The year was 1985 and Bill Elliott's quest to win the Winston Million had captured the interest of seemingly everybody in the world of auto racing. Everybody, that is, except Jeff Gordon.
"I was so caught up in my own racing, I didn't really pay a whole lot of attention to other things that were going on," said Gordon, who at the time was a 14-year-old rising sprint car star in Indiana.Gordon will be paying plenty of attention this year to the $1 million bonus. His victory Sunday night in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway left him as the only Winston Cup driver still eligible for the prize.
Series sponsor R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. offers the money to any driver who can win three of the sport's so-called crown jewels in a single year. Gordon is two-thirds of the way there by winning the 600 and the season-opening Daytona 500. A victory in the Mountain Dew Southern 500 on Aug. 31 at Darlington, S.C., will make Gordon just the second driver ever to collect the $1 million.
"I don't remember seeing Darlington on our test schedule," Gordon said. "That might change. A million dollars is a lot of money to be going for, and we're going to put a lot of effort into it."
Gordon's chances of a big payout on Labor Day weekend are excellent. He has won three times at Darlington, including the last two Southern 500s.
"I'm excited that it's Darlington because Darlington's been a good track for us," he said. "Desire's going to be no problem."
Gordon displayed plenty of desire Sunday night in a race that started nearly one-half hour late because of rain and was halted for more than 2 1/2 hours just before the midway point because of another thunderstorm. The event was scheduled for 400 laps on Charlotte's 1 1/2-mile trioval, but the delays prompted NASCAR officials to call it after 333 laps.
Gordon started on the pole but fell to 38th in the 42-car field when his Chevrolet Monte Carlo was inadvertently knocked off its jack during a yellow-flag pit stop less than 60 laps into the race.
He worked his way back through the field, passed Rusty Wallace for the lead with 17 laps remaining and went on to win by about eight car-lengths.
Gordon's series-leading fifth victory of 1997 and the 24th of his career was worth $224,900.
"It's tough to finish second because the kid keeps winning the races," Wallace said.
Mark Martin, winner of the last two Winston Cup events, was third, and Elliott and Jeff Burton rounded out the top five.