Jeff Gordon put to the test in Rolex car and by teammate prank

By Joe Menzer
Published

Jeff Gordon sure seems to be having fun getting prepared for the upcoming Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance race. But if you're going to try to prank him, you'd better bring your A-game.

Gordon, the FOX Sports NASCAR television analyst and four-time NASCAR Premier Series champion, is headlining Wayne Taylor Racing’s four-driver lineup for the Jan. 28-29 Rolex 24.

Gordon joins brothers Ricky and Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli at the wheel of the Cadillac DPi-V.R Dallara-based Prototype, in what will mark Gordon’s first sports-car racing start in 10 years.

"I know that Ricky and Jordan are super-fast, and I believe it will be a very strong combination," Gordon said recently.

Jordan Taylor may be fast on the track, but he wasn't slick enough to fool Gordon when he attempted to portray himself as a Gordon superfan -- code name "Rodney Sandstorm" -- prior to Friday testing at Daytona International Speedway.

https://twitter.com/jordan10taylor/status/817122742218661888

https://twitter.com/JeffGordonWeb/status/817133793635168256

Gordon, meanwhile, was pumped to be testing again in his Rolex car.

https://twitter.com/JeffGordonWeb/status/817388100217348097

Gordon, 45, first retired from full-time driving in NASCAR’s top series following the 2015 season — when he made the transition to the FOX broadcasting booth. But after spending the first half of the 2016 season in the booth for FOX, Gordon was called upon by car owner Rick Hendrick to sub for Dale Earnhardt Jr. for eight races in the latter half as Earnhardt recovered from a concussion.

As for his sports-car history, Gordon took part in the 2007 Rolex 24 in a WTR-entered Riley-Pontiac DP, finishing third on the podium alongside Angelelli, Wayne Taylor and Jan Magnussen.

It was Gordon’s only endurance racing start to date in a storied 35-plus year career that’s included more than 90 NASCAR Premier Series wins, 81 poles and nearly 500 top-10 finishes in stock-car racing competition.

Gordon got his first laps in the new Cadillac DPi during a 24-hour endurance test at Charlotte Motor Speedway in November and also was in attendance at the IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona last Dec. 13-14.