CONCORD, N.C. – A driver's first win is always memorable. When it comes in one of the sport's crown jewel races, it is etched in the history books.
Wednesday, May 29, marks the 30th anniversary of Jeff Gordon's first NASCAR Cup Series win. It was the first of 93 in a Hall of Fame career and is a victory that has left a mark on the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports.
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"The first win at the (Coca-Cola) 600 stands out," Gordon told HendrickMotorsports.com about his career victories. "We didn't get a win in '93 in my rookie season but came close. To pull off that first win at one of my favorite tracks — one of the first tracks I ever drove on was the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Throughout my career, it was one of my favorite tracks. To get the win there was very special and emotional."
Entering the 1994 Coca-Cola 600, Gordon had made 41 Cup starts, with his best finish of second coming at Charlotte in the 1993 edition of the Coca-Cola 600. After two top-five finishes and three top-10s in the opening four races of the 1994 season, Gordon and the No. 24 team hit a rough patch with five finishes outside the top 20 in the six races before the Memorial Day weekend race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Things would turn around at the 1.5-mile track, starting with earning his second career pole position that weekend.
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Despite winning the pole, Gordon only led lap one until regaining the point position on lap 300. The driver of the iconic No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet kept himself in contention, allowing for a bold strategy call by crew chief Ray Evernham to position the team to reach victory lane. Rusty Wallace (187 laps led) and Geoff Bodine (101 laps led) were Gordon's top competitors in the 400-lap event. Wallace pitted for four tires and fuel on lap 375 and Bodine did the same four laps later. Evernham elected to do something different, calling for two tires on the team's lap 381 pit stop to pick up track position on Wallace and Bodine. Gordon left the pits ahead of Wallace and Bodine and following the cycle of stops, took the lead with nine laps to go. He finished 3.91 seconds ahead of Wallace for his first Cup win and the first win for the No. 24 Chevy.
Gordon was very emotional following the victory. Years later, in a 2019 interview with The Charlotte Observer, that emotion still stuck out to Evernham.
"I remember Jeff crying — I was like, 'What are you crying about?'" Evernham told the newspaper. "He's emotional.
"Your first win is big. It's like you get hit with a fire hose of emotion because ... there's a part of you — no matter how hard you're working or how good you are – that thinks it may never happen."
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The win was the first of 47 for Gordon and Evernham over their seven full-time seasons together. The duo would win three Cup Series championships in four years (1995, 1997 and 1998) and Gordon collected a fourth title in 2001.
In addition to winning down the road from his team's headquarters in 1994, Gordon earned a second win at his home track in the first Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
"To follow that win up with the inaugural Brickyard 400, that track had so much history and meaning as a kid growing up and watching the Indy 500," Gordon said. "A lot of my heroes — my all-time hero Rick Mears — was an Indy 500 winner. I wanted to race at Indy. When it happened through NASCAR and we went and won it, that blew my mind."