Jeff Gordon

This past week, NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon announced that 2015 would be his final full season.  I, like most of the racing world, were stunned at the news. 

Gordon came into NASCAR in the early 1990s, first driving in the Busch (now Xfinity) Series, then moving full-time to Winston (Sprint) Cup in 1993.  As of this post, he has 95 wins, 3rd all time behind Richard Petty and David Pearson.  Gordon's 95 wins all came in the modern era, whereas Petty and Pearson won during an era where races less than 200 miles still were considered part of the series.  Gordon was with Hendrick Motorsports for his entire Sprint Cup career.

I was never really a Jeff Gordon fan, but you do have to respect what he accomplished.  4 Sprint Cup championships.  Three Daytona 500 victories.  Five Brickyard 400 victories.  One of only two drivers to win the Winston Million in its original format.  Wins at all but two tracks on the Sprint Cup circuit, Kentucky and Homestead.

One has to wonder why Jeff is getting out of the car now.  My only theory was that Dale Jr, who also drives for Hendrick Motorsports, has Chase Elliott in the Xfinity series this season.  NASCAR's current rules only allow a team to have four full-time teams.  Hendrick's current driver lineup is Gordon, Dale Jr, Jimmie Johnson, and Kasey Kahne.  If Elliott is ready to move to Sprint Cup, one of the four drivers would have to leave their ride.  Johnson and Dale Jr are too important to let go, and Kahne just signed a new contract, so he's not going anywhere.  That leaves Jeff, who had a "lifetime" contract with Hendrick and has been toying with the notion of getting out of the driver's seat.

Gordon has said he is not "retiring", which leaves the door open for him to race for another team, or on a limited basis.  Regardless, it is going to be very strange when the 2016 season begins and not see Jeff in a race car. 

My grandma

For those that don't know, my grandma passed away Dec 28.  She was 3 weeks shy of her 97th birthday.

I was very fortunate I got to spend almost 35 years getting to know her, spend time with her, and learn from her.  I can remember as a child she would spend plenty of time with me playing board games.  I used to enjoy doing dishes with her.  She was never too busy for her grandchildren, and later great-grandchildren. 

My grandma was an Army nurse during World War II, spending most of her time in southern France.  While there, she got to meet General Eisenhower, and she always spoke highly of him. 

She took up painting later in life.  I have two of her paintings hanging up in my house that she did especially for me. 

It's been weird not being able to hear her voice, knowing that on my birthday I won't be receiving a card from her, and I will (surprisingly) miss her stories while driving her to and from my family's summer home in New York.  But I know she is back with my grandpa, and her siblings.  Undoubtedly they are having one heck of a party, waiting for us to join them.