2005-11-10T09:21:00.000-05:00

EX GORDON FAN

First, so no one will think that this is a biased letter, I want to say that until October 25, 2005, I was a Jeff Gordon fan for over 12 years. My eleven year old son Dylan, at my encouragement, was also a fan. He had recently missed out on a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet and hang out beside Jeff Gordon at Road Atlanta, through an acquaintance that was spending the day there. My son was very disappointed, and I promised I would do what I could to help him meet him in some other way. It so happened that I was informed of a charity/grand opening celebration of Jeff’s racing school at Lowes Motor Speedway in North Carolina. The event claimed to allow people the chance to meet Jeff Gordon! We were told there would be less than 100 people there. They also said that Jeff would be there for dinner, he would just be milling around with the guests from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm, and that we would have many photo opportunities, and the chance to get autographs. We were told that the only time we would be excluded from access to Jeff was when he was addressing the people who would be driving. We were extremely excited and bought tickets immediately. There were other celebrities also supposed to be attending, including Jamie McMurray, Elliot Sadler, Brian Vickers, Casey Mears, Kasey Khane, to name a few. Not one driver showed other than one named Blake.

We positioned ourselves in the media room about four feet from Jeff. This was the first time we had ever seen Jeff up close. I was nervously contemplating what I might say to him. It was such an honor to be in front of him. I had been thinking to myself for three weeks what I would ask my racing hero. We discussed many different scenarios of meeting him and how it could play out. Never in a million years would I have imagined the reality that unfolded. There were only six people in the room with him- four adults, and two children. As he walked by us, my eleven year old son, with big brown eyes opened as wide as saucers, looked up at Jeff Gordon, stuck his hat out with a sharpie and asked “Mr. Gordon, can I have your autograph?”

Jeff’s reply? “Not right now bud, sorry.” He did not even look at him! He then proceeded to walk about five feet away- right in front of my son and hob-knob with a couple of personal friends and his girlfriend for about 15 minutes, laughing and joking. He was not busy at ALL. I was so shocked and dismayed, my mouth literally dropped open. I looked at my son. His eyes displayed shock, hurt, shame and embarrassment at the unexpected rejection he had just endured. He asked if we could just go home. I stood there in disbelief, watching Jeff continue to amuse himself with his friends, while my son’s spirit was crushed. Jeff then walked past us again and left the media center and went to the track. Having been a fan for so long, it was hard to believe that this was really happening. Hoping that Jeff would redeem himself, I said to my son, “Let’s see what happens. Maybe he will sign autographs in a little while.” Jeff jumped in a racecar, drove his girlfriend around, drove the van with students, took one more driver and left! He never waved, never acknowledged the crowd of around 100 people that had spent no less than $350.00 per ticket up to $5000.00
just to be there supporting him and his charity. You would think he would thank people for coming out, nothing! Photo opportunities ?? It took us a few minutes of watching fans trying to take his picture, to realize that he continuously stood with his back to the crowd, only talking to the people he obviously knew personally, and hid himself from cameras by positioning himself behind his handlers. Upon speaking with several people there, we realized we were not the only disappointed fans. About 7:30, an hour and a half before this event was to be over, Jeff walked away, again without waving to anyone. We learned about 20 minutes later that he had left.

This experience taught my son and myself a valuable lesson. You know the one. I judged Jeff Gordon based on the cover of the book and not the book itself. I made an assumption of his character based on his skills as a driver and television personality. Twelve years of supporting Jeff Gordon and believing that he was a champion, took five seconds to see he was nothing more than a CHUMP. The real champion is my son, who had to endure that rejection. In the time it took to tell Dylan no, he could have cut his comment to four words instead of five to “Here you go, buddy!” He doesn’t care about us, it is all about the money to him... If I had the opportunity I had hoped for to ask him an important question, it would now be, “How could you? Enjoy your royal life…. I am sure that all your other fans will continue to pay your salary by purchasing your products and buying from your sponsors. My family will not, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that everyone knows about what you did, Jeff.” "Thanks for the worst twelve years and the best five seconds!"

2005-11-10T07:51:00.000-05:00

JEFF GORDON'S RESPONSE

Our initial reaction to this experience was to contact the media. We hoped it would reach Jeff Gordon in some fashion and he would at least have to acknowledge what he did. We also hoped to enlighten some fans. We contacted a couple of newspapers. The Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) showed interest. We were told they were running a story on Nascar and sponsors and how the sponsors were not getting what they wanted from the drivers regarding the fans, etc.
A reporter, Jeff Hood, asked questions and got us to email them what we had received from the racing school regarding the event. They printed a small article entitled "Racing School falls short on promises"
I'll post a copy later.
He, at first, said they were going to include what happened to us in the upcoming article, but has now informed us that they will be unable to use our story in the article, which still hasn't run.
He did send us a response he got from Jeff Gordon regarding our letter:

> "Every appearance that I do, whether it's a free appearance or somebody is
> paying to be a part of it, from just about every appearance we do somebody
> feels snubbed. Somebody feels like they didn't get maybe what they wanted.
> Others will go out of it ecstatic, saying they got more. So for every
> negative thing that comes out of it, you get hundreds of people that are
> very positive. In this situation, as far as I know, nobody was guaranteed a
> picture, an autograph, anything. If you were part of the ride-along or
> driving program, then yes, you were going to get a picture. And everyone
> else was there to participate or watch the activities that were going on and
> to just be there and be part of it. I have a feeling his expectations were
> high going in. Now I do remember there being a family when I was walking
> out to pit road to drive the cars. And they asked for an autograph, and at
> that time I was already 20 minutes late. We were trying to stick to a
> schedule, and I couldn't do it at the time. And I really hope I had come
> across them on my out so I could take care of them, but I never saw them
> again after that."

We didn't exactly feel warm and fuzzy..
Our response to Jeff Hood:
If he was running behind schedule, then why did he walk past him to stand
and talk to his girlfriend and a couple of other people for 10-15 minutes?
He never adressed the crowd outside at all. No wave hello, and certainly no
wave goodbye.

and
Regarding his feeling that my expectations were "high". How can it be suggested that for me to expect him to give an 11 year old boy an autograph when he was NOT in a rush, is high expectations? I wasn't asking for one for myself, my wife, my friends, etc. I wasn't trying to conversate with him. My son asked for an autograph. That's it. If he would have been busy, there would not be an issue. He absolutely lied when he said he didn't have time because he was 20 minutes behind schedule. For Mr. Gordon to imply that other people were just grateful to be a part of the experience is absurd, or to act as though he were looking for my family before he left, to " take care of us " simply sounds to me like a weak "PR" statement.

EX JEFF GORDON FAN