“Shut Up and Drive”: Jeff Gordon’s Former Crew Chief Reminisces About a Rare Fallout With the 4-Time Cup Champ

One of the golden ages of NASCAR must have been the last few years of the 20th century. While Dale Senior stamped himself as ‘The Intimidator’ in races, Jeff Gordon gave new meaning to a trophy cabinet. The Hendrick driver accumulated an astonishing 47 Premier Series wins between 1995 and 1999. And as it turns out, 1998 was his best year.

Gordon set himself on par with racing legend Richard Petty that season, winning 13 trophies. And his crew chief, Ray Evernham, guided him. But even during that brilliant year, the team lapsed a few times. And as Jeff Gordon had a winner’s high, he fought with Evernham over a mistake.

Jeff Gordon gave the silent treatment to his crew chief

Hendrick Motorsports’ #24 team was on a roll in the late 1990s. Jeff Gordon and Ray Evernham’s combo seemed like a match made in heaven. They made lasting memories, except for one incident in the 1998 Las Vegas race that still stings Evernham.

Speaking to Kevin Harvick on his podcast, the NASCAR Hall of Famer broached the topic. Evernham said that usually, his relationship with Gordon was warm and fuzzy. “We had a little blowout on the radio at Vegas. It was kind of funny because we couldn’t stay angry. Like after the race, he’d come in and he’d look at me like a kid, like my little brother. And I would laugh, or he would laugh. So we would just start laughing.”

But that year, a winning buzz had possessed Jeff Gordon, who reacted to the slightest mistakes. Driving a Chevy Monte Carlo, Gordon found himself falling prey to some aggressive Ford Taurus drivers. “And he’s screaming this, that, oh my god. I said, ‘Okay, then come in and we’ll pit’. ‘We can’t pit, you know if we pit, we’ll go a lap down.’ I said, ‘Well then, shut up and drive it because I can’t run alongside it and fix it.’ And then he didn’t say another word to me.”

Gordon continued the fallout with his crew chief later, as Evernham stated, “And afterward, he’s like (contorts face to be angry), and I just laughed at him. I was like, ‘Bud, what do you want to do? They kicked our butt, you know, like we got beat. We didn’t make a top ten today.’”

Even though the Las Vegas outing turned bitter between the two, they had a good relationship overall. Ray Evernham’s first meeting with Jeff Gordon was iconic.

Evernham twinned with Gordon in briefcases

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Every iconic duo meets under equally iconic circumstances. When Jeff Gordon was not yet a full-time Cup driver, he was too young to rent his own car (how ironic), so his mom drove him to his first meeting with Ray Evernham. Both of them had one thing in common: they carried briefcases.

Yet while Evernham’s case contained work-related material, Gordon’s case had things that tickled his soon-to-be crew chief. “My briefcase had my notepads and books and my notes for Charlotte Motor Speedway, things like that. In Jeff’s briefcase? He had a Nintendo Game Boy, some gum, a stock car magazine, and peanuts. It was kind of funny.”

Gordon has come a long way from that time, acting as vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports and overseeing multiple victories.

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