"I felt like I was a stranger": Jeff Gordon on turning point in post-driving career before committing 100% to HMS
Jeff Gordon has opened up on making the choice to be a full-time executive at Hendrick Motorsports following his retirement as a driver. The former #24 driver called time on his driving career in 2015, retiring as a 4x Cup champion with 93 wins to his name.
But straight after retiring as a driver, Gordon jumped into the Television side of things, working as an analyst for FOX Sports from 2015 until his contract was up in 2021. Following his FOX stint, Gordon was announced as the Vice Chairman at HMS, a role he's currently serving.
During a recent appearance on Kevin Harvick's podcast, Gordon opened up on the moment he decided to focus on one thing, rather than juggling the TV analyst role and the role he had at HMS before 2021.
"So what happened was I looked at doing TV and it's half the season, great schedule and the folks at FOX were amazing and I mean, I just went straight from a team environment into another team environment. It was challenging and I like that but what was happening as soon as TV would end, I immediately and even in between I was going into the office and trying to do more things with Hendrick Motorsports," Jeff Gordon described. [9:35]
He claimed that he wanted to stay in touch with his role at HMS because in the second half of the season, he was playing catch-up with all that was going on in the shop and the business.
"I felt like I was a stranger like I'd walk in they're like, 'Okay he does TV but he's got this role over here.' I didn't feel like I feel like I was doing a good job with TV. I didn't feel like I was doing a good job on that side, really adding value," Jeff Gordon added.
Jeff Gordon looks back on 'the right move' of deciding to leave the TV role ahead of time
After managing a role in the FOX booth as well as being in an executive role at Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon revealed when a key moment came. It was in 2019 when Gordon agreed to a multi-year extension to continue in his role.
"Then came time to re-up on TV and Rick Hendrick and I said, 'Hey, how about I do three more years and then I'm full-time?' And he's like, 'I think that would work good,'" Gordon revealed. [11:03]
He claimed that the timing of that decision worked out well with things that were going on within HMS and it turned out to be 'the right move.'
Gordon acknowledged that being in the FOX booth for close to six years was a big learning moment in his career as he learned a lot of about the business by doing TV. He also touched on the interactions he had and the friendships he forged during that time, which added 'a lot of value' to his current role as the Vice Chairman of HMS.
Having said that, Jeff Gordon emphasized that he was missing out on a lot by not being present 100% inside the shop at HMS and by not focusing on it 'all the time.'