FORT WORTH – Jeff Gordon’s son confidently delivered a high-five to the leader of the free world Monday.
It’ll be a moment that Leo Gordon remembers for a lifetime – even if he didn’t quite understand the significance of the meeting with President Barack Obama.
“(Leo) didn’t know he was the president,” Jeff Gordon said with a laugh Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. “You can tell him all day long, but I don’t know that means a lot at 4. It was a great experience.”
The four-time Sprint Cup champion also brought his wife, Ingrid, and his daughter, Ella, to the White House after appearing on the “Live with Kelly and Michael” broadcast from the 137th annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn.
“Anytime you can go to the White House and meet the president and first lady, it’s special,” Gordon said. “I’ve been fortunate to do that on quite a few occasions. Both Ella and Leo really enjoyed it.
“Leo gets really shy in those situations, I tried to loosen him up in saying, ‘Give him a high-five,’ because he’s more comfortable than with a handshake. It worked! It still caught me by surprise when I saw it happened.”
It’s an eventful weekend for Gordon, who will work as a Fox analyst on Friday night’s Xfinity race at Texas before making what could be his penultimate NASCAR start at the 1.5-mile oval in Saturday night’s Duck Commander 500. Gordon has only one win (in 2009) at Texas but was a contender in both of last year’s races.
“I like to relate this track to roller coaster,” he said. “Driving it is similar to one with how the transitions from the straightaways to the corners are more abrupt than any other track we go. The pace and grip level goes up and down. As well as you’re running the race, you’ll see a lot of cars go forward and backward. It’s definitely a roller coaster ride. It’s a tough racetrack and very technical.
“I have enjoyed it the last several years. We haven’t always had … I don’t like to say luck. We haven’t had as good of results. We’ve performed. It’d be nice to have a win and come back with the confidence to back that up again.”