Jeff Gordon doesn't rule out running Brickyard 400 beyond 2015
Jeff Gordon has made it clear that the 2015 Daytona 500 is his final appearance in the Great American Race. But he didn't make the same declaration about the 2015 Brickyard 400 on Thursday.
Gordon announced in January that 2015 would be his final full-time season in the Sprint Cup Series. And Hendrick Motorsports has already said that 2014 Xfinity Series champion Chase Elliott would be his replacement in the No. 24 car in 2016.
He explained his reasoning for not running another 500 on Thursday too and also left the door open for running a post-2015 race at another track too.
"Yeah, I’m not saying that I won’t ever run another Brickyard," Gordon said. "I definitely won’t be running another restrictor plate race. It’s just, show me the risk versus reward there."
"I love this – I say this with confidence. I know that some people are going to criticize me for saying that, but I think that actually the fans should actually look at that as a good thing, because they don’t want us to always be comfortable out there. They want to understand that we’re in a white knuckle experience and that it’s terrifying in some ways. It’s hectic, it’s physical, it’s mental, and so the restrictor plate tracks are, for a guy that doesn’t want to race full‑time, that’s not a desire that I have to put myself through that.
"So, I do it because that’s what I’m here to do. But if I have the choice, I would do it differently. So, the Brickyard is not that kind of a race. While it’s a white knuckle qualifying experience, the race to me is methodical and with the right car, the right team, you can be very successful in that race. I’m not saying I’m going to do that, I’m just leaving it open. I would put Martinsville probably higher on the list."
Indianapolis and Martinsville, perhaps not so-coincidentally, are two of Gordon's best tracks. His win at Indianapolis in 2014 was his fifth Brickyard 400 win, the most of any driver in NASCAR. In 44 starts at Martinsville, he has eight wins.
Gordon, who was born in California, moved to Indiana as a teenager and competed in the USAC Series before he moved to stock cars.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
