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Jeff Gordon ranks third on the all-time wins list with 93, a mark that cleared his path to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte. But that isn’t the only thing that separates him from his peers.
As the story goes, Jeff Gordon’s sponsor, Dupont (now Axalta Coating Systems), wanted a paint scheme to reflect the company’s array of colors.
After going through 43 designs, a classic was born, becoming part of NASCAR history.
The rainbow pattern was much a part of Gordon as his sponsor and even attached itself to his crew, who became the Rainbow Warriors.
Why was this Jeff Gordon car so special?
One of the cars that Jeff Gordon drove with the giant Dupont logo on the hood was sold at auction. It wasn’t just any Chevrolet, but one that drew a colossal hammer price.
The Monte Carlo chassis No. 2421 was driven in nine races over two years, with a pair of wins at Martinsville and one at North Wilkesboro.
Five of those nine resulted in top-five finishes. The significance was four of those events were during his championship campaign in 1997.
As if the car itself wasn’t a draw, Jeff Gordon and his crew chief, Ray Evernham, autographed it to help motivate bidders.
They would start 216 races together, winning 47 times with three championships.
The interesting part of this auction was that it was conducted by Mecum Auctions.
It's a renowned company that made its bones selling muscle cars and has brought one or two former race cars to the block at each stop around the country.
Except for historic IndyCar or Formula 1 offerings that can bring millions, NASCAR, regardless of history, bring pennies on the dollar by comparison.
It is not uncommon to see a stock car bring $20,000 to 40,000; the latter generally happens when the bidding war breaks out.
But the Jeff Gordon auction was particularly unusual.
With Mecum or Barrett-Jackson, the auction and sale generally take place the same day.
This time the bidding took place over ten days and was conducted by Bring a Trailer, an online auction marketplace for special interest vehicles. Its base is in San Francisco.
When time ran out, the high bid was an extraordinary $155,000 (as a point of reference, this was not the highest price paid for a Jeff Gordon car. A year ago, his 1997 road course car sold for $250,000 at Barrett-Jackson).
Evernham knew this car inside-out, and maybe he did not want to see someone else have it in their collection. He would win the car he autographed.
