Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon heads to Kansas Speedway this weekend as the defending winner of the SpongeBob SquarePants 400.
Kansas is one of Gordon’s better tracks. He leads all drivers with three victories at the 1.5-mile track, as well as most top-five finishes (10), most lead-lap finishes (15) and most laps completed (4,714).
Gordon will have plenty of tough competition this weekend, as he has had throughout his career. In an exclusive interview with FOXSports.com, we asked Gordon to name the best racer he ever competed against. Gordon said several of them stood out.
“Whew. Man, oh man, oh man,” said Gordon, shaking his head. “Gee, that’s a tough one. Oh, man.”
Then he got down to naming names.
“I mean, Jimmie (Johnson) is probably the best overall that I’ve ever seen,” said Gordon of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate and the six-time series champion. “And I can say that because I drive race cars that come from the same organization. I’m teammates with him, and so I go through the debriefs and the meetings and the discussions and look at the setups and then go see what they do. And, of course, the wins and the championships tell a lot of it, too, so I would say he’s probably the best overall.”
Gordon said three other competitors stood out.
“I feel like (Dale) Earnhardt was the best restrictor-plate driver I ever raced against,” Gordon said. “I think that Rusty (Wallace) is probably one of the best short-track drivers I ever raced against, and I’d throw Mark Martin in there as somebody overall, all the way around. Just a great race-car driver.”
And with 92 career wins and four championships himself, Gordon certainly qualifies as one of NASCAR’s best ever.
“Certainly, I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you and talking about all this if hadn’t been for what happened on the track,” said Gordon. “So, I’m really proud of that. I’m just proud of the wins, the championships, some of the great battles that I’ve had. Interactions with some of the best drivers. Just opportunities that have come along. I think I’m probably most proud of being able to drive for Rick Hendrick and having won four championships with Rick.”
