NASCAR Legend Wanted to Trade Lives With Shaquille O’Neal to Experience What His $200 Million Net Worth Cannot Buy

Published 10/03/2022, 11:36 AM EDT

NASCAR drivers are athletes, no matter what one might believe. And as people in sports, they have their lives surrounded by their craft from a very young age. But if an athlete was someone else for a day, who would they pick? Well, Jeff Gordon sure knows his answer.

And the four-time Cup Series Champion wants to experience the high life. Not financially, though.

In an old interview from 2005 with Sports Illustrated, Gordon answered a few questions for them. And one of the questions was, “If you could trade places with any athlete for a day, who would it be?”

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And the Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman did not think twice and gave a very clear answer, “Shaq. He’s at the top of his game. And I’d really like to know what it’s like being 7’1”.

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Well, unsurprising, considering Shaquille O’Neal was at the peak of his powers at that time. Clearly, Gordon wanted to take the role of the NBA legend towering 7’1 feet tall. But what led him to be an athlete, to begin with?

How did Jeff Gordon become an athlete like Shaquille O’Neal?

Clearly, many people would have wondered how Gordon ended up in NASCAR and racing. What led him to risk his life and start racing in some of the fastest cars in the world?

Well, Dale Jr Download gave the answer to that very question,

Gordon stated, “I guess I was probably 7, 16, 17. I knew I was still in high school at this time, and I got fired. And it just so happened, right after I got fired somebody, my step-dad, who was in the racing business, and he said, ‘listen, Bobby, this guy builds midgets.”

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He added, “He wants you to get in one of his midgets and he’s got this guy he wants you to meet and he might be able to get a ride and it would probably be on pavement.’ And I’m like pavement? Man all I have done was dirt, I don’t know pavement at all. So we anyways went to the race, met this guy, he had just fired his driver.”

But the big reason, that really defined his future was, “I was looking for a job”

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“I Got Fired” – Hendrick Motorsports VP Jeff Gordon Once Revealed to Dale Earnhardt Jr What Led Him to NASCAR

Surely, a rather simple reason for someone who went on to make history in the sport.

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Written by:

Hetul Katyal is a NASCAR and F1 Writer at Essentially Sports. Currently pursuing his degree in Journalism from Delhi College of Arts and Commerce. When the Stock Cars rev up, you can find him cheering Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch, in hopes of seeing one of them drive to the Victory Lane.

Edited by:

Ankit Sharma

NASCAR Legend Wanted to Trade Lives With Shaquille O’Neal to Experience What His $200 Million Net Worth Cannot Buy

How did Jeff Gordon become an athlete like Shaquille O’Neal?

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