NASCAR championship winning crew chief has plans to do something else in 2022
Before his days in NASCAR, Todd Gordon used his college mechanical engineering program to build a race car. In the 1990’s the driver raced at Oswego Speedway in New York state.
In 1998, Gordon moved to NASCAR but he left his helmet at home. He worked on Phil Parsons’ No. 10 team as a crew member.
Between 1998-2010, Gordon worked for Joe Gibbs Racing, PPC Racing, BAM Racing, Travis Carter Motorsports, CJM Racing, Baker-Curb Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing.
Finally, Gordon landed at Team Penske. In 2012, he made his debut as a NASCAR Cup Series crew chief for AJ Allmendinger at Team Penske. Since, he’s served as the crew chief for four different drivers and 338 races.
A career highlight is the series championship in 2018. Logano drove the No. 22 machine to the title with Gordon on the pit box.
After the 2019 season, Roger Penske elected to make a big shakeup within his team. All crew chiefs within his organization switched to new cars withing the same organization.
In 2020 and now 2021, Gordon has been working with Ryan Blaney. However, this will be his last year on the road.
Todd Gordon comments on retirement from crew chief role
NASCAR has about 40 weekends of racing on the 2021 season. That leaves 16 weekends at home. And the off-season, isn’t an off-season at all when there’s a new season to prepare for back at the shop.
“You look at any life and there’s several chapters in it,” Todd Gordon said via Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
“It’s been an awesome run here at Penske. I’m really fortunate to have the opportunities I’ve had here. But, looking at it going forward, this is my 23rd year down here in NASCAR, 10 years in the Cup Series.”
“I just made a family decision. This will be my last year sitting on the pit box. I’m going to make the transition to something else and a new chapter of life, I’m not sure what that’s going to be.”
“I’m looking to have a little more family time. I’ve got two daughters, one in college and one in high school.”
“Just blessed with the opportunities that I’ve had to this point. Looking forward to making a little bit more of a priority of the family time.”
“At the end of the season, I’ll be vacating the pit box for the #12 team. Family is important. Through the pandemic, for everybody, it makes you start seeing those things.”
Gordon added, “Had some of these thoughts a couple years ago. Just trying to find the timing for it. Thought this was the right time to go ahead and make that transition to the next chapter of my life.”
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