Jeff Gordon Joins Former Team, Hendrick Motorsports, As Vice Chairman

Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon. Photo: Courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports

Four-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon is leaving Fox Sports to rejoin his former team, Hendrick Motorsports, as Vice Chairman. This makes Gordon, who’s also a part owner in the team, second in command behind majority owner and legendary NASCAR owner Rick Hendrick.

Gordon will formally assume the strategic executive management role on Jan. 1, 2022. As vice chairman and co-owner, he will maintain a daily presence at Hendrick Motorsports with a focus on the organization’s competition and marketing groups. He will report to Hendrick and work alongside president Marshall Carlson and general manager Jeff Andrews. In addition, he will join Hendrick on NASCAR’s team owner council and assume Hendrick Motorsports’ seat on the sanctioning body’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee.

“I cannot put into words what Hendrick Motorsports means to me,” Gordon says. “In many ways, it’s my home and the people here are my family. I’ve never lost my passion for the organization, for our sport, and for the sheer challenge of racing and winning at the highest level. Being part of the competition is where I’m happiest and feel I can make the biggest contribution to the continued, long-term success of the team. Rick and I have a shared vision, which is based on the values he’s instilled, the culture he’s built and our desire to be the very best in all categories, on and off the track.”

“Jeff and I have talked about this for many years, and I feel it’s a natural evolution for him and our company,” says Hendrick. “I’ve always been impressed with his business instincts. On some level, he’s been involved in every major decision we’ve made over the last two decades, and his influence has continued to grow since he stopped driving. He understands our culture, our values, and the importance we place on our people and our partnerships.” Hendricks continues, “I love racing and competing, and Jeff is the only person I know who hates to lose as much as I do. I feel great physically and have no plans to go anywhere anytime soon, which is exactly why it’s the right time. In the years to come, I couldn’t be more energized about working arm-in-arm with him and cementing the future of Hendrick Motorsports together.”

Gordon joined Fox Sports as an analyst in 2016 and has been a mainstay of its NASCAR Cup Series race telecasts and other programming. He will continue to work as a FOX broadcaster through the end of the 2021 calendar year.

Hendrick Motorsports is now the leader in all-time Cup Series race wins by any team in the sports history. The team passed Petty Enterprises after Kyle Larson won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 30. Since then, Larson went on to win three of the next four races including the Ally 400 at the Nashville Superspeedway.

Steven Boero