"I almost lost that race": Jeff Gordon recalls Jeff Burton battle while honoring Darlington’s NASCAR legacy

Jeff Gordon has never been shy about how much Darlington Raceway means to him. Ahead of the track's 75th anniversary, he admitted that even one of his most famous wins nearly slipped away on his favorite track.

Looking back on his 1997 Southern 500 victory, Gordon recalled just how close Jeff Burton came to snatching away the win and the Winston Million bonus that was on the line.

"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," Gordon told NASCAR.

That race became one of the most iconic moments of Jeff Gordon's 'Rainbow Warrior' era. Driving the No. 24 Chevrolet, he held off Burton in the closing laps after scraping the wall himself. The final stretch saw Burton go door-to-door on the straightaway before Gordon blocked just enough to keep the lead.

Burton's car tapped Gordon's door in the penultimate lap, but he never got another chance to challenge. The Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 maintained track position and sealed the win, cashing in on the $1 million bonus.

Ray Evernham, who was the crew chief during his championship run in the 1990s, was central to the victory. Gordon reflected on that partnership and added:

"We're both in awe of what we did together and the things that, in some ways, will never be done again. Certainly, it never was repeated in either one of our careers after we split up, so we do revel in those seasons and those moments of how great that was and get to relive it now."

Jeff Gordon's Darlington record speaks for itself. He claimed seven wins at the "Track Too Tough to Tame," including an unmatched streak of four consecutive Southern 500s from 1995 to 1998. In 36 career starts, he logged 19 top-five finishes and led laps in 27 of those races. Only Dale Earnhardt (9) and David Pearson (10) sit ahead of him in all-time Darlington victories.

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"These guys are pushing the car so much harder": Jeff Gordon on today's NASCAR challenge

William Byron (L) speaks to HMS Vice Chairman, Jeff Gordon, at Phoenix, 2024. Source: Getty

As Darlington prepares to host the 2025 Cup Series Playoffs opener with Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500 (Aug. 31, 6:00 PM ET), Jeff Gordon saw just how much the track has evolved and how much harder the challenge has become for current drivers.

"These guys are pushing the car so much harder every lap, so I think physically, mentally, I think that's where you're seeing the difference of today's driver. It's always been a challenging race track, but we could pace ourselves in the late '90s... now, you're just living on the edge even that much more because you can't give up a position. There's just not as much give-and-take," Gordon said, via NASCAR.

The 1.366-mile oval has always punished mistakes. Narrow turns, abrasive asphalt, and 500 miles of relentless racing are why Darlington earned its 'Too Tough to Tame' reputation. Gordon thrived there, but he acknowledged that the margin for error in the Next Gen era was even smaller.

Among today's drivers, Denny Hamlin leads the active field with five Darlington wins, while Brad Keselowski has two. However, it's Gordon's Hendrick Motorsports successor in the No. 24, William Byron, who has the best average finish (9.1) in the Next Gen car at the track.

Now serving as Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon has shifted from driver to mentor and executive, but Darlington still stirs the same feelings. As the track's 75th Southern 500 unfolds, his voice is a reminder that its legacy is written by those who dared to tame it.