Jeff Gordon, going incognito

JEFF GORDON MANY YEARS
AFTER THIS STORY.
(CHEVROLET PHOTO)

In 1998, Jeff Gordon was on his way to a modern-era-record 13 wins and the Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) title. We were at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, and Gordon could clinch the title that weekend. (In fact, he did.)

On Friday, I walked into the media center, and a dark-haired young man walked out of the men's room. He was looking around furtively and had his collar up on his dark leather jacket. He was trying not to be noticed.

We looked right at each other, and I smiled and nodded. He nodded back and half-smiled; he knew I wasn't going to give him away.

Who was it? Jeff Gordon, of course.

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  TWITTER:  EDITORatWORK

More entries from TARJ

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

EDITOR@WORK blog entries 

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• What I do when I'm editing

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn•

Entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 12 years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!