don’s life changed forever. For the first time, he
raced a 700-horsepower sprint car at the All Star
Florida Speedweeks competition. His interest in
sprint-car racing was the major reason the Gordon
family moved to Pittsboro, Indiana, where there
were more opportunities available for a young auto
racer.
It was suggested that Gordon try driving stock
cars, so he went to the Buck Baker Racing School at
Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina. Gordon’s
enthusiasm and natural talent caught the attention
of Hugh Connerty, who found funding for Gordon
to race at the Busch Grand National race in 1990. In
1991, Gordon raced for Bill Davis and won the title
Rookie of the Year in both the Busch Series and the
Winston Cup. In 1992, Gordon won his first career
win at the Winston Cup race at the Atlanta Motor
Speedway and was noticed by Rick Hendrick.
Gordon joined the Hendrick Motorsports team.
In 1993, Gordon became the first rookie in his-
tory to win the 125-mile qualifying race during
Speedweek at the Daytona International Speedway.
In 1994, he continued his list of successes with victo-
ries at the inaugural Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis
and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte. In 1995,
Gordon won the Winston Cup championship to be-
come the youngest driver in the modern era to win
the crown championship. The next year, he led in
Winston Cup Series victories (ten) and laps led
(2,313). The year 1997 brought Gordon another
Winston Cup championship, with ten victories and
one pole. He became the youngest driver ever to win
the Daytona 500 and the second driver in history to
win the Winston Million—a million-dollar award
granted to the winner of three of the four top races
on the Winston Cup circuit. That year, he broke the
all-time single-season earnings record by winning
over $4 million. In 1998, Gordon again won the
Winston Cup championship, with thirteen victories,
and became the first driver to win the Brickyard 400
twice.
Success continued to follow Gordon throughout
the following years. He founded the Gordon/
Evernham Motorsports team with his crew chief
and, in 1999, established the Jeff Gordon Founda-
tion, which helps chronically ill children. He won his
fourth Winston Cup in 2001.
Impact Throughout the 1990’s, Gordon proved
that one does not necessarily have to win every race
in order to be in contention for the championship ti-
tle. From his rookie year in 1993 through 1999, he
never finished out of the top ten in points, and he
managed to win three Winston Cup championships.
His consistency, drive, and dedication to the sport of
auto racing alone are admired by many fans.Further Reading
Cothren, Larry.Jeff Gordon: The NASCAR Superstar’s
Stor y. St. Paul, Minn.: Motorbooks International,
2005.
Gordon, Jeff, and Steve Eubanks.Jeff Gordon: Racing
Back to the Front—My Memoir. New York: Atria
Books, 2003.
Kathr yn A. CochranSee also Auto racing; Sports. Gore, Al
Identification U.S. senator from Tennessee,
presidential candidate, U.S. vice president,
environmentalist, and author
Born March 31, 1948; Washington, D.C.Gore was a notable force in the proliferation of Internet us-
age both nationally and internationally. His focus on envi-
ronmental issues, such as global warning, helped popular-
ize and make mainstream a topic that had previously been a
subject discussed primarily among scientists.Al Gore, Jr., began the decade of the 1990’s adjusting
to the many changes in his professional and per-
sonal life. Having lost a campaign to become the
Democratic nominee for president in 1988, Senator
Gore was reassessing his political talents and pon-
dering his future in politics. He was also coming to
terms with nearly losing his only son, Albert Gore III,
who had been seriously injured when hit by a car in- Gore’s wife, Tipper, was suffering from a bout
of severe depression caused by her son’s critical ill-
ness and the sometimes oppressive responsibilities
of being a political wife. All of this caused Gore to re-
consider his priorities. He struggled to balance his
political life with a desire to make his own mark be-
yond politics and to honor his deep commitment to
his wife and children.
Gore entered a period of self-examination and
exploration. He spent more time with his family and
wrote a book on a subject about which he felt very
The Nineties in America Gore, Al 377