There was a time when Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports weren’t synonymous, and it all happened thanks to a race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Gordon, driving for Bill Davis Racing and in a Ford, turned heads at NASCAR‘s Atlanta 300.
It was a race that featured a ton of Winston Cup Series talent. The Busch Grand National Series had never raced at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Gordon had rallied off his third straight pole award in a row.
Jeff Gordon would go on to race hard and apparently, was smoking tires while he did it. Rick Hendrick couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
While Hendrick was impressed with what he saw from the No. 1 Ford driver that day, he thought for sure he had a deal with the manufacturer that would keep him from Hendrick Motorsports.
However, as luck would have it, Jeff Gordon’s roommate worked at Hendrick. Andy Graves, Gordon’s roommate, talked to him after a meeting at HMS. After confirming he didn’t have a deal, the driver talked to the team and soon enough, they were paired together.
Hear it from Gordon himself in the video below.