“I had a heck of a battle”: HMS chief Jeff Gordon reminisces Richmond ‘98 incident with Rusty Wallace that motivated him to championship glory

With three drivers in the Round of 8, the 2024 Playoff is at a pivotal moment for Hendrick Motorsports. Ahead of the final race before the Championship 4, vice chairman of HMS and four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon recalled the Richmond ‘98 incident with Rusty Wallace that motivated him to championship glory.

Gordon is regarded as one of the most successful driver to grace NASCAR. He is third behind Richard Petty and David Pearson in terms of number of wins in the Cup Series (Petty has 200, Pearson has 105, and Gordon has 93 victories). With a career spanning over two decades, the Californian racer is no stranger to facing stressful situations in a season.

In a recent interview with senior NASCAR journalist Bob Pockrass, Gordon reminisced a pivotal moment from his time as a driver. He shared insights into a moment from the 1998 season, involving an incident with former Cup Series champion Rusty Wallace, and how this experience fueled his drive to championship glory.

"We knew that we had a car and a team that could, could dominate, could win the championship. But we got to the Richmond spring race and Rusty (Wallace) and I had a heck of a battle and he was pretty good that day. I think he saw the #24 team was starting to dominate...I made a move where I was going to get by him and had a car that I think could win that race that day, and he wasn't having it, and so we drove down into turn 1, he drifted up the track on purpose. He wrecks me and took us out," Gordon explained. (0:00 onward)

"That absolutely motivated the #24 team. We went on an absolute tear from that race forward. I think it was something like 20 straight finishes of like, I know we're in the top seven. Seventh was our worst finish, but if you looked at first, second places and top fives, all the way to the end of the season, I still think it's probably one of the greatest runs, certainly in my career, but possibly in NASCAR history," he added (0:41 onward).

Pockrass shared the video of the interaction with Gordon on X. Here's a look at the post:

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"Very disappointing," - Jeff Gordon expresses dissapointment after Alex Bowman's disqualification erased Hendrick Motorsports' historic achievement

All four drivers making it into the Round of 8 after the Charlotte ROVAL race was a historic achievement for Hendrick Motorsports. However, Alex Bowman's disqualification after the post-race inspection led to dissapointment for vice chairman Jeff Gordon.

Bowman's #48 Chevrolet was found underweight after the inspection, which led to his exit from the Round of 8. Gordon shared his thoughts on the SiriusXM NASCAR Radio podcast on Tuesday, October 15).

"Pretty embarrassed by it and very disappointing after what was looking like a historical day and one of the most exciting days that we’ve had at the race track, being a home race and everything and celebrating in Victory Lane and all four, and that all got wiped away. So we looked at all the facts, and we didn’t feel like there was really anything that we felt comfortable appealing, and we’re going to move on," he said.

With one race remaining before the grand finale and just two spots remaining in the Championship 4, HMS drivers Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Chase Elliott are in a do-or-die situation. As of now, Byron is on the edge while Larson and Elliott are inside the elimination bubble.