Jeff Gordon Brings Back Iconic Rainbow Paint Scheme
Jeff Gordon revealed Tuesday morning that he’s bringing back the iconic No. 24 car rainbow paint scheme for the remainder of his final full-time season. The racing legend will debut the car at the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22.
“It’s such an iconic paint scheme. It’s what I got introduced to NASCAR with.”
Jeff Gordon shared the exciting news on CBS This Morning and his sponsor Axalta’s Twitter account.
Months in the making and a hard secret to keep, we’re happy to share with our fans… #Rainbow24 is back! pic.twitter.com/8SRwEMrsZm
— Axalta Racing (@AxaltaRacing) June 30, 2015
Gordon told CBS This Morning that the fans are the main reason the historical car is making its comeback. He drove the original, by DuPont Performance Coatings, from his very first start in NASCAR in 1992 through his 2000 season.
“The reason we’re bringing it out is because Twitter, Facebook, social media, they want this car out on the track, so it’s exciting for them, exciting for us and for me to get to drive it again.”
The four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion said he is retiring from the racetrack after 23 years to focus on the most important team in his life — his “beautiful family.” While he doesn’t plan on staying out of the sport entirely, he looks forward to spending some much needed time with his two young children. Gordon, who currently sits at 11th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Standings, also wants to go out while he still has a competitive edge.
“I want to go out still being competitive. I’d like to be a little bit more competitive than we’ve been this year, but we still have a lot of races left to go and I feel confident we’ve got a team that we can end on top.”
The No. 24 car driver also discussed NASCAR’s statement that the organization will continue to disallow the Confederate flag. Jeff Gordon stands in agreement with NASCAR and fellow driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., that there is “no place” in the sport for it.
“It has no place on any of our team apparel or memorabilia or anything like that. I’m glad that it’s not out there. I support NASCAR. I’m so glad that they banned it. We’ve done the same thing at Hendrick Motorsports.”
See Jeff Gordon’s historical No. 24 car rainbow paint scheme return to the track at Bristol Motor Speedway August 22 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.
[Image via Jeff Gordon/Facebook]
