Tina Gordon (born March 14, 1969) is an American former stock car racing driver and spokesperson for the Sticks 'N' Stuff furniture chain. She is related to neither NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon nor Robby Gordon. After being released from her ride at Jay Robinson Racing in 2005 she retired from racing.[1]

Tina Gordon
Born (1969-03-14) March 14, 1969 (age 55)
Cedar Bluff, Alabama, U.S.
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
14 races run over 3 years
Best finish51st (2004)
First race2001 South Carolina 200 (Darlington)
Last race2004 BI-LO 200 (Darlington)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 1 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
16 races run over 2 years
Best finish25th (2003)
First race2003 Florida Dodge Dealers 250 (Daytona)
Last race2004 Infineon 200 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of November 29, 2012.

Racing career

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Local

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Gordon competed in barrel racing, rodeos, and horse shows.[1] Gordon began racing cars in her husband Gary's short track stock car in 1995-1996 at the Green Valley Speedway.[1] She won all six events that she entered.[1] They bought a hobby stock car and competed at Thunder Valley Speedway during 1997.[1] In her rookie season, she finished tenth in points with 11 top-ten finished in 18 races.[1] She sold her insurance agency and began racing full-time in 1998, first at Green Valley then at Birmingham International Raceway.[1]

She moved to the NASCAR All-Pro Series in 1999; she finished 20th in touring truck series' points.[1]

ARCA Re/Max Series

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Gordon debuted in ARCA on October 20, 2001 at the Food World 300 held at the Talladega Superspeedway driving the No. 22 Sticks 'N' Stuff Furniture Ford. She qualified 5th and finished 10th, just behind future NASCAR journeyman Casey Mears.

In 2002 Gordon competed in four ARCA races, two driving the renumbered No. 66 Sticks 'N' Stuff Ford and two driving the No. 66 3M Post-it Note Ford. Driving the Sticks 'N' Stuff Ford she finished 26th in the Discount Auto Parts 300 at Daytona International Speedway and 12th later that year back at the Food World 300 at Talladega. In the 3M Post-it Note Ford she finished eighth in the Pork, The Other White Meat 400 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway and 35th in the EasyCare Vehicle Services 100 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte NC. Gordon crashed out of the EasyCare Vehicle Services 100 and suffered leg and foot injuries causing her not to race or practice until September of that year.

Busch Series

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Gordon made her Busch Series debut in September 2001 at Darlington Raceway. She drove the locally based No. 96 Colby Furniture Chevrolet into the field with a 42nd starting position. However, without full sponsorship, the team decided to start and park, finishing last (43rd) after only competing one lap.

Her next race was her best career outing. She drove the No. 22 Bost Motorsports Chevy in the 2003 race at Talladega Superspeedway. Starting 38th, Gordon was able to avoid a massive pileup on lap four. From there, she drove home to a 10th-place finish, completing all but one lap. She earned a top-10 in the race, where all but 12 cars were damaged or destroyed in the lap four crash, one of the largest in NASCAR history.

In 2004, Gordon made another start at Talladega, this time driving the No. 10 Sticks N' Stuff Chevy for Davis Motorsports. After starting 42nd, Gordon stayed in the race and finished 28th. For the rest of 2004, with sponsorship from Yahoo!, Vassarette and Microtel, Gordon secured the No. 39 Jay Robinson ride. Her first start for JRR was at Daytona International Speedway, where she finished 32nd. Gordon made 10 of her next 11 attempts before failing to qualify in five of her last six, which led to her release. Her best run with the team was a 26th at Pikes Peak and her best start was a 30th at Darlington.

Also in 2004, it appeared that during the Food City 250 in Bristol TN, Greg Biffle purposely crashed Gordon out of the race on lap 89 in retaliation for a slight bump to his left rear fender a half lap earlier.

Craftsman Truck Series

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Gordon entered 2003 with the intent to run for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year. She ran for the No. 31 Brevak Racing team with limited sponsorship from Scotch Tape and Microtel. However, the team did not qualify for all its races and Gordon only completed 11 before her sponsor ended her run. However, Gordon did well in those starts. She finished 13th at Charlotte and at Nashville and finished in the top-20 three other times. Despite limited racing, Gordon finished 25th in points.

In 2004, Gordon transferred over to the No. 13 ThorSport Racing Chevy, with sponsorship from Microtel and Vassarette. However, the deal quickly ended and she only was able to run five races. The best run was 24th at Daytona in the season opener. In the next race, at Atlanta, Gordon's Chevy was involved in a heavy wreck with Hank Parker Jr. and Rick Crawford, leading to minor injuries to Gordon. However, she was able to race in the next race at Martinsville. Gordon was able to set a career-best starting position in 2004 of 13th at Charlotte and Daytona.

Gordon retired after the 2005 season to be able to spend more time with her family.[1]

Personal life and post-racing career

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Gordon currently lives in Cedar Bluff, Alabama with her husband and son. Despite no longer driving the Sticks 'N' Stuff-sponsored race car, Gordon continued to appear in the chain's television commercials announcing current specials. In the ads, she was captioned as "NASCAR driver" and "Sticks 'N' Stuff driver". Gordon and her husband have founded Tina's Dream Ranch, which is a therapeutic camp for disabled children and adults.[2]

Political career

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In early 2008, she announced her candidacy for the Cherokee County, Alabama Commission post for District 3.[2] In the Democratic primary held on June 3, 2008, Gordon narrowly missed a runoff, running against a longtime incumbent and an influential local businessman.[3]

Motorsports career results

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NASCAR

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

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NASCAR Busch Series results
Year Year No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 NBGNC Pts Ref
2001 Chris Hoiles Motorsports 96 Pontiac DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV KEN MLW GLN CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR
43
RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM PHO CAR HOM 155th 0 [4]
2003 Bost Motorsports 22 Chevy DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX TAL
10
NSH CAL RCH GTY NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL PHO CAR HOM 110th 34 [5]
2004 Davis Motorsports 10 Chevy DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL
28
CAL GTY RCH NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW 51st 379 [6]
Jay Robinson Racing 39 Ford DAY
32
CHI
30
NHA
36
PPR
26
IRP
40
MCH
39
BRI
38
CAL
41
RCH
DNQ
DOV
39
KAN
40
CLT
DNQ
MEM
DNQ
ATL
DNQ
PHO
DNQ
DAR
41
HOM
DNQ

Craftsman Truck Series

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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NCTC Pts Ref
2003 Brevak Racing 31 Dodge DAY
22
DAR
18
MMR
17
MAR
DNQ
CLT
13
DOV
19
TEX
22
MEM MLW
25
KAN
31
KEN
21
GTW MCH IRP 25th 1112 [7]
Chevy NSH
13
BRI RCH
26
NHA CAL LVS
DNQ
SBO TEX MAR PHO HOM
2004 ThorSport Racing 13 Chevy DAY
24
ATL
35
MAR
30
MFD
34
CLT
25
DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN GTW MCH IRP NSH BRI RCH NHA LVS CAL TEX MAR PHO DAR HOM 49th 371 [8]

ARCA Re/Max Series

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Re/Max Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ARSC Pts Ref
2001 WP Motorsports 22 Ford DAY NSH WIN SLM GTY KEN CLT KAN MCH POC MEM GLN KEN MCH POC NSH ISF CHI DSF SLM TOL BLN CLT TAL ATL
10
122nd 185 [9]
2002 Midway Phoenix Racing 66 Ford DAY
26
ATL
8
NSH SLM KEN CLT
35
KAN POC MCH TOL SBO KEN BLN POC NSH ISF WIN DSF CHI SLM TAL
12
CLT 56th 515 [10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lowry Geno, Suzy. ""DRIVEN TO SUCCEED": Tina Gordon Now Dedicated to Helping Others". Alabama Farmers Coop. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Tina Gordon is Candidate for Commission," Cherokee County Herald, March 31, 2008 Archived June 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Runoffs to be Set for Commission Seats," Cherokee County Herald, June 3, 2008 Archived June 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Tina Gordon – 2001 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  5. ^ "Tina Gordon – 2003 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  6. ^ "Tina Gordon – 2004 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  7. ^ "Tina Gordon – 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  8. ^ "Tina Gordon – 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  9. ^ "Tina Gordon – 2001 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  10. ^ "Tina Gordon – 2002 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
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