“He was like Michael Jordan”: When Jeff Gordon shared his admiration for F1 legend Michael Schumacher

Back in 2011, when Michael Schumacher was in his sophomore season with Mercedes, Jeff Gordon likened the Formula 1 legend to NBA icon Michael Jordan. The NASCAR Hall of Famer expressed his admiration for Schumacher but admitted that it's tough to sustain it without meeting in person.

The German’s return to F1 after his 2006 retirement proved bittersweet. While his comeback was well received, he often struggled to beat his Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg.

Schumacher finished ninth overall in 2010 and managed to secure eighth the following year, with Rosberg placing ahead in both seasons. Nonetheless, he recorded the most overtakes in 2011 to make up for his lackluster qualifying, making 116 passes in 19 races.

During an interview with SB Nation, Gordon was asked which driver he admired the most outside NASCAR, and the four-time Cup champion was quick to name Schumacher.

"I mean, I admired Michael Schumacher up until this year, but he’s been brought back to earth. Before, he was like Michael Jordan. I like Lewis Hamilton a lot, I think he’s really talented. The thing is, you usually can admire somebody from afar, but I like to always follow that up with meeting them and getting to know them and basing it off that. You don’t really get a chance to do that with guys from (Formula One)," he said.

Around the same time, Jeff Gordon was racing for Hendrick Motorsports and had claimed his 85th career win by beating his teammate, Jimmie Johnson. He ended his career with 93 wins to his name and retired from full-time racing in 2015. Michael Schumacher, meanwhile, bid adieu to the sport in 2012.

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Jeff Gordon recalls near miss at Darlington

Ahead of NASCAR's 75th anniversary at Darlington Raceway, Jeff Gordon went down memory lane and revisited his 1997 Southern 500 win at the egg-shaped oval. He recalled an intense battle with Jeff Burton on the final laps and how he almost lost out on the win.

"I look at that and that actually makes me mad because I almost lost that race. He ran me down, and then I got in the wall. And then he really ran me down. One more lap and it would've been over," he said via NASCAR.

Jeff Gordon had brushed the wall in the final laps and nearly gave up his lead. The two battled side-by-side down the stretch, with Burton ever so close to Gordon in the penultimate lap.

At the height of their on-track rivalry, Burton nudged Gordon's left rear quarter panel, and the latter's crew chief, Ray Evernham, advised him to take out Burton if he does it again. However, Gordon managed to hold off the challenge and secured the coveted Winston Million bonus.