Jeff Gordon and Robbie Loomis

Driver and Crew Chief, NO. 24 DuPont Chevrolet

Story and photos © 2005 Dwight Drum
Web work by Gary Larsen

“I don’t get star-struck that often.”

“I wish we could take Jeff’s boat everywhere.”

Driving 250 miles from Tampa to Daytona and back is only half of the 500 miles it takes to win the Daytona 500, but to put Zoomster.com in a breakfast press conference with Jeff Gordon and Robbie Loomis, the leaders of the winning team in first huge NASCAR race in 2005, takes a busy drive. Every mile was worthy.

We’re not sure if Jeff Gordon can recall every mile of the 500, but we feel the last few miles when he moved to the front are forever memorable. Don’t take our word on that; take Jeff Gordon’s sincere comments on that.

Being star-struck loses luster after hundreds of moments with stars, but it’s still great to be in a star-embraced room with the likes of Jeff Gordon and Robbie Loomis having breakfast while recording words and images. Gordon and Loomis talk about other star moments.

And you may have thought that only fans get overwhelmed in the presence of their chosen idol.

We bring you crisp morning-after words and images from Daytona. We feel they are the type of responses that can define a season. We will bring many more throughout the 2005 season, but these words and images are a fast take on a very big start. But first, words that move and images that capture.

“I had an awesome moment this week, one of the coolest things. I tell the story because it was so cool for me. Growing up my hero was Rick Mears. To me all that I ever heard about growing up racing sprint cars were Johnny Rutherford and Mario Andretti. I watched the Indy 500 and Rick Mears was – the man. I went to the Indianapolis 500 back in 1981, something like that. I think probably the only time I can really remember standing and waiting to get an autograph was for Rick Mears. And he was on my boat the other night. It was so cool. I went downstairs. We were going to go over to Rick Hendrick. Rick Hendrick had a boat there. We were going to go over and visit with him. Casey Mears brought Rick on my boat. I don’t get star-struck that often, but I came upstairs. You know what. I have fans that come up to me and are very excited. I don’t understand at times, not all the time they say it’s so great to meet you. I said Rick. I’ve got to admit something. People come up to me all the time and say it’s such an honor to meet you. It’s so cool. I got Rick Mears on my boat.”

“It was so awesome. I look up to him so much and here he was just sitting across from me and we’re just talking and hanging out. I was star-struck. It was a cool moment. We got talking about winning at the brickyard. My four verses his four. I still say there’s no comparison, because they’ve been racing the Indy 500 since 1913. And to hear him say, it doesn’t matter when we started racing there, for you to win four is still pretty amazing.

Robbie Loomis commented: “I wish we could take Jeff’s boat everywhere.”

“I love the brickyard. I love going there. I love racing there. But even I know, my greatest moment that I’ll say that I accomplished is the Indianapolis Brickyard 400 wins, but other than that the Daytona 500 victories are definitely the ultimate that we can do in our sport and the first two were great, but this one was even sweeter.

“This is why we build these cars. We go into this event hoping that we are going to lose that car and also knowing that we know exactly what we did to that car and hopefully we can build another one just like it.”

(According to Hendrick Motorsports it took five and half to six months to build that winning car.)

“I know the pride that goes into it. For them whether they are sitting at home watching it on TV or whether they’re here a part of it, the joy that comes out of seeing that car go to victory lane, you can’t even describe it. Robbie can tell you more because he’s there day to day. ”

“Just the thought about being in the Dupont race shop and knowing that Jeff Gordon is the driver. That floor is completely shiny. There’s not a sole on it. They’re all walking on air. When they go out they all hold that sense of pride knowing the part they played in it, from everybody who fills the drink cooler and on up. That’s why when we put it together; I have everybody sign it. Beyond the signatures on the car, there’s a whole lot of important structure behind that to make a place for us to keep Hendrick Motorsports on top.”

“Whenever you don’t win Mr. Hendrick doesn’t get on to you, he just wants to know what you need. Do you need more people? Do you need a machine? Do you need another car? When you have an owner like that, then it makes it very easy and very thankful at the end of the day.” It helps you realize what a small part you are in the equation of Hendrick Motorsports. I think it’s so cool that Jeff won three of these and Mr. Hendrick has won five of them. That says a lot of Mr. Hendrick as an owner. Last night he was like a proud father.”

“I’ll be honest walking on that boat was similar to driving into victory lane. I was screaming, yelling, high-fiving and enjoying the moment as much as I could. When Robbie and the guys got on the boat, it was all the same things over again, reliving that moment and screaming and yelling. I think we enjoy the victories that we have these days more than ever. Part of it is because we recognize how special they are. Another thing I feel like I’m a part of the team in a bigger and more special way than I ever have. I feel like the connection that we all have is closer than it has ever been before. We appreciate it. I think Robbie will say that he appreciates even more since 2000 when he first came onboard. I would definitely say that the same holds true for me. From here on we’re going to appreciate them and enjoy them that much more.”