Before Chase Elliott, Jeff Gordon was the proud owner of the Road Course King crown. Back in 1999, Gordon stormed to victory at Watkins Glen to notch up his fifth consecutive road course win. He had visited Victory Lane at Sonoma earlier that year, and in 1998 as well. Prior to that, he won at Watkins Glen in 1998 and 1997.
While his 1999 Watkins Glen win was his third consecutive win at the race track, it was also his fifth win of the season out of seven total. The first came at the Daytona 500, followed by Atlanta, Auto Club, and Sonoma. Meanwhile, the last two were at Martinsville and the Charlotte Roval, making it six consecutive road course triumphs.
The streak finally ended at the Sonoma Raceway in the 2000 season with number 7.
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What better way to celebrate @JeffGordonWeb's 50th birthday than to watch his best career moments? 🎂
Check out The Best of Jeff Gordon on our @Youtube channel now!
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 4, 2021
It was also his 47th career win, and it came in his 210th race start in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Unfortunately, he could only muster sixth in the Cup Series championship, while Dale Jarrett won.
How did the race pan out for Jeff Gordon?
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On a surprising note, the majority of the drivers managed to finish the race in one piece. The only three retirees, Ernie Irvan, Boris Said, and Ward Burton, had mechanical issues. Gordon started the race from third on the grid and benefitted from Said’s retirement.
As the race wound to a close, Jeff Gordon had to fend off Canadian racer Ron Fellows, who was having the time of his life in his #87 Chevrolet part-time drive. Apparently, he led three laps before Gordon made short work of him with less than 30 laps left in the race.
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After that, Fellows bided his time for several laps and decided to pounce on the restart with two laps to go. Unfortunately for him, Gordon was expecting it and defended well before pulling away to win the race. Nevertheless, Jeff Gordon definitely noticed the threat and acknowledged Fellows in victory lane.
READ MORE: WATCH: Jeff Gordon Gets Involved in a Massive Shoving Match