Jeff Gordon Gives Advice to His 18-Year-Old Self That Would’ve Saved Him From Bitter $15.3 Million Loss

Jeff Gordon is undoubtedly a legend in the NASCAR Cup Series arena. The 4-time Cup Series champion has been in the sport for a very long time, racking up incredible stats as a driver. Competing with the best of them, he learned and grew from a fresh-faced rookie to the legend that he is today. Currently, he is the Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, the team that helped him to achieve glory. Even in his post-retirement role, Gordon has found plenty of success, as he has been guiding the current Cup Series stars. In fact, two of them—Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson—are already champions, with another champion in the making, namely William Byron.

Recently, Gordon sat down with Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer for an interview. He spoke on a number of subjects, ranging from his personal life to his career and even his rivalries. The 51-year-old was then asked what sort of advice he would like to give to his younger self. This is pretty much a rite of passage for any older sporting star who has been successful in their career. After all, they all had to have made a few mistakes on the road to success, and the same applies to the HMS legend.

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Jeff Gordon had a rather cheeky response to the question

The former champion joked, “Don’t get married at age 23. That’d probably be the first thing.” It was a small dig at himself, probably for rushing into marriage too soon and at such a young age. The marriage in question was with his first wife, Brooke Sealey, who he later divorced in 2003. The whole situation was fairly messy and the saga reportedly cost the 4-time Cup Series champion more than $15 million.

Gordon was introduced to Ingrid Vandebosch in 2002. After his high-profile and messy divorce, the two began dating in 2004 and got engaged in 2006. Gordon and Vandebosch got married later that same year and had their first child, Ella Sofia Gordon, in 2007. Three years later, the family welcomed a son, Leo Benjamin Gordon.

The Hendrick Motorsports legend gave some honest response

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Talking about any other regrets that he might have harbored, Gordon said, “As far as a race car driver, I don’t know that I could have done it much different. It went pretty well. I think maybe I would just try to figure out a little bit earlier on in my life who I am, and then just 100% be myself.

“I was a little programmed early. I was afraid to make mistakes. I was afraid to say the wrong thing. I didn’t want to lose a sponsor. I didn’t want any fans to boo me. So I wasn’t as much “me” as I would have liked to have been. But that did come over time.”

Now, the HMS legend will be hoping to guide his drivers to more victories. Larson and Elliott will obviously be leading the charge, but William Byron and Alex Bowman as just as talented.

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