Gordon's loyalty to Hendrick paid off in long run

RELATED: Full coverage of Gordon announcement

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There are many remarkable aspects to Jeff Gordon's career in NASCAR. That he has competed for the same team owner throughout his stay is only one of them.

Gordon announced Thursday that the 2015 season would be his last. It will be the 23rd year of full-time competition as driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet.

During that time, he has won four championships and 92 races, totals that very few others have achieved.

Thursday, team owner Rick Hendrick told NASCAR.com that there was only one occasion when he was concerned he might lose the services of his talented driver.

"The only time that I thought that could happen was when (former crew chief) Ray (Evernham) did his (Dodge) deal," Hendrick said. "I talked to Jeff and he said, 'No, I want to be with you.' That was the one that I was sweating because they had been together. Between Chrysler and everybody involved, they made it really attractive to him."

No surprise there. From 1995-99, the duo of Gordon and Evernham was nearly unstoppable, winning three NASCAR premier series titles and 47 races. Beating the No. 24 was considered an achievement in itself.

But by the end of that final year, Evernham had already departed, choosing instead to become a team owner and to help usher Dodge back into the sport.

Would the run of success and the potential for a huge financial gain be enough to turn Gordon's head?

"That's when we said we'd do the lifetime deal," Hendrick said. "We put it to bed and never had to worry about it again."

In October of '99, HMS announced it had signed Gordon to a lifetime contract while making him an equity partner in his No. 24 Chevrolet team.

"I can't say that I was ever serious about it," Gordon said of the opportunity to leave Hendrick. "There were a lot of things going on at that time. I was getting asked to do some Formula One racing, some Indy Car racing.

"Because of the three championships out of four years, I was really, like Ray, being very sought after. I remember (Chip) Ganassi reached out to me, Jerry Jones reached out to me at one point when they were talking about starting a team. ... And I didn't even really speak to them seriously. I said, 'No, I'm pretty happy with where I'm at.' "

"But I do remember having some serious conversations with Jacques Villeneuve's group, the BAR Team, about doing Formula One. The problem was, it wasn't just to go do Formula One. It was you've got to go do Indy Cars, go do a lot of testing, and then maybe, maybe you might have a shot. It was just too many steps backward to move forward. Things were going too well at Hendrick Motorsports.

"I knew where I wanted to be. I knew if I wanted to be successful, Hendrick Motorsports was the place for me."

Eventually, Gordon did find himself in a Formula One car, although the opportunity was a one-day promotional ride swap with Juan Pablo Montoya in 2003 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And just last month, Gordon was given the steering wheel from that particular F1 car as a Christmas gift.

Two years after Evernham's departure, Gordon won his fourth title, this time with crew chief Robbie Loomis. It was, he said, "one of the most rewarding years I've ever had."

With six victories and 24 top-10 finishes, he ended the 2001 season with a whopping 344-point advantage over runner-up Tony Stewart.

"When I talk to Ray -- I think he understands it when I tell him this because we're good friends still -- to be able to win that championship with Robby Loomis, without Ray, in 2001 was very rewarding to me," he said. "You go through a time where people go, 'Oh, well it's Ray,' 'it's the car,' it's this or that and you want to get credit for it. While I got a lot of the credit (before), I got a lot more after winning that championship in 2001."

Gordon has won races with all five crew chiefs that have called the shots for the No. 24 team, from Evernham to Brian Whitesell (who filled in as interim crew chief after Evernham's departure), Loomis, Steve Letarte and current crew chief Alan Gustafson.

"I think if you're a good race car driver, you should be able to work with other crew chiefs," Gordon said, "As long as you have good equipment.

"A good crew chief can make a difference in how you get through the race, prepare for the race and the difference between maybe winning and finishing second. But your equipment, that's what gets you into that position. There are teams out there, it doesn't matter how good their crew chief or driver is, they're not going to be any better than 15th."

Forty-five of his wins and one championship came with someone other than Evernham in his corner. But Gordon said had the two worked through their issues of '99, it's likely more success would have followed.

"He was getting all the offers and I was making the decision to stay at Hendrick or go with him -- I knew it wasn't going to happen because it was a great opportunity for him ... we could have won more races and championships even though we weren't getting along that great that year," he said. "We were butting heads a little bit."

Gordon's success with a variety of crew chiefs underscores his talent as well as his ability to adjust to the situation.

"That says that Jeff is adaptable and he's very unselfish," Hendrick said. "He carried the team a lot. He made the team look better than they were. Then when we got the team as good as he was, he'd shine.

"He's not a complainer and he's willing to do whatever he needs to do. That's the part I guess I admire so much about him. ... He's a team player. It's hard to find (someone) that has all of the traits that he's got -- his loyalty, his honesty, his integrity ... it spoils you."