Bill Davis Was Hurt When Jeff Gordon Left | Dale Jr. Download

[@paulday5722]

I've read several times that Gordon requested a long term contract with Ford the entire time he drove for Bill Davis. They turned him down because "we only sign contracts with Winston Cup drivers." Gordon then informed them that meant he was a free agent and would sign the best offer he got from any team. Ford dropped the ball on this one just like they did with some other talented young guys.

[@Sinister_Grin]

Ford did it a second time... They dropped the ball on Larson.

[@paulday5722]

@@Sinister_Grin Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne also. Jack Roush called Jeff to offer him a contract before Hendrick did but refused to hire Ray Evernham which was a deal breaker.

[@pat36a]

Incorrect, he was working on a hand shake which is how a real man did business back then. Jeff chose to chase thee money instead of his morals.

[@paulday5722]

@@pat36a This isn't Little League, dude. It's multimillion dollar racing at the highest level. NASCAR teams have ALWAYS signed contracts with drivers, crew chiefs, sponsors, and manufacturers. Take your "real man" nonsense somewhere else. Further, since when is a two year minor league deal automatically a lifetime commitment? Does this standard apply to every other Busch/Xfinity driver that moves up to Cup with another team? This happens constantly in racing but, for some reason, there is a never ending obsession with Gordon doing it.

[@paulwatson4189]

@@paulday5722 Kasey Killed himself with ford wanting out of his yates deal.Then when Petty was in ford Kasey thought that ride was not good and went to red bull racing and on to hms but in all reality he ran better in the 43.

[@81casperflip]

YES! I have been begging for Bill Davis to be on. Thank you!

[@vietnamvet6726]

He didn't say 10 words through the whole interview.

[@gilfernandez9122]

Love hearing stories from the elders of NASCAR! 👍

[@ncinteriorsplus3520]

Bill Davis Racing was right down the street from my house in High Point NC. I remember seeing Jeff on the wall in the office with the Baby Ruth # 1 car years after he left. The sounds of the caterpillar Ward Burton car on the dyno and watching the pit crew practice. The dyno tuning was music to me through the week while they were prepping for the next race.

[@DDD-us6uu]

I kept up with Jeff, Thursday night Thunder and loved when came to Busch, never forget Jeff in the Baby Ruth car, was a fan til Dale Jr showed up, still big fan of both of you. 🏁

[@johnb5231]

Remember vividly Jeff driving the #1 Ford Baby Ruth car for BD at Volusia County Speedway in 1992. His talent was so obvious, fast and fearless.

[@jasonburns9320]

So glad to Bill Davis on the show. Great interview!

[@Tristin471]

The best thing that ever happened to Jeff. I can’t think of a timeline where Jeff Gordon would have had more success……..

[@GoodOlRoll]

I can. The timeline where he doesn't hit the inside wall at Vegas in '08. Most likely hits 100 wins.

[@Tristin471]

@@GoodOlRoll Fair enough lol, but I was talking about his insanely successful 90s-early 2000s.

[@mlwilliam213]

Maybe a timeline where the ridiculous “playoffs “don’t exist and he’s considered the GOAT.

[@Tristin471]

@@mlwilliam213 That’s also true

[@tritontransport]

@@GoodOlRoll if Jeff Gordon stayed at BDR he would’ve had a mediocre ward Burton career. 4-10 wins and zero cup titles. Dale Sr knew Jeff Gordon was really good, that’s why he always heckled him because he had a secret respect for the kid 🤫

[@davids5006]

I remember when Jeff came to cup, was a fan from day 1 and was amazing following his career

[@davidelam631]

Bill and Gail were so nice to deal with. I worked for Amoco during the time we had the sponsorship. I am gonna have to listen to what he says happened because I was with it every step of the way, and can compare what happened to the sponsorship after 2001 what BD says. Actually, I know a LOT that was going on there from 98-01.

[@DC322]

It was a best move for Jeff Gordon's racing career going forward after signing with Hendrick. I remember back in the mid 2000s when Toyota came to Nascar and Bill Davis was one of them which angered Dodge outright. How ironic that Toyota has grown since and Dodge left the sport and not comeback since.

[@vietnamvet6726]

Toyota copied the Dodge engine that Davis gave them while he was running a Dodge. Traitor.

[@DC322]

@@vietnamvet6726 I don't know if that's true but Davis had to pay five million dollars to Dodge for that breach.

[@Cuhh346]

@@vietnamvet6726 ive read that gm allowed toyota to base their nascar engine on the old sbc design

[@vietnamvet6726]

@@Cuhh346 NOPE !!!

[@markseaman4750]

Ford really dropped the ball when they failed to get Jeff Gordon under contract when they had the chance.

[@austindenotter19]

Ford had some superfast cars back then

[@dsz2448]

Back then, Ford decided what drivers and crew chiefs would be paired. Jeff wanted Ray, Ford said no. So, GM said cha ching!

[@CrewGuyPJ]

they did.

[@keithmiller8400]

@@dsz2448 exactly!

[@Gage_Brumley]

Really it was Jack Roush that dropped the ball because he was too stubborn to hire Jeff and Ray

[@chrisizard8976]

I love how Dale is always like a year off on his history. Jeff's first cup race was the 92 finale and his rookie year was 93. LOL

[@CraigGrant-sh3in]

Bill talking about Jeff taking front clips off the cars . A guy I went to school with had a late model car that someone else drove. They were the car to beat at the time. They won championships . Dale Sr also drove the car one year on a Saturday night before the Glen race. The guy and driver decided they wanted to run a modified . He bought a modified . They had a good car except after driving late models so long the driver kept forgetting he didn't have fenders on the car. Broke a bunch of front ends until he got use to it .

[@Travisesty]

Great interview

[@iamgriff]

I was a poor kid about 11 years old, my Dad to ok me to a Super Chevy Sunday Show at Martin Michigan 131 drag strip. I was wandering around the vendor alley looking to score free stuff. I walked up to the Dale Earnhardt trailer. The guy took pity on my and gave me a old Wrangler poster of Dale Earnhardt 3 monte carlo. He was driving the Goodrich Chevrolet car that year, my poster was a year old. That was the day I became a Dale Earnhardt fan. When the rainbow warriors came onto the scene in the 24 car. I always laughed thinking that guy was cheeze whiz. 😂

[@timothyhorner3152]

I toured Bill Davis race shop one of the best days of my life

[@frankhollein7093]

I think Rick had Tim Richmond in mind to be the big star, then Tim got sick and Jeff came along.

[@davidh6818]

As talented as Jeff Gordon is,and with as much success as he had over his career he was no Tim Richmond.Tim had more car control and God give talent than any other driver in Nascar history.Tim and Harry Hyde would've won multiple Cup championships if Tim hadn't got sick.

[@kylefunderburk4194]

If Gordon would've stayed with Ford, he would've been the first driver to win 5-straight titles. He won championships in spite of Chevy being mediocre in the late 90s. In 1997, he accounted for 10 of Chevy's 11 wins. Dale Jarrett and Mark Martin were right on his heels and Jeff Burton out-performed Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte. 1998 was even worse for Chevy in some respects, even though Earnhardt and Labonte both reached victory lane once. Gordon won 13 races, though. Ford really dropped the ball and seeing some of their recent misteps, I have to wonder how interested they actually are in NASCAR.

[@kylefunderburk4194]

@NoSoyAllowed You're missing the point completely. Jeff Gordon won despite Chevy not being as good as Ford in the late 90s. Why Chevy didn't win as much is irrelevant. With how much more Ford won from 1997-to-2000, it's not a stretch to say Gordon could've reached heights of dominance the sport had never seen before.

[@kylefunderburk4194]

@NoSoyAllowed Larson, but I also think they should've done more to get Kyle Busch to SHR to replace Almirola, and to bring KBM to Ford. Their pipeline is lacking compared to Chevy's and Toyota's, although Zane Smith looks like the real-deal. And since 2021, Ford has really struggled aerodynamically. Sure, Joey won the title last year, but he did so with only 17 top 10s. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe they're just all-in on the playoff format.

[@robertfowler217]

@@kylefunderburk4194 you are totally correct Ford has done all the damage to themselves

[@warrenself]

@@kylefunderburk4194 NASCAR made Ford change their nose before the 2022 season started. And for this year everyone designed a new nose.

[@ZVPieGuy]

​@@kylefunderburk4194Their main fumble is not having a development pipeline. Without BKR in the truck series, and Roush & Penske in the Xfinity series there are almost no seats for Ford development drivers.

[@zachronspees6432]

I could be mistaken, but from what I recall seeing from older videos over the years is Jeff was going to leave BDR once he enter cup. The question was, is he going to stay with Ford and go to Jack Roush, or jump ship and go to Rick Hendrick & Chevy. Part of the reason why he went with Rick Hendrick/Chevy was due to how Jack handle the situation with Jeff & his dad.

[@davescott686]

Nope, they wanted Ray evernham as part of the package. Jack Roush did not he had his own people.

[@chrispokorney6801]

Jack isn't the smartest cat in the hat. He made Alot of Bad Decisions through the years. That's coming from a Ford Man.

[@davescott686]

@@chrispokorney6801 Certain we all screw up but he didn't get where's he's at by being a dummy..lets be honest

[@chrispokorney6801]

@@davescott686 If you only knew.

[@Foxdidnothingwrong]

​@@davescott686 Jacks issue is that he wanted to keep it old school and didn't bother to listen to his drivers if he had listened he would have more than 2 championships most likely

[@williamhesprich9040]

I have heard second and third hand versions of who screwed who over since the early 90's and I'm not sure which one's to believe. I watched Alan Kulwicki in person as he raced at Slinger Super Speedway winning races and track championship there. Also racing and winning at Milwaukee's Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin. Also watched Mark Martin race what I believe sponsored by the same radio group as Alan. Alan's sponsor was 97 WLPX and Mark's was Radio 11 WISN. Alan's car was mostly yellow, Mark's car if I remember correctly was green. Alan's car was a Chevy, Mark's might have been a Ford. I Now have a question for the local NASCAR radio program, Let's Talk NASCAR. It's a caller driven program Sunday mornings. Has been going on over 30 years.

[@whac1c]

If Jeff Gordon stays loyal to Bill Davis, who would've been in the #24? Greg Sacks? No one? Where would Bobby Labonte have landed? How much success would've Jeff had? Really bizzare to think about the butterfly effect of what happened.

[@susanbezio6708]

Alan Kuwicki was a great guy. Left us to soon.

[@wez492]

As a genuine fan of the sport , This was knowledge revealed to me long ago....

[@tennbones]

Good interview. Very interesting.

[@jefferyrobertson7520]

Bill Davis Car Owner Number 22 Maxwell House Coffee Ford Thunderbird From Final Chapter In 1993 Thanks For Uploading

[@garyk76]

Bobby labonte was the driver when I remember that car

[@jefferyrobertson7520]

@@garyk76 You're Correct

[@brianadams4309]

Great shirt Jr! Love Butch!

[@motorcoachtech7615]

I remember seeing Jeff in the Carolina Ford, and Baby Ruth #1 at Dover Downs.

[@TanDawg58]

This is an unexpected interview from Jr. I wonder if there's going to be any discussion of Bill Davis VS Chrysler Corp.

[@DonCarlosDonCarlos]

Listening to the episode, yes it is talked about, Davis while he may be a nice guy, he wasn't a good business person. Also the way he talked about Ward not having confidence is kinda shi**y.

[@jpatt9275]

Bill looks good!

[@Big_T51]

Let's be honest Jeff Gordons career would have been severely hampered by Bill Davis racing. Could not have wanted him much or you would have stepped up the offer

[@DavidSmith-cr4pw]

Always liked Bill Davis. Being a lifelong Ford fan, the Gordon thing still stings.

[@kieferclarkf1674]

‘93 was Gordon’s rookie year in Winston Cup.

[@thecommonsenseconservative5576]

Well they wouldn't let him take Ray which is what he wanted

[@down-airdave6371]

I moreso want to hear about Billy’s whole Toyota-Dodge fiasco

[@pumpkinking5174]

Evernham lasted six weeks with Alan Kulwicki.

[@billcary30]

i'd like to see where bobby labonte came into all this. cause if i remember right he's running his own team/coowner with his dad. also runnin a few races of a car for terry. 91 he wins the busch championship, 92 he's contending all year loses by 3 points. where does bobby fit in all this. supposedly gordon signed the deal with rick shortly after the atlnta race in 92 (which back then was in march) so we've got from march to the end of 92 to sign bobby. how'd that all take place cause i've never heard that part and i'm curious. i've also heard things where maybe bobby wasn't even thinkinb about cup yet as successful as his tema was in busch (3 or 4 years full time a champ and a second a 6th or 7th and a rookie top 15 which was normal for rookies in nascar back then. so where'd his deal come from. you almost never hear about that just how gordon screwed davis. where this get's complicated is also when you think about what happens in 93-94 with losing davey and alan and then ernie getting hurt. why you ask? ok davey gets replaced by irvin. irvin's not likely leaving the 4 car other wise. part of why it took so long for him to was the contract buy out because he'd just signed an extension with the 4.and then the 4 tanks the rest of year to get ready for next year. they were still top 7 in points when ernie left and then the bottom fell out. so u say how's that effect labonte? i'll get there. labonte's with davis. ernie get's hurt jarrett eventually signs for yates for 95. leaving gibbs ride open. labonte goes to gibbs. davis signs lajoie that's a disaster, then ward. ok. so davey don't die or ernie don't get hurt, what then? labonte stays with davis long term like ward did? i don't really see that happening. so let's go the other way. Gordon stays with this team. does he leave for gibbs innstead/ or does he turn this into hendrick and it's a whole nother story.. lots of what if's from 93-94 and i guess taking this into consideration this was a set up for alot of the driver changes that were effected by the deaths and injuries.

[@vc27r]

Get Bill Elliott on!

[@timothyharrison8953]

So when does Bill talk more about his racing relationship with Mark Martin?

[@skeeterkilla2590]

How the heck do you sign in to see your bracket on the bracket challenge?

[@Dixoncider1973]

If gordon had been in a ford he would have won 8 or 10 championships, the 24 in a yates rocket.. that woulda been scary.

[@seanhoward8025]

I remember when Gordon ran that T-turd…and when it was Bill Murray’s favorite candy bar, too. 💩

[@watcherofthewest8597]

Mike couldnt seem to understand maybe Dale would just say something because he felt it to be true and good advice, not scheming who benefits or doesn't from something...wont miss mike much.

[@thefranchise4698]

Ford dropped the ball when they didn't want Ray Evernham to crew chief Jeff Gordon.

[@dawnmclees]

Yes I have and autograph card of Jeff in that Baby Ruth Ford .

[@dwalke26]

Ford seems to always do this in NASCAR, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Larson (when Tony Stewart wanted him), probably could’ve gotten Kyle Busch to SHR.

[@kangarooswild]

karma for this situation arrives at the 2002 Daytona 500 for Bill & Gail Davis...

[@sannyo6]

Dale Jr should start a channel where all these non televised racing goes on like the PGA network that started showing golf tournaments never seen. We hear about these events and classes but never see them. Want to reshape NASCAR and fan base? Show it all NOT just top tier races & just NASCAR… Jr has a media empire, built it. They will come. Jr has the name, find some more names. Burton, Stewart, Hamlin, Chastain, JMR’s names… idk build it and new fans will come

[@shadowears]

Only thing I can gather from this interview with the only details given...Gordon got a good name for himself with this Davis outfit and got an offer for more money and he went for it! Did he betray the Davis team? Did he make the right choice going forward with his career? I will not judge! I was not in his shoes!

[@deantait8326]

Well Duh. And wasn’t Mark Martin in the Busch series for Bill Davis?

[@Mystic-l3r]

Ya where you been.

[@MegaMr46]

I thought he drove a ford in his cup debut before making a switch to chevy

[@monteconnor4713]

Like the Butch T-shirt

[@jimgillett1184]

I was working in a small town on the Ohio River like 93 and the Wolfe brothers who one's son ran sprint cars told me one day when he sees me with my Dale Earnhardt shirt on. Wait till you see this kid from Indy son he's gonna be whooping all them boys lol. He was a wheel man but he was no Dale Earnhardt! And F#$k Dupont they cost me and my cousin a kidney dumping their chemical waste!

[@billgoodwin8742]

Did Ford drop the ball, or did Rick cherry pick him for cup?

[@davids5006]

Imo Ford dropped the ball

[@LuciusC3]

I remember the day well when I watched Jeff race the Baby Ruth Ford at Lanier Raceway…

[@mikecross4350]

He left ford and said he would like to go back someday and Ford said not a chance

[@chief3378]

To the people at dirty Mo media I don't get notifications when you guys put a video why

[@jlm582]

It's a KZbin problem. Notifications seem to be hit and miss sometimes.

[@michaelsullivan1262]

You gotta want it badder than the other folks!

[@codystout5353]

How is he going to be mad. Ford denied to sign Gordon to long term contracts. So Jeff moved to a better opportunity in the cup series.

[@DChrls]

I always thought it was a dick move of Gordon to not drive for a Ford team for at least 2 years. You should dance with the one who brought you to the party.

[@danieljackett4193]

Jeff Gordon raced 2 years in Bill Davis' Fords...91 and 92

[@bobdubree4718]

So was I, feel like they pay for Jeff 's start

[@davidrice3337]

I'm not a fan of Ray - never have been - but I do wonder what ever happened to his son - seems like I remember he had leucemia - he was a toddler - now he's got to be close to 30

[@sergeantmasson3669]

If not for Ray Evernham, Jeff Gordon would've been a nobody.

[@vietnamvet6726]

Is this the same Bill Davis who let Jeff Gordon go..............didn't see any potential. Dodge qualified 1-2-3 at Daytona and also won one of the qualifying races. All 10 Dodge's qualified for Daytona................NO engine block failures ever. Gave Toyota one of our engines which they immediately copied. Got sued and lost big time. By the way I was one of the Dodge people who worked on the engine program. Two of us worked on the original race group engines for the Petty's back in the day. Yep..............no experience there. Poor old Bill..............looks like dementia has kicked in.

[@jamesheiden696]

Another Great Driver F😡RD Let G🤬

[@UnEditedd]

Desk Die cast giveaway? None of that next gen junk

[@saddletramp6935]

So did Dale!

[@tonycindyhardy6538]

THIS IS WHY I HAVE NO USE FOR JEFF GORDON !!!!!

[@Naoj2024]

FORD could have had KYLE LARSON TOO..! THEY SEEM TO DROP THE BALL EVERYTIME , THEY COULD HAVE HAD A STAR…JUST STICK WITH CHEVROLET POWER BOYS… ! ALSO REMEMBER WHEN JEFF JUMPED TO THE BOWTIE BOYS FORD MADE FUN OF HIM SAYING HENDRICK WAS A SORRY MISTAKE..LOL ! 🏁❤🏁

[@BeautifulAngelBlossom]

There's a reason why Ford did not want Larson

[@Naoj2024]

@@BeautifulAngelBlossom Yeah, fox dumped TUCKER CARLSON TOO… LOL ! THERE IS ALWAYS A REASON …FORD and Fox News JUST MAKES BAD INVEST decisions….🤣🤯🏁

[@ronnieking1025]

looks like ford dropped the ball on getting one of the best all time drivers.

[@sergeantmasson3669]

ronnie King, Gordon and Evernham were cheaters. Gordon one of the nest NASCAR drivers? Oh, hell no. The best was Dale Sr, hands down. The only 7 times champion that didn't cheat. Richard Petty and Jimmie Johnson both cheated several times.

[@pat36a]

That'swhen I lost all respect for Jeff Gordon and rooted for him to break every race.

[@alexniapas9243]

Well that really worked 😂

[@thefranchise4698]

Too bad that backfired😂😂😂

[@gregoryhughes]

Bill Davis is a crook with no loyalty. Jeff’s entire success story is owed to leaving BDR

[@middlewert77]

Jerk Gordon. What a sleezy thing to do

[@thefranchise4698]

Jeff Gordon made a business decision that worked out for his career😊

[@BeautifulAngelBlossom]

Jeff Gordon always did sleazy things I used to been a fan of his but I stopped being a fan of his after he got it more sleazier

[@darrelladams4188]

Sean ????? I keep forgetting you Brits don’t speak English.😂🎉

[@darrelladams4188]

Oops I’m leaving it in !!!! What culture or cultaholic

[@michaelsullivan1262]

Boo frickity hoo. My whole two girlfriends ever left me. 🤓

[@lancehurley9743]

Yes..he drove a ford, i remember it very well…and that’s been nearly 35 years ago…which sucks because that means I’m getting older and it’s about my turn to die lol