Tina Gordon

Tina Gordon
Born (1969-03-14) March 14, 1969
Andrews, North Carolina, U.S.
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
14 races run over 3 years
Best finish 51st (2004)
First race 2001 South Carolina 200 (Darlington)
Last race 2004 BI-LO 200 (Darlington)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 1 0
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
16 races run over 2 years
Best finish 25th (2003)
First race 2003 Florida Dodge Dealers 250 (Daytona)
Last race 2004 Infineon 200 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of November 29, 2012.

Tina Gordon (born March 14, 1969 in Andrews, North Carolina) is a NASCAR driver and spokesperson for the Sticks 'N' Stuff furniture chain. She is related to neither Sprint Cup driver Jeff Gordon nor Robby Gordon. Since being released from her ride at Jay Robinson Racing, Gordon has not raced; she retired from racing in 2005.[1]

Racing career

Local career

Gordon competed in barrel racing, rodeos, and horse shows.[1] Gordon began racing cars in her husband Gary's short track stock car in 1995 / 1996 at the Green Valley Speedway.[1] She won all six events that she entered.[1] They bought a hobby stock car and competed at Thunder Valley Speedway during 1997.[1] In her rookie season, she finished tenth in points with 11 top ten finished in 18 races.[1] She sold her insurance agency and began racing full-time in 1998, first at Green Valley then Birmingham International Raceway.[1]

She moved to the NASCAR All-Pro Series in 1999 and 2000; she finished 20th in touring truck series' points.[1]

ARCA RE/MAX Series

Gordon debuted in ARCA on October 20, 2001 at the Food World 300 held at the Talladega Superspeedway driving the #22 Sticks 'N' Stuff Furniture Ford. She qualified 5th and finished 10th just behind future NASCAR Sprint Cup journeyman Casey Mears.

In 2002 Gordon competed in four ARCA races, two driving the renumbered #66 Sticks 'N' Stuff Ford and two driving the #66 3M Post-it Note Ford. Driving the #66 Sticks 'N' Stuff Ford she finished 26th in the Discount Auto Parts 300 at Daytona International Speedway(Feb 10) and 12th later that year back at the Food World 300 in Talladega(Oct 5). In the #66 3M Post-it Note Ford she finished 8th in the Pork, The Other White Meat 400 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway(March 9) and 35th in the EasyCare Vehicle Services 100 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte NC(May 18). Gordon crashed out of the EasyCare Vehicle Services 100 and suffered leg and foot injuries causing her not to race or practice until September of that year.

Busch Series

Gordon made her Busch Series debut in September 2001 at Darlington Raceway. She drove a locally based #96 Colby Furniture Chevrolet into the field with a 42nd starting position. However, without full sponsorship, the team decided to start and park, finishing last (43rd) after only competing one lap.

Her next race was her best career outing. She drove the #22 Bost Motorsports Chevy in the 2003 race at Talladega Superspeedway. Starting 38th, Tina was able to avoid a massive pileup on lap 4. From there, Tina drove home to a 10th-place finish, completing all but one lap. She "earned" a top 10 in the race, but all but 12 cars were damaged or destroyed in the lap 4 crash, one of the largest "big ones" in NASCAR history.

In 2004, Gordon made another start at Talladega, this time driving the #10 Sticks N Stuff Chevy for Davis Motorsports. After starting 42nd, Gordon stayed in the race and finished 28th. For the rest of 2004, with sponsorship from Yahoo! and Vassarette and Microtel, Gordon secured the #39 Jay Robinson ride for the second half of 2004. Her first start for JRR was at Daytona International Speedway, where she finished 32nd. Gordon made 10 of her next 11 attempts before failing to qualify in five of her last six, which led to her release. Her best run with the team was a 26th at Pikes Peak and her best start was a 30th at Darlington.

Also in 2004 (though it is not possible to know for certain a driver's true intent), it appears during the Food City 250 in Bristol TN, Greg Biffle purposely crashed Gordon out of the race on lap 89 in retaliation for a slight bump to his left rear fender a half lap earlier.

Craftsman Truck Series

Gordon entered 2003 with the intent to run for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year. She ran for the #31 Brevak Racing team with limited sponsorship from Scotch Tape and Microtel. However, the team did not qualify for all its races and Gordon only completed 11 races before her sponsor ended her run. However, Gordon did well in those starts. She finished 13th at Charlotte and at Nashville and finished in the top 20 three other times. Despite limited racing, Gordon finished 25th in points.

In 2004, Gordon transferred over to the #13 ThorSport Motorsports Chevy, with sponsorship from Microtel and Vassarette. However, the deal quickly headed south and she only was able to run five races. The best run was 24th at Daytona in the season opener. In the next race at Atlanta, Gordon's Chevy was involved with a heavy wreck with Hank Parker, Jr. and Rick Crawford, leading to minor injuries to Gordon. However, she was able to race in the next race at Martinsville. Gordon was able to set a career-best starting position in 2004 of 13th at Charlotte and Daytona.

Sticks 'N' Stuff involvement

Despite no longer driving the Sticks 'N' Stuff-sponsored race car, Gordon continues to appear in the chain's television commercials announcing current specials. In earlier ads, she was captioned as "NASCAR Driver" and "Sticks 'N' Stuff Driver". In the most recent television ads for "Sticks 'N' Stuff", debuted in the summer of 2008, Gordon has been shown wearing a tank-top, rather than traditional racing attire.

Life after racing

Gordon retired after the 2005 season to be able to spend more time with her family and son Seth.[1] Gordon currently lives in of Cedar Bluff, Alabama with her husband and son. In early 2008, she announced her candidacy for the Cherokee County, Alabama Commission post for District 3.[2] In the Democratic primary held on June 3, 2008, Gordon narrowly missed a runoff, running against a longtime incumbent and an influential local businessman.[3]

Gordon and her husband have founded Tina's Dream Ranch, which is a therapeutic camp for disabled children and adults.[2]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

Craftsman Truck Series

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Lowry Geno, Suzy. ""DRIVEN TO SUCCEED": Tina Gordon Now Dedicated to Helping Others". Alabama Farmers Coop. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Tina Gordon is Candidate for Commission," Cherokee County Herald, March 31, 2008
  3. ↑ "Runoffs to be Set for Commission Seats," Cherokee County Herald, June 3, 2008
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