After adding one more title to his racing resume as a member of the overall winning team in the 2017 24 Hours of Daytona, Jeff Gordon has been content with no longer racing. But if there’s anything that can lure the 50-year old NASCAR Hall of Famer back into the driver’s seat, it just might be the prospect of competing in one of the world’s greatest races next year.
During an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio last Thursday, Jeff Gordon indicated that he has interest in competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans as Hendrick Motorsports prepares to compete in the famed endurance race in 2023. HMS, which Gordon now serves as vice chairman of after driving for them his entire NASCAR Cup Series career, announced plans last month to enter Le Mans with a modified Cup car.
While Gordon indicated he would “play around” with Hendrick’s Le Mans car and also do simulator work, he stopped short of saying he wished to race again. Gordon has not raced since the 2017 24 Hours of Daytona, when he won as part of a team of drivers behind the wheel of a Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac.
“This Le Mans program looks interesting. Probably going to do a little simulator work for them,” Gordon said, per Nate Ryan of NBC Sports. “… and so this program is something that would be exciting to go to Le Mans. I want to be a part of it. We are a part of it with Hendrick, but I just don’t know if I’ll be able to get behind the wheel and drive it in that race.
“I’m certainly going to go play around with the car when we get it. Play around with the simulator and see if it’s something that’s realistic.”
While car owner Rick Hendrick joked at the announcement of the team’s Le Mans program about putting Gordon as well as Jimmie Johnson behind the wheel of their Garage 56 entry, both of Hendrick’s most successful drivers ever are seemingly viable candidates to drive the car next year. Johnson, who now races in IndyCar and sports cars, confirmed in March that he was interested in racing at Le Mans, and Gordon’s comments have seemingly opened the door for him to take the wheel as well.
While Gordon has not raced since 2017, he has continued to drive race cars through Hendrick’s “Track Attack” program, which takes older, modified Cup cars to club tracks. Gordon retired from full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing at the end of the 2015 season, and he has not raced in NASCAR since making eight starts in 2016 as a substitute for Dale Earnhardt Jr.