"I'll take that year": When Jeff Gordon picked his most legendary season in NASCAR as his choice with time-travel

In a 2015 interview with Jeff Gluck of USA Today, Jeff Gordon answered which year and race he would time travel to if he had an opportunity. The four-time NASCAR Cup champion retired at the end of 2015 after a stellar career.

Throughout his career spanning over 25 years, Gordon raced in 805 Cup races, of which he won 93, and finished inside the top 10 on 477 occasions. He won the Cup titles in 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001. Of all his legendary titles, one stood apart not only in Gordon's legacy but in all of NASCAR history.

Jeff Gordon mentioned the 1998 season in his answer when Jeff Gluck asked him about time traveling to a particular year and race.

"I’d go right back to 1998. And then I’d hope it’s Groundhog Day. I’d take any race weekend from that year. It would have been cool to race against (Cale) Yarborough or (Richard) Petty. You never know how great a driver or team was until you raced against them. The legends of our sport that I never got to race with in their prime, there’s certainly some interest there. But knowing how good 1998 was, I’ll take that year," Gordon described.

Jeff Gordon shared his take on his legendary season in 1998

Speaking about his 1998 season in 2020, NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon claimed that he never truly appreciated arguably his best year behind the wheel of the #24 car in NASCAR.

In 1998, Gordon set new records in the sport. He won 13 races in total that season on his way to his third Cup championship, and his second in a row. Of the 13 wins, four came in a row, and seven came in a stretch of nine races between Sonoma and Darlington.

In the two races that Gordon failed to win in those nine race runs, North Hampshire and Bristol, he finished inside the top 5.

"To me, when that (Chevrolet) Monte Carlo came along in ’95, and we, as an organization at Hendrick Motorsports, we, as the 24 team with Ray Evernham, the Rainbow Warriors and everything, we put it all together. When you add that up to the performance of Monte Carlo, I knew that we were going to go on a tear and we did. I didn’t know it was going to be that much of a tear," Jeff Gordon said of his 1998 season in the aforementioned source.

Gordon's crew chief, Ray Evernham, shared his thoughts on their legendary season in 1998. The crew chief said that as a team, they tried to get better every week because of how good their driver was.

As per Evernham, the #24 team was aware that in Jeff Gordon, they had 'the best driver out there.' And on top of that, he claimed that they have the best car owner, the best engines, and the 'best stuff.'

So with all of that, if they fell short of anything but a win, Ray Evernham said it would've been their fault.