THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 9, 1994 TAG: 9408090527
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
On Saturday evening, about four hours after winning the inaugural Brickyard 400, Jeff Gordon settled into his room at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Motel and placed a telephone call. He dialed a local number.
``Pizza Hut. May I help you?''
``Yes,'' said Gordon. ``I'd like to order a pizza - thin crust with pepperoni, mushroom and pineapple.''
``OK, sir. That will be about an hour-and-45-minute wait.''
``What's taking so long?'' Gordon asked.
``We just had that race over there at the race track,'' the pizza man said.
``Well, will it help any if I'm the winner of that race?'' Gordon asked.
``Hold on a second.''
This was clearly a matter for the supervisor. And when he got on the line, Gordon identified himself. The supervisor said he'd see what he could do.
``That pizza showed up in 25 minutes,'' Gordon said Monday in a teleconference.
And the fellow who brought it didn't even ask for an autograph, Gordon said. ``But I gave him a big tip,'' he added.
Thus, with fresh, hot pizza, Gordon relaxed with his fiance, Brooke Sealey, and watched a tape-delayed telecast of the race he had just won.
So if you wondered what kind of lavish celebration the first winner of the Brickyard 400 had on the night of his biggest victory, this was it: pizza and TV in Room 220.
Later, Mari Hulman George, the speedway's board chairperson, called and invited him to a celebrity-studded party. He politely declined.
``I didn't want to turn her down,'' Gordon said. ``But I was just about ready for bed, and Brooke and I were just kind of relaxing and watching the race.''
Gordon's victory in the richest and most anticipated NASCAR stock-car race ever clearly hasn't gone to his head. And he doesn't think it will.
``This is something very important to me - to not get a big head,'' he said. ``I want to make sure I don't ever change. And I've got some real good people around me, especially Brooke, to help me keep my head on straight.''
Gordon was at Disney World on Sunday and Monday, leading parades, riding rides (he especially enjoyed the MGM Studios' new ``Tower of Terror'') and doing public appearances.
``I think that I've been so busy, I haven't been able to think about what's just happened,'' he said. But in the shower Monday morning, it hit him full force. ``Man, I've just won the Brickyard 400,'' he said to himself.
``This first, inaugural race was bigger than life, as far as I'm concerned,'' he said. ``I feel like right now I'm on top of the world. But we've got Watkins Glen to come back to this weekend - and a road course. So we're going to set right back down to reality when we get to Watkins Glen.''
``I feel like in one way my career has taken a huge step, but in another way, I'm no different than I was Friday morning or Saturday morning before that race ever started.''
And if you need any other evidence of that, just remember what he did for dinner after the race. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Jeff Gordon
After winning Saturday's Brickyard 400, Jeff Gordon went to his
hotel room, sat down to watch the race and ordered a pizza. When
Pizza Hut told him it would be an hour-and-45-minute wait, Gordon
balked.
PIZZA MAN: We just had that race over there at the race track.
GORDON: Well, will it help any if I'm the winner of that race?
\ He was eating 25 minutes later.
by CNB