Cecil Gordon

Cecil Gordon
Born (1941-06-21)June 21, 1941
Horse Shoe, North Carolina, United States
Died September 19, 2012(2012-09-19) (aged 71)
Lexington, North Carolina
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
449 races run over 17 years
Best finish 3rd - 1971 and 1973
First race 1968 Pickens 200 (Greenville-Pickens Speedway)
Last race 1985 Miller High Life 400 (Richmond)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 111 0
NASCAR Grand National East Series career
5 races run over 2 years
Best finish 29th - 1973
First race 1972 Greenville 200 (Greenville-Pickens Speedway)
Last race 1973 Tar Heel 200 (Fayetteville)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 4 1

Cecil Gordon (June 21, 1941 – September 19, 2012) was an American stock car racing driver. A competitor in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series between 1968 and 1985, he competed in 449 events without winning a race.

NASCAR

Gordon's 1983 Winston Cup car

Career as driver

Gordon drove in the NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series, for 17 years and drove in a total of 449 races. He never won and never got a pole, but got 29 top fives, 111 top tens.[1] He finished third in points in 1971 and 1973.[1] He completed 112,908 laps and only led 23 of them.[1] By the end of his career, he had earned $940,000.[1] His average finish for his entire career was 17.3.[1] Racing Champions released a replica of 1969 Mercury Cyclone in 1992 and later in 1998 in honor of NASCAR's 50th anniversary.

Career as owner

He started racing in Henley Gray and Bill Seifert cars. He generally raced in his own car beginning in 1970.[2] He had a few other racers make an occasional start for him.[2] He raced GM products (mostly Chevrolet vehicles) until the end of 1982 when he crashed out his Buick Regal.[2] He purchased a Chrysler Imperial at the beginning of 1983 from the defunct Negre Bros. Racing team and managed to qualify for eight races during that season, though he only finished five of them.[2] His best finish was 15th that year in the Imperial. He also had Jim VanDiver drive the car in two races.[2] At the end of that year he sold the Imperial to Buddy Arrington and drove a few races for other owners in 1984 and 1985.

Career as crewman

Following the end of his career as a driver and owner, Gordon worked for other racing teams as a crewman, first for Richard Childress Racing, and then later for Travis Carter Enterprises.[3]

Personal life

Gordon is not related to four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon,[4] and ironically both drove the 24 car.

Gordon, who was married with four children, Charlene (who died in 2006), Douglas, Stefanie and Jonathon, died on September 19, 2012 in Lexington, North Carolina.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Cecil Gordon's Driver's Statistics at racing-reference.info
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Cecil Gordon's Owner's Statistics at racing-reference.info
  3. 1 2 "Cecil O. Gordon, 71". Times-News. Hendersonville, NC. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
  4. ↑ "Your Turn: Letters from our readers". Portsmouth Daily Times (Portsmouth, OH). July 9, 1999. p. B4. Retrieved 2012-09-20.

External links

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