PIR salutes Jeff Gordon by renaming track in his honor

BROOKLYN, MI - JUNE 12: Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 PANASONIC Chevrolet, speaks at a press conference after practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 12, 2015 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
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BROOKLYN, MI - JUNE 12:  Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 PANASONIC Chevrolet, speaks at a press conference after practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 12, 2015 in Brooklyn, Michigan.  (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
BROOKLYN, MI – JUNE 12: Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 PANASONIC Chevrolet, speaks at a press conference after practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 12, 2015 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)

BROOKLYN, Mich. – Among all the honors accorded four-time champion Jeff Gordon, the one conceived by Phoenix International Raceway is among the highest.

On Nov. 15 – the day of the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at the one-mile track – PIR will become Jeff Gordon Raceway.

The race will be the next-to-last in Gordon’s career as a full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. Gordon, a four-time winner at Phoenix, will move to the FOX Sports broadcast booth in 2016.

“This has been a very special year for the fans and the tracks, and you guys just took it to another level,” Gordon told PIR president Bryan Sperber during Friday’s announcement at Michigan.

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.