Gordon lured to track by husband, stayed as full-time racer
By Jennifer Smith
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
SPARTA - There will be one set of hands with perfectly manicured acrylic finger nails clasped around a truck steering wheel in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race this weekend at the Kentucky Speedway.
At the exact same time, there will be a much older set of hands clasped in prayer in Centre, Ala.
The first set of hands belongs to Tina Gordon, the only female regular in the truck series.
The other set of hands belongs to Virginia Walsh, Tina's mother.
"I think I must say a prayer every lap," Walsh said. "I talk to God and anyone else that'll listen."
Walsh prays that her daughter won't crash into a wall or another truck. She prays that Gordon will win.
Next to Walsh is usually Tina's twin sister, Rena.
Her hands are clasped also (usually over her eyes).
"Rena won't even watch it," Walsh said. "She's too scared. It makes her nervous."
While one piece of the family is watching the truck race scared to death in a small town an hour from the famous Talladega racetrack, there is Tina Gordon, who seems to have no fear.
Her story isn't the typical growing up-in-racing story you hear. Seven years ago, Tina Gordon was selling insurance at her own insurance company.
Her husband, Gary, was racing cars on dirt tracks near their home. She would go to the tracks with him, but she was strictly a fan.
"I was a race fan," said Gordon, 34. "I was pretty much just a fan."
Then she became a fan with a whole new perspective. At an event in 1995 in Greenvalley Speedway in Gadsden, Ala., Gordon's husband coaxed her into his short-track car for an all-female powder puff race.
"I climbed in that dirt car that night -- it's something that's hard to explain -- I just knew this was something I had to do," Gordon said. "I'd only been a race fan. Until I climbed in that car I didn't realize that it was something I ever wanted to do."
Within a year, Gordon sold her insurance agency and was driving full time.
Her mother tried to dissuade her. But Tina always has been of her own mind.
"I've always pretty much been like whatever I want to do, I did it," Gordon said. "Whether it's playing football or racing cars or cheerleading or whatever."
That "whatever" now is racing cars. It's something Gordon has found some success in during a short period of time.
She ran on several small circuits before moving up to the NASCAR All-Pro Series full-time in 1999 and 2000. She raced on tracks in Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri and Florida.
She finished 20th in points both seasons.
Gordon's name started getting around in October 2001 when she drove in the Food World 300 ARCA/Remax Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Her first time out on the superspeedway, Gordon qualified fifth with a speed of 182.947 mph and finished 10th.
Her 2002 season began with a strong run in the 39th Annual Discount Auto Parts 3000 ARCA/Remax race at Daytona in February.
Just a few months later, Gordon's mother's fears were realized.
On May 18, Gordon was trying to make a pass for the 12th position when she crashed at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte during the ARCA race.
Gordon's car got hit so hard on the driver's side that it caved in the frame 26 inches. She has the scars to prove it. There is now a metal rod running from her knee to her ankle.
There is a metal plate in her ankle. She broke two bones in her leg in half, crushed her heel and broke two toes.
"I was so scared for her," Walsh said. "I tried to get her not to go back. But she was determined."
Thousands of cards and get-well wishes streamed in from around the country. Gordon showed them to her mother and knew what she had to do.
She had to get back in a car.
"I had to do it for me to make sure I was going to be OK," Gordon said. "I'm sure a lot of people thought that would put me out of racing forever. It didn't. Once I climbed back in that car, I never thought about it again."
The wreck was in May and by the Talladega race in October, Gordon was back behind the wheel.
Gordon, who races in the acrylic nails and full makeup, moved up to the Truck Series this year.
There have been sponsorship issues, but she's run in the No. 31 truck in all but two races this year. She is currently 21st in the points, 726 points behind leader Travis Kvapil.
Gordon hasn't finished in the Top 10 yet this season, but she thinks it's only a matter of time. The more racing she does, the better she feels she has gotten.
"You can't just read a book one night about it and say 'I'm going to go out and be a race-car driver,'" she said. "You need the experience. It just takes a lot of time."
When she isn't racing, Gordon spends her time being a mother. She has a son, Seth, who is 11 years old.
Tina Gordon might not have to deal with the same type of worries her mother experiences any time soon. The Gordons bought Seth a Go-Kart, but he hasn't shown much interest in it.
He's much more into baseball, where he's the catcher on a national championship traveling team.
Gordon said she's kept the car just in case.
"He doesn't really think it's that big a deal," Gordon said.
Seth doesn't realize that his mother is a big-name driver and the series' lone female driver to boot.
Gordon herself said she doesn't think about being a woman in racing too much either.
"That truck does not know what gender you are," she said. "At every level I've raced, I've always gotten a lot of support from other drivers. ... It seems like more of a family. Everybody cares about each other and really cares about me."
Much like her actual family cares about her.
"I worry, but I'm proud," Walsh said. "She's my daughter and she enjoys driving. That's all a mother can ask."