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Gordon Looks Back On First Win -- 10 Years Ago CONCORD, N.C. - It was exactly 10 years ago this Memorial Day weekend that a young gun named Jeff Gordon won his first race in NASCAR's premier series in a rainbow-colored No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet ...

Published: May 26, 2004, 11:59 PM

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Gordon Looks Back On First Win -- 10 Years Ago

CONCORD, N.C. - It was exactly 10 years ago this Memorial Day weekend that a young gun named Jeff Gordon won his first race in NASCAR's premier series in a rainbow-colored No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet Lumina.

Since then, the paint scheme and the make of car have changed, but little else has. Gordon went on to win the inaugural Brickyard 400 that year -- the weekend of his 23rd birthday -- and went on a winning streak like no other over the past decade.

Four championships and 66 wins later, Gordon returns to Lowe's Motor Speedway -- site of that first, emotional win -- looking for another victory and to maintain his winning percentage of nearly 20 percent starting with that first win at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

"I never would have guessed 10 years ago that I'd be where I am now," said Gordon. "Sometimes it still amazes me that I made it to this level at all.

"A lot has changed over the years both personally and professionally -- I certainly never thought I'd be a partial team owner at Hendrick Motorsports -- but the one thing that has stayed the same is the heart of this team that has kept this DuPont team strong for so long."

Something else that has not changed is Gordon's ability to succeed at Lowe's Motor Speedway. During the 1992 Busch Series season, Gordon swept both events from the pole at the 1.5-mile quad-oval. Once he graduated to NASCAR's Cup Series, Gordon scored four victories, 12 top-fives and 14 top-10's in 22 career starts here. He has captured seven poles, including five straight from 1994 -1998 in the annual Memorial Day weekend event.

"I've always enjoyed racing here, even when I was in the Busch Series," said Gordon. "I don't know if it's my driving style or something we've hit on as a team, but we always seem to run well here.

"Our team is as strong as it's ever been right now and we're looking forward to qualifying on Thursday and 600 miles on Sunday."

Now considered a veteran driver, Gordon is one of only 16 drivers who started in that 43-car field 10 years ago that still competes full-time in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series today.

Going into Sunday's event third in points, Gordon hopes to kick off another decade of success starting with a win and ending with a championship.

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