DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – First Jeff Gordon wanted to be a race car driver. Then he wanted to become a celebrity.

The process of attaining both helped transform NASCAR from a burgeoning regional phenomenon into a national league.

“I wanted to take things to the next level, do things maybe a little different than had been done and pursue opportunities to get on red carpets, to get into magazines,” Gordon told USA TODAY Sports. “And I had people around me influencing me saying, ‘Hey, I think there’s an opportunity here. You’re young, you have a certain look, you have things the sport hasn’t really had and you being successful on the track, there’s an opportunity there.’

“And it made me think. And my personality was ‘Yeah, I do want to pursue that. I want to be more than just a race car driver. I want to be a superstar.’ ”

And now it’s someone else’s turn.

The 44-year-old, now-freshly retired four-time Sprint Cup champion remains a celebrity. He and wife Ingrid Vandebosch cavort with Jay-Z and Lewis Hamilton on red carpets and at charity galas. Tom Cruise fetes Gordon at banquets, country music star Brad Paisley pops in for laughs at Hendrick Motorsports Christmas parties. But in the Daytona International Speedway infield Friday, in a breeze chilled by the shadow thrown over his motor coach picnic area, Gordon continued to cast his long shadow over NASCAR even as he begins a career as a Fox analyst.

Who emerges from that shadow could do wonders for their profile and NASCAR’s.

GORDON LEAVES VOID

For most of his career, Gordon was able to exploit his on-track success, relatability and desire to attain the celebrity he sought. In the process he brought NASCAR to an amenable mainstream in the 1990s and 2000s. Gordon’s departure creates a sizable void, an opportunity for some other similarly motivated driver and a task for NASCAR as it continues to vie for interest in a market that has grown considerably more fickle in the aftermath of its explosive growth.

Gordon remained among NASCAR’s most recognized and positively viewed figures through his final season as a driver, according to Q Scores, which measures athletes’ awareness and positive perception among the total population. In a September study, Gordon was the third-most recognized NASCAR driver at 54 percent. Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s perennial most popular driver, led the series at 63 percent. Danica Patrick (51 percent) was third. Six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson was at 40 percent (tied for fourth).

Most drivers are offered to the mainstream as spokespersons for their various sponsors, tracks, or the series. They enjoy or humor it as an ancillary part of a profession in which sponsor benefaction enables their livelihood.

But there is a subset of drivers who have displayed ambition beyond the track and the commercial shoot. Drivers like Carl Edwards, 36, and Denny Hamlin, 35, have dabbled beyond a driver’s typical comfort zone, but as in most areas of the job description, Gordon set a high bar with his hosting of a 2003 episode of Saturday Night Live and his frequent appearances as a guest host of Live with Regis and Kelly.

NASCAR still has probes in pop culture. In January, Hamlin was a guest via Skype on ABC’s The Bachelor Live.

“I think it’s better to have us out without (sponsor branding) to kind of get people seeing your face in something other than your driving suit or your race car. I think it is cool,” Hamlin said. “Obviously, there’s a great opportunity and maybe (it) opens a few eyes here and there for people that have never seen a NASCAR race before.”

Hendrick Motorsports president Marshall Carlson said NASCAR lacks a figure that can fill Gordon’s charisma gap as a driver, although he expects him to connect as a broadcaster.

“I couldn’t point to anyone,” he told USA TODAY Sports. “We have different folks. Dale Earnhardt Jr. clearly, most popular driver many years in a row, but when you really start talking about transcending motorsport all together, or even in some cases, sport, I think Jeff is the only guy I can think of who could step outside of all sports.”

Carlson seems relieved that his organization faces no such dilemma internally, as Gordon will not only take on a more visible role as a team owner of Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet, but will be leveraged with teams’ sponsors and in other business situations.

STAR SEARCH 

NASCAR is desperately searching for the next ambassador, and has been since 2009 when it began conducting research that developed into the Driver Star Power Initiative, which is tasked with building driver brands and personalities, series senior vice president, marketing and industry services Jill Gregory told USA TODAY Sports. Driver personality traits are assessed and categorized by another internal division and an entertainment team based in Los Angeles works the film and television industries to seed drivers into shows. The process is more fluid when dealing with broadcast partners NBC and Fox, Gregory said.

Hamlin was matched with The Bachelor Live because producers sought a driver and NASCAR research indicated he was a viewer.

Patrick has leveraged work in commercials and appearances to gain a high level of notoriety, but in general has not sought acting opportunities.

“I don’t mind it. I think it’s kind of fun,” Patrick said. “I don’t find it to be super hard, but I do enjoy commercials the most. They’re quick and easy. I can usually put in my input.”

An undisclosed driver has asked NASCAR to facilitate an appearance on Lip Sync Battle, Gregory said, while Kasey Kahne has expressed an interest in appearing on The Blacklist.

“An engaged driver that wants to do it, home run for us, so we will do anything we can through the L.A. office or the broadcast partners,” Gregory said.

Still, other factors have to align for another driver to follow Gordon to the middle of America.

“I feel like I can fill in that role and be that person but at the same time I think there a few individuals ready to go,” said Johnson, whose credits include appearing with several drivers in Herbie Fully Loaded in 2005 and a 2006 episode of Las Vegas. “But I think the strength of our sport needs to be where it was back when Jeff had that opportunity going on SNL.”

Gordon’s ascension as a mainstream figure was not only about his personality, but NASCAR’s status as a booming national sport in the 1990s, says David Carter, Associate Professor of Clinical Management and Organization and USC’s Marshall Business School.

“What made Gordon so special was the combination of his timing and broad appeal given the state of NASCAR at the time,” Carter told USA TODAY Sports. “To become more mainstream and authentic with the potential casual fan base, NASCAR needed a driver with charisma and a sense of relatability – and he delivered that while consistently being competitive on the track.”

Carl Edwards knows this all too well. A card-carrying Screen Actors Guild member who has appeared as a bit character in the drama 24, and like Johnson and Gordon has hosted Regis and Kelly, knows the credibility that winning brings even when in new areas such as public speaking.

“Everything is easier if you are winning races and things are going well,” he told USA TODAY Sports. “Your jokes are funnier and easier. Everything is better. That’s just the human condition, that’s people.”

Gregory said series polling of core and non-NASCAR fans revealed on-track success is an important factor in appeal.

Q Scores executive vice president Henry Schafer said Patrick’s numbers, while among the strongest in the sport, have trended down since her brand-building fourth-place finish as a rookie in the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and her only major-series victory in 2008 at Motegi, Japan.

So a first Patrick victory in NASCAR would be good for business.

“We would absolutely love to see that happen,” Gregory said.

But more success would have to follow, Gordon said, for her or anyone else.

“If you want short-term, I think you can make a splash, you can do something cool and fun and interesting or exciting, but eventually you’re going to have to show success, that you can win. And not just win one race,” Gordon said. “If you want to be a true superstar – and when I say superstar, I’m talking about a LeBron James, those elites that stand out in their sport – if you want to do that, then you’re going to have to back it up with all the goods.”

And few ever do.

Follow James on Twitter @brantjames