Well, not necessarily. Jeff Gordon's lifetime contract with Rick Hendrick to drive for Hendrick Motor-sports and share ownership of the vaunted, DuPont-backed #24 team may eventually seem like an eternity to Winston Cup competitors. Hendrick wasn't about to let his 28-year-old phenom get away after crew chief Ray Evernham left-not that Gordon would want to.
"We're going to race together as long as we race," says Rick Hendrick, whose leukemia is in remission and who, by now, is off medication that has zapped him for more than two years. "This is a decision to get ready for the new millennium, and I couldn't be happier." The agreement is unprecedented in NASCAR Winston Cup.
"I think everybody is aware that Jeff is one of the greatest drivers ever in any kind of motorsports," Hendrick continues, " but I have also seen that he is one of the brightest business minds in the industry. Jeff has reached a point in his career where he is ready to contribute in more ways, and our team is at a stage where his involvement is both needed and welcomed. Jeff is mature way beyond his years." At the same time, Hendrick emphasized that the agreement in no way affects his commitment to his other two Winston Cup teams and his championship NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series entry.
"I wanted to see my name on the side of the #24 Chevrolet for the rest of my career, and that's happened," says Gordon. "I've felt that Rick and I have been partners ever since he signed me (in 1992); now that's on paper. I'm thrilled. Rick is not only a great businessman, but he is also a good person. My role won't change, except I'll be closer to the team and more involved."
Gordon confirmed that he had received other offers, including a package deal with Evernham, who departed to become a team owner and to spearhead the return of DaimlerChrysler (Daimler is the German company that owns Mercedes Benz and merged with Chrysler), specifically the Dodge division, to Winston Cup. "But I was never anywhere close to leaving," he says. "There is no other place I could go that would give me the opportunities I have at Hendrick Motorsports. It (Chrysler) was the perfect deal for Ray, but not for me."
The Gordon-Hendrick partnership should have restored a sense of normalcy to the 300-member Hendrick organization after the distractions and turmoil surrounding Evernham, the only crew chief Gordon had known. They teamed for 47 victories and three championships in 216 starts in a magical seven-year Winston Cup career with the #24 juggernaut Evernham built.
Evernham, 42, the brotherly-even fatherly-mentor and leader and Gordon, the youthful megastar, seemed inseparable, emphasizing many times as they vaulted to Winston Cup's summit that there was no place for one without the other.
In 1998, after the Rainbow Warriors tied Sir Richard Petty's standard of 13 victories in a season and nailed their third title in four years, Evernham leaving Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports would have been an item for "Ripley's Believe It or Not."
The story is a blockbuster-not only Evernham's move but also Chrysler's return to NASCAR's major league after a hiatus of three decades. With drama and some intrigue, and devoid of many details, the story has unfolded for months and will continue to unfold into the millennium.
That Evernham no longer wanted to be a crew chief was not surprising. But his leaving the "Michael Jordan" of Stock car racing-"an incredible winner and maybe the best talent this sport has ever seen," Evernham praises-and Hendrick Motorsports, the sport's most successful outfit for the past four years, was stunning. Friends called to ask if he'd lost his sanity. Fellow competitors expressed amazement.