Jeff Gordon reacts to Hall of Fame selection

Throughout his racing career, Jeff Gordon has been at the right place at the right time, achieving four Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championships and 93 victories in the process.

In sharing his thoughts and emotions after it was announced he was one of five selectees for the Class of 2019, Gordon agreed that once again, timing was everything.

“I’ve always said timing has been on my side throughout my career,” Gordon said Wednesday evening in a press conference at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina. “The timing couldn’t be better to be in the Hall.”

Gordon also went into detail about how honored he feels to be selected among the likes of Davey Allison, Jack Roush, Roger Penske and Alan Kulwicki, mentioning how each had affected him.

“I’m so excited about going in with this class of inductees. Because every one of them played a role in my life, whether it was directly or indirectly,” Gordon said. “Davey was somebody really special to me. I really looked up to him. A lot people compared me to him, maybe it was because of my mustache, I don’t know (laughs).”

Gordon heard his name called by NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France at the FOX Sports studios, surrounded by his wife Ingrid, daughter Ella Sofia, son Leo and parents John and Carol Bickford.

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“I was over at FOX studios because they were going all-in on their bet (laughs),” said Gordon. “When you hear your name, you have different feelings. This is very special. It’s kind of surreal. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was driving a race car. Very surreal, but a huge honor.

“I was trying not to get my hopes up or get too caught up into all of it,” he added. “Having my family and so many people reach out to me when the announcement came, that was fantastic.”