Jeff Gordon says 'loosely' he'll 'be here as long as they need me'
Jeff Gordon left the possibility open that he could fill in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. for more than two races if Hendrick Motorsports continues to need a substitute driver for the No. 88 car.
Junior is missing his third race Sunday because of concussion-like symptoms and said earlier in the week he would head to doctors after the Pocono race for progress update. When HMS said Gordon would fill in at Indianapolis last week, it also said Gordon would be the team’s driver at Pocono.
I tell you after going through what I went through at Indy I have a much greater appreciation for [New Hampshire fill-in driver Alex Bowman] because that was one of the toughest things I ever did. Not just getting in the race car after eight months, but trying to fill-in for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. knowing the kind of attention that it gets. My heart was beating out of my chest because of the pressure and the eyes that were on you as much as just not being in the car … I will be here as long as they need me. I say that very loosely.”
Watkins Glen is the next race date on the Sprint Cup Series calendar and then NASCAR is off for the final off-weekend of the season before the night race at Bristol on August 20. So in the case that Junior would be out for more than two weeks, Gordon – or another driver – would only be needed for one race. After saying he’d been in the car as long as HMS needs him, Gordon said he views his substitute appearance “as a very temporary thing.”
Gordon, who retired at the end of 2015, finished 13th on Sunday at Indianapolis. He’s won at Pocono six times. He also added there’s a “zero chance” his return to the driver’s seat would mean special merchandise produced by Hendrick. His team even asked for the removal of the banner that said “Jeff Gordon” above its garage stall at Indianapolis on Friday.
“Not produced by us; we consciously made an effort that there wasn’t going to be ‘Gordon’ on the car anywhere,” Gordon said. “It’s not about that. I just have too much respect for what Dale is going through and you’ve got to understand that while there are a lot of fans that are excited about this and there are some good storylines, there are a lot of fans that thought they’d never see this before and are having a hard time accepting it, too. Beyond that, to me, it’s just about I am a fill-in driver for Junior. It’s as pure and simple as that and there is no need to try to do any merchandising on that.”
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
