Jeff Gordon embraces fun side of racing with Rolex 24

CHARLOTTE — Jeff Gordon’s voice emanated from a cellphone speaker in the lobby of the Charlotte Convention Center on Tuesday as a reporter in an over-stuffed chair interviewed him after stepping away from the annual NASCAR media tour.

Would the don’t-say-retired four-time champion of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series consider returning for another stint if Hendrick Motorsports needed a replacement, as it did for eight races last season for an injured Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

“Oh, my goodness I hope that doesn’t happen.”

As if one cue, second-year driver Chase Elliott, who replaced Gordon last season in the iconic No. 24 Chevrolet, ambled past and flung his lanky frame into a swivel chair. Moments after landing, Elliott’s equilibrium registered that this was also a reclining chair and his appendages extended like a plummeting cat to establish his balance.

RELATED:

Jeff Gordon: Alex Bowman should be first call if Hendrick needs a sub

James: Dale Earnhardt Jr. relishes chance to return on his terms

Chase Elliott says No. 24 slowly feeling like his own

Gordon could have been a few degrees of tilt from the possibility of another urgent request from team owner Rick Hendrick, and those are difficult to parry. But blissfully unaware, Gordon remained free to return to his utter exuberance over this next phase of his departure from full-time racing.

There’s broadcasting NASCAR races for Fox Sports and this weekend, there will be commencement of his after-career of barnstorming, as he joins Wayne Taylor Racing at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

And when Gordon straps into the Cadillac DPi-V.R, he will be the undoubted focal point for a faction of fans that might not otherwise have had much interest in exotic sports cars racing for an entire day. Therefore just as Gordon as a NASCAR rookie in 1993 transformed the model of what has become the modern Cup driver, he may change the paradigm of what retirement looks like for post-professionals.

PHOTOS: Jeff Gordon through the years

“I think for any professional race car driver, as soon as you put that word professional next to it, there’s a lot of benefit and very cool things that come along with that, but also a lot of pressure, there’s a lot of expectations and it becomes work,” Gordon told USA TODAY Sports. “And so you approach it as a job. You have to step back and remind yourself how cool of a job it is and how much fun you have doing it because it’s usually very serious.

“When you’re able to go do a one-off race or a limited schedule or an event like [Race Of Champions], you get to go do it with the mindset of ‘Yeah, I want to do well and I’m going to put that pressure on myself but I’m going to have fun doing it.’”

So reinvigorated is Gordon that when children Leo and Ella Sofia asked to go karting with some friends, recently, the 45-year-old future NASCAR Hall of Famer brought his own racing helmet so he could play, too.

MORE MOTORSPORTS:

Joao Barbosa wins overall pole for Rolex 24 at Daytona

Tony Stewart set to drive in Little 500 at Anderson

Gordon had raced once in the Rolex in 2007 — finishing third in 2007 with Wayne Taylor Racing — and left the event determined to enter with full, dedicated preparation if another chance arose. The absence of NASCAR race duties gave him the opportunity and the chance to drive the new Cadillac for Taylor, he said, was irresistible.

Gordon said he’s not actively seeking his next signature race, but like recently retired three-time series champion Tony Stewart, he covets a chance in the 24 Hours of LeMans. A chance to race at Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, in his wife’s native Belgium, Gordon said, is also a desire. Stewart, a NASCAR Cup Series co-owner who left the cockpit last season, plans to compete in upwards of 80 mostly sprint car or Late Model races this season.

“When you’ve had the type of careers we’ve had and you align yourself and your future around racing as we have, I think it allows you to step out of the driver’s seat and go get in some cars. Now Tony’s taking it to a whole other level,” Gordon snickered. “I love he’s being Tony and that’s great for him.”

And this weekend and beyond should be great for Gordon. He just needs Elliott and everyone else at Hendrick to be careful.

Follow James on Twitter @brantjames