“I think I could do it”: When Jeff Gordon gave a positive outlook on returning for one-off race at Martinsville 

NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon once addressed his chances of taming the Martinsville Speedway 10 years down the line. The 53-year-old has won the half-mile nine times, the ninth being his career's final triumph in NASCAR's premier division.

Four-time Cup Series champion Gordon now serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, with whom he drove for over 800 races in 25 years, piloting the famed #24 Chevrolet. In his storied career, the Vallejo, California native has amassed 93 Cup wins, nine of which were at oval asphalt tracks in Virginia.

In a February 2024 conversation, the famed sportscaster Joe Buck addressed the chances of Gordon getting behind the wheel of a car at the age of 74 while talking about his winning record at Martinsville. Buck said:

"If you were 74 and somebody woke you up one morning and said, 'Jeff, there's a race later today!' (A) You would like sprint out of bed at 74 and (B) would have half a shot at winning the thing [Martinsville race]."

"I do feel that way about Martinsville. I feel like, I could go five years, ten years be out of the car and somebody said 'Hey! you got a shot, to put you in a good car at Martinville.' I'd go, 'Yeah, I think I could do it,'" Jeff Gordon responded. [2:24]

Moreover, Jeff Gordon's final win at Martinsville propelled him into the 2015 Championship 4 race where he ended up finishing third in before retiring full-time from the NASCAR Cup Series.

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"The greatest moment of my NASCAR career" - Jeff Gordon once reflected on his 93rd and final NASCAR Cup Series win

In the '90s and '00s, Jeff Gordon became a force to be reckoned with. He clinched three championship titles in his first six full-time seasons and went toe to toe with NASCAR legends like Dale Earnhardt.

Speaking with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio in 2023, Hendrick Motorsports legend Gordon opened up on the 2015 Martinsville race and said:

"It really was the ultimate experience for me. Just the timing of it. In a blink of an eye, you relive the moment you got in a race car from the beginning to all the work that went in to getting you to the Cup Series, NASCAR and to that moment in the final year. To see your kids come running down that front straightaway to greet you and my wife. What it meant for the championship battle that year, the team and Hendrick Motorsports."

"There’s no other experience anywhere on the circuit that close to the fans and you get to feel the energy from the fans. It just seemed to me that day there were more than Gordon fans that were sticking around as a part of that moment. That really meant the world to me and still does. That will be the greatest victory and the greatest moment of my racing career," Jeff Gordon continued.

William Byron, the current #24 Chevy driver for Rick Hendrick, triumphed this season at the spring Martinsville race and continued the momentum for HMS until the Championship 4 race. Byron finished third in the final drivers' standings behind the two Team Penske drivers.