The Inside Line: Gordon's last race at Sonoma

Jun 23, 2015 - 6:59 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - No NASCAR driver has had more success at the Sonoma Raceway road course in Northern California than Jeff Gordon.

On Sunday, Gordon, a four-time champion in NASCAR's premier series, will compete at Sonoma for the final time. His hometown of Vallejo, California, is located about 14 miles east of this 1.99-mile, 12-turn course.

Just how good has Gordon been at Sonoma during his Sprint Cup career?

He holds the track record for the most starts (22), wins (five), poles (five), top-five finishes (14), top-10s (18), laps led (457), laps completed (2,233) and average finish (7.955).

That's pretty impressive for a driver at any track.

"I love the challenge of that road course," Gordon said. "I just normally feel good when I'm out there."

Prior to the start of this season, Gordon announced this would be his last year of competition in Sprint Cup. He made his series debut in the 1992 season finale at Atlanta and has not missed a race since then, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

Next year, Gordon will serve as a race analyst full-time for Fox Sports' television coverage of Sprint Cup races. Chase Elliott, the defending Xfinity Series champion, will take over Gordon's seat in the No. 24 car.

Gordon is currently 10th in the point standings and holds the 13th spot on the 16-driver provisional "Chase Grid." He has yet to win a race this season, which would virtually guarantee him a position in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Eleven races remain before the regular season concludes.

On Aug. 4, Gordon will turn 44. He lived in Vallejo until he was a teenager, when his family moved to Pittsboro, Indiana, so he could hone in on his driving of sprint cars.

Gordon considers Indianapolis Motor Speedway as his home track. Pittsboro is about a 30-minute drive to the track. Last year, Gordon won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis for a record fifth time. He won the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994.

But Sonoma is still home for Gordon.

"It is the closest track to my home and a lot of my family is still here, but I never saw this racetrack until 1993 when I drove my first Cup race," he said. "I drove by it, and I knew of it. It's hard to say it is my home track, but this is home for me. I love coming out here."

Gordon's most recent win at Sonoma occurred on June 25, 2006. The day before that race, he announced his engagement to Belgian model Ingrid Vandebosch. The couple got married later that year.

This past weekend, an off-weekend for Sprint Cup, Gordon spent time where his racing career began. Accompanied by Ingrid and their children, Ella and Leo, Gordon visited the Royer Hayer Memorial Speedway, a quarter-midget track in Rio Linda, California, where Gordon first got behind the wheel of a race car at age 5.

"Rio Linda was the first place that I ever drove a race car on the track, and I won a lot of races there and made a lot of friends," he said. "I don't know what life would be like for me today if it weren't for Rio Linda."

Gordon is ranked third on the Sprint Cup Series' all-time race winners list with 92 victories. He is expected to make his 777th career start -- all of them consecutive -- at Sonoma this weekend. Gordon is just 12 races away from tying Ricky Rudd for the record for most consecutive starts.

Sonoma Raceway is paying homage to its "hometown hero," Gordon, during the weekend. He will participate in a fan Q&A session on Saturday morning. There will be plenty of tributes to him during Sunday's pre-race ceremonies. Two of Gordon's vintage race cars also will be on display at the track all weekend.

In addition, the first 10,000 fans to enter the gates at Sonoma on race day will receive a free hometown hero rally towel to be waved on lap 24 of the 110-lap event.

"People like to pull for the hometown boy or the old guy these days," Gordon said.