"Swear I'm gonna punch him": Jeff Gordon recalls tense airport encounter with Mike Bliss in 2005

Four-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon recently shed light on his tense encounter with Mike Bliss in an airport. The incident occurred almost two decades ago in 2005 and didn't receive much coverage from the media.

Gordon narrated the series of events that led to his altercation with Bliss, who was driving for Haas CNC Racing. It all began at Chicagoland Speedway, where both drivers were having a tough day, struggling in the midfield.

Jeff Gordon elaborated that he was going side-by-side with another driver in Turn 1 in the final laps when Mike Bliss took him three wide and ended up wrecking all three cars. Gordon was furious with Bliss' futile attempt to make a three-wide pass, fighting for a position in the midfield.

"To me, that was just absolutely absurd. Why would you do something like that for that position? Was it really that important?" he told Jeff Gluck about his forgotten encounter with Bliss.

While on his way to the airport with teammate Brian Vickers, Jeff Gordon vowed to punch Mike Bliss, if he laid eyes on him. Unfortunately, Bliss crossed paths with the Hendrick Motorsports driver at the airport, with the latter keeping true to his words.

"So we were going to the airport and I was with Brian Vickers and I said, 'Man, if I see Mike Bliss, I swear I’m gonna punch him.' And we get to the airport and he’s like the first guy I see. Going back to the question (about personality traits), I am a man of my word — like to a fault. If I say I’m going to do something — to a fan, to a colleague, to a sponsor, whatever it is — if I say I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna do it. And I said I was gonna do it, and I ended up doing it," he said.

The HMS vice-chairman conceded that it wasn't his "proudest moment," as he failed to remain composed in the heat of the moment.

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Jeff Gordon names NASCAR driver who irritated him the most

Gordon, a NASCAR Hall of Famer, named Robby Gordon as the one driver who got under his skin the most in his entire career. Jeff Gordon jokingly admitted that the latter irritated him more than his other rival, Brad Keselowski.

"Which driver would you least like to be stuck with on an elevator?" the HMS vice chairman was asked.

"Probably Robby Gordon. Robby and I get along fine now, but of any driver, he has probably gotten under my skin the most. Even more than (Brad) Keselowski. Just go back and watch New Hampshire whatever year that was (2001)," he responded.

Jeff and Robby Gordon were battling for the win in the season finale at New Hampshire when the latter spun out the Hendrick Motorsports driver in the final laps and went on to win the race. The #24 Chevy driver was furious and retaliated under yellow flags.