Jeff Gordon’s retirement as a NASCAR driver at the end of the 2015 season will leave the four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion with plenty of free time on his hands.
Will Gordon fill that void by joining Fox Sports’ NASCAR Sprint Cup broadcast booth? According to NBC Sports, Gordon says he might get some news on his possible future in NASCAR broadcasting within the next few weeks.
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“That decision will be made, I think, before the summer,” Gordon said. “It’s not something I think that needs to happen last minute. This is Step 1 to me and them, whether this is realistic.”
Jeff Gordon Getty ImagesWhen Gordon announced his pending retirement in January, he mentioned his interest in pursuing a career in the TV booth. Gordon has tested the broadcast waters this month, working as an analyst for Xfinity Series races at Texas and Bristol. Gordon told NBC his broadcasting work met favorable reviews.
“When I look at social media, most of it is biased toward me, so I don’t always want to put too much into that, but they could have said bad things,” Gordon said. “From speaking to the Fox folks, they seemed happy.”
Fox Sports broadcasts half the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule; NBC is in the first season of a 10-year deal to do the second half. Gordon admits even doing half a season of broadcasts is a big commitment for anyone … especially a driver in his “retirement” years.
“There’s certainly a lot more involved, a much bigger time commitment, a longer race,” he said. “It becomes a bigger business. It’s fun to dabble with it on an Xfinity race, but I take it very serious if I were to do (Sprint Cup). Even though it’s half a season, it’s a full-time commitment.”
