NASCAR Special Paint Scheme of the Month: 2009 Jeff Gordon National Guard

Today is the Sears Point Infineon Sonoma Raceway race, the first of two road course races on the Cup schedule. It's also one of my favorite races of the year, but unfortunately I've slept through the race more often than I've seen it...my schedule varies and when it makes me miss this race, is very annoying. This year I've been able to see every lap, which I'm quite happy about. Even if it's looking like, with 4 laps to go, the winner will not be a favorite driver of mine. I don't care, I love this track and am always happy to see it.

I thought I would take a look at a special paint scheme from the all-time best road racer in NASCAR history, Jeff Gordon. I chose to show the last special paint scheme to appear on a card, although Jeff drove many more after this one- Press Pass couldn't be bothered to show any of them.

Jeff did not have a good track record at Texas, but he finally broke through and won in this car, after trying since 1997 when the track opened. It was the final track Jeff needed to have won at every Cup track he drove on, although he did miss Kentucky which was added after this track at the end of his career.

I am a big fan of Jeff, and am not happy that he retired. He led the very first lap of NASCAR racing I ever saw- it happened to be his first lap led as well, by the time he retired he would rank (I believe) 6th in all-time laps led. Maybe higher.

2009 Wheels Main Event is not a set I like- one of my all-time least favorite sets in fact- but it shows this car the best. It also appears on the Unleashed insert from 2009 Press Pass, but much smaller. However, that card does not crop off the nose and tail of the card.

Thanks for reading!

NASCAR Encyclopedia: Steve Addington

Steve Addington is the second person alphabetically to receive a NASCAR card.

Steve Addington
Born: July 4th, 1964
Home: Spartanburg, South Carolina
Cards Produced, according to the Trading Card Database: 9
Cards in my collection: 1
NASCAR crew chief Career: 1993-current. Currently serves as Crew Chief for the #15 Cup team and driver Clint Bowyer. .

2009 Wheels Main Event #51

Steve Addington's first job as a crew chief came with Jason Keller and the #57 Busch team. They scored 10 wins between 1995 and 2003, before Addington joined Joe Gibbs Racing on the Cup series in 2004. Addington would find his greatest success with JGR, winning 16 of his 20 Cup wins as a crew chief with Kyle Busch between 2008 and 2011, including 8 in 2008, which was the league leading number of wins for that season. Addington then paired with Tony Stewart at Stewart-Haas Racing and scored four more wins with Stewart, before having a falling-out with the fiery owner-driver. Addington then moved to HScott Motorsports, a brand new team with rookie Justin Allgaier in 2014, and he remains with the team in 2016, with one-year only driver Clint Bowyer for this season. The HScott team has provided the largest challenge of Addington's career, as it operates on a shoestring budget compared to JGR and SHR, two of the most well-funded teams in NASCAR.