NASCAR Flashback: Jeff Gordon makes history at Kansas Speedway not once, but twice

Jeff Gordon accomplished many things in his Hall of Fame career, too many to list in this piece, but one of the most overlooked things he did were the feats he accomplished at Kansas Speedway, home of this weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.

Not only did Gordon win the inaugural race at Kansas (he won the first two), but he also won the first nice race at Kansas, which was held in 2014.

Let’s go back to the 2001 Protection One 400, which was the second race following the events of September 11th. The race was full of cautions: 13 in total for a total of 70 laps, including an 11-minute red flag. Rusty Wallace dominated the race, leading a total of 117 laps, but was caught speeding on pit road, which handed control of the race over to Gordon, who held off Ryan Newman for his sixth win of the 2001 season.

The victory also extended Gordon’s massive points lead, as he went on to win his fourth and final Cup Championship later in the year. Gordon went on to win at Kansas again the next year by once again holding off Newman for the victory, but this race was notorious for the wreck that injured Sterling Marlin, who was a serious championship contender at the time. Marlin suffered a cracked vertebra in his neck which would sideline him for the rest of the season.

Fast forward 12 years later to 2014, Kansas Speedway has a second Cup race, which is held on Mother’s Day weekend and under the lights. Gordon qualified 13th and much like his previous wins at Kansas, he did not have the best car, as that was Kevin Harvick. However, Gordon slowly made his way through the field and made his car better and starting closing in on Harvick.

On the final cycle of pit stops, Gordon took over control of the race and held off a hard-charging Harvick for his 1st win of the 2014 season and became the inaugural winner of the night race at Kansas Speedway.