NASCAR Legend Jeff Gordon Won The Tour de France During Lance Armstrong’s Prime In 2002; But There’s a Catch

A NASCAR legend, a NASCAR Hall of Famer, and a Motorsports of America Hall of Famer. Jeff Gordon possibly achieved all there is to achieve in NASCAR. But what most people might not be aware of is his credentials in professional cycling. He might just have pipped the cyclists to win the Tour de France.

2002 was the time of domination. Domination by Lance Armstrong, or as he was known at the time Le Boss Big Tex. Armstrong won the prestigious Tour de France a record 7 times in a row. From 1999 to 2005, it was only Armstrong’s name etched on the trophy.

At the same time, Jeff Gordon was seemingly peaking in his NASCAR career. After a magnificent showing in 2001 when he won the (erstwhile) Winston Cup Series, he grabbed 4th position in 2002 and 2003 and the 3rd position in 2004. All in all, he was having a great time in his career.

Given his performances as well as his popularity with the fans, Gordon attracted big-money sponsorships and endorsements. One of those was with Chevrolet. One of the advertisements released by the automobile manufacturer at the time was a crossover between cycling and NASCAR.

In the advertisement, he is shown entering the Tour de France in his Chevy Monte Carlo. He then goes on to beat all the other cyclists and wins the race.

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It is a brilliant piece of marketing. Of course, it takes on a lighter vein, but showing the Chevy can beat everyone everywhere – and also using the attention and publicity cycling was receiving, shows great usage of circumstances by the company.

Jeff Gordon is one person you’d learn from a lot given his vast experience

With his vast years of experience racing and then managing a top team – Jeff Gordon has a lot to teach and to inspire the younger generations.

Reaching the top and staying at the top for so long requires a lot of skills, hard work, and determination. It is the successes as well as the failures of people like Gordon that can help guide and motivate the youth.

While speaking at Liberty University at a leadership summit, he said “I’m not a thrill-seeker. I’m not somebody who jumps out of airplanes for fun or cliff dives. I’m more of a calculated risk-taker. What worked really well for me in racing was I had a skill set and a comfort level to make good decisions while doing things at a very fast speed and luckily caught a few breaks along the way.

“I’m so fortunate that everything that I’ve done in my life … driving racecars and being a part of teams in that type of environment has trained me and taught me how to be in a leadership role.”

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A lot of times we see corruption – of the mind – when one tries to reach the top. But Gordon’s example is what you’d want to lead with when teaching how to reach the top without compromising on principles and ethics.