Legendary HMS figure comes clean on Jeff Gordon’s fire affair at North Wilkesboro in 1993
Jeff Gordon's former Hendrick Motorsports crew chief, Ray Evernham, recalled a fire-induced incident at North Wilkesboro Speedway from 1993. He clarified that the crash was caused by a faulty front brake system instead of oil absorbent on the track.
Gordon and Evernham started working at the end of the 1992 season, ahead of the driver's rookie season in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The North Wilkesboro Speedway race in question was the seventh stop of the 1993 season, where the rookie left the track on lap 25.
Ray Evernham still remembers the details of the crash to this day, including the culprit, which he wrote on X (formerly Twitter) was a broken brake line.
"It was actually a broken front brake line because of the brake ducting routing," Evernham said.
The original post, via Jeff Gordon Online, claimed that oil absorbent on the track caused the #24 Chevrolet to spin out before catching fire.
"On this date [April 18] in 1993: After a crash on lap 25 at @NWBSpeedway, Jeff Gordon escaped a fire that engulfed the rear of the damaged DuPont Chevrolet. Gordon spun entering turn 1 after losing grip through oil absorbent on the track," Jeff Gordon Online wrote.
During the 1993 First Union 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Jeff Gordon was in the bottom lane approaching turn one when his #24 Chevrolet spun and hit the wall on its rear end. After the car caught fire, the driver got out safely.
Gordon had multiple DNFs in the remaining races of the year. The Californian had a breakthrough season in 1995 when he won his first championship, spoiling Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s chase for an eighth title.
The former #24 Chevy driver carried on to win two more championships with Ray Evernham before his crew chief left HMS in 1999 to start a Cup race team. He bagged his fourth and last title in 2001 before then-teammate Jimmie Johnson, who later won seven championships, challenged him at the front.
"Great memories": Jeff Gordon's former HMS crew chief on Rockingham Speedway
NASCAR has officially returned to Rockingham Speedway after 12 years of absence (21 years for Cup and Xfinity). Jeff Gordon's former crew chief, Ray Evernham, took to X to share his thoughts on the track, saying he had great memories racing at it.
During the Black's Tire 200 (Craftsman Truck Series) at The Rock, Evernham said:
"Pretty cool to be watching @NASCAR_Trucks from @RockinghamSpeed. So happy to see them back racing there. Those folks put in a lot of time and effort to get that done. One of my favorite tracks. Great memories there."
The Truck race on Friday (April 18) saw Tyler Ankrum secure his first victory in six years. Jake Garcia, who started in the pole position, finished second ahead of Daniel Hemric, Rajah Caruth, and Grant Enfinger.
NASCAR only scheduled Xfinity and Truck Series races at Rockingham Speedway. The Cup Series enjoys a one-race break on Easter Sunday before the grid returns to action at Talladega Superspeedway next week.