There’s no doubt that Jeff Gordon is one of the greatest NASCAR Cup Series drivers of all time. He has won the championship four times along with 93 races. The Hendrick Motorsports star has also helped a lot of people in racing during his career as a driver and continues to do so as the team’s vice chairman. In 2005, he appointed a young Steve Letarte as his crew chief and gave him some advice that helped him do well in his career afterward.
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Gordon was already one of the greatest of all time by the time he took Letarte in his employ. The latter, at the time, was just 26 years old but the four-time champion had faith in his abilities. He had not taken up that role before and was brought in after 26 races in 2005. The #24 driver had won the Daytona 500 that year but missed the Chase for the Cup. After just five races together, the team had taken the checkered flag at the Martinsville Speedway.
15 years ago today, Jeff Gordon won the 2005 Subway 500 @ Martinsville. pic.twitter.com/ii3ZBL4vqz
— Andrew (@Basso488) October 23, 2020
“I had never been crew chief. He kind of gave me this opportunity. He calls me into his office and he sits me down and he says, “Hey man, listen. I know you’re ready for this, you’re going to be great. What I need you to do is treat me like everyone else.” It’s the best advice I could never take. He wanted to be held accountable, he wanted to be pushed,” Letarte revealed on the Awful Announcing podcast.
But it was tough for him to treat Gordon like everyone else. At the end of the day, the former HMS crew chief was a fan of the four-time Cup Series champion. His advice was put into practice when Letarte became the crew chief of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2011. Alan Gustafsson was named Gordon’s crew chief at the time.
Gordon’s crew chief earned a special win with Junior
Steve Letarte saw two iconic Daytona 500 wins during his time at HMS. The first one was Gordon winning in 2005 and the second was Junior winning in 2014. He was not the #24 team’s crew chief when the former won it. However, he was at the forefront of the action, crew chief for the #88 team when they won it six years later. It was also his last season as a crew chief as he would shift to the media business the year after.
“Long story short, at the end of 2013, I went, agreed, signed my contracts with NBC, did a one-year deal at Hendrick Motorsports…we went into the 2014 season knowing it would be my last which is very rare. You get this opportunity for a sendoff year and for that reason, I think the 2014 one is so special,” he added.
He might have never been a Cup Series-winning crew chief but Letarte has won multiple big races in that role. Today, he’s one of the most revered personalities in the sport.
