youngest three-time champion at age 27. … Tied Richard Petty for modern era single-season win record with 13 and tied modern era mark with four straight wins during summer: Pocono-Indianapolis-Watkins Glen-Michigan, record shared by seven drivers. … Set then-record with season winnings of $9,306,584. … Became first repeat winner of Brickyard 400. … Scored career bests with 26 top-five finishes, 28 top 10s and seven poles. … Won ESPY Award for ESPN’s Driver of the Year. 1997 Won second series championship … For second consecutive season, won 10 races. … Became first driver to win more than $6 million in a season; $1 million came from Winston Million program. … At 26, became youngest driver to win Daytona 500. … Won ESPY Award for ESPN’s Driver of the Year. 1996 Finished second in series points, only 37 points behind champion – and Hendrick Motorsports teammate – Terry Labonte.… Mechanical problems in season finale at Atlanta put him two laps down by only the 10th lap and effectively ended his chance to catch Labonte. … Won series-high 10 races. 1995 Won first series championship, becoming youngest champion in the modern era at age 24. … Had seven wins and eight poles. … Won back-to-back races for the first time in his career, in July at Daytona and New Hampshire. … Had accumulated 21 DNFs in his first two full seasons; in his first championship campaign registered only three. … Won ESPY Award for ESPN’s Driver of the Year. 1994 Finished eighth in series points. … Got his first win – starting on the pole – at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, and also won the inaugural Brickyard 400 in his adopted home state of Indiana. 1993 Finished 14th in series points. … Named series’ Rookie of the Year, becoming the first driver to do so after also winning the NASCAR Busch Series’ Rookie of the Year (1991). … Took first career pole at Charlotte fall race, and at 23 was the youngest driver in 30 years to win a 125-mile qualifying race at Daytona (third). … First career top five was at the Daytona 500 where he finished fifth. 1992 Made first series at Atlanta in the final race of the season where he started 21st and finished 31st. … Gordon’s first race was also the last in the illustrious career of Richard Petty.

PREVIOUS RACING HISTORY Set NASCAR Busch Series record with 11 poles in 1992; also won three races that season – all from the pole – including his first in NASCAR, in March at Atlanta. … Named NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year in 1991 following an 11th-place finish in the points; also won U.S. Auto Club Silver Crown Series championship that season. … 1990 USAC Midget champion at age 19, the youngest driver ever to win the title; was also youngest driver ever awarded a USAC license at 16. … Won three quarter-midget national championships and four karting titles. … Won more than 600 short-track races as a youngster after beginning in the sport in his native California at age 5; family relocated to Pittsboro, Ind., where he honed his skills.

NOTEWORTHY Gordon is one of NASCAR’s most active drivers on behalf of charitable causes. The Jeff Gordon Foundation, founded in 1999, primarily supports charities working on behalf of children in need. The Foundation supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Hendrick Bone Marrow Foundation and Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. … Hosted Saturday Night Liveon Jan. 11, 2003, in addition to making guest-host appearances on Live with Regis and Kelly.