Q&A with NASCAR 09 cover boy Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon, four-time NASCAR Cup champion and accomplished Rock Band drummer, is the cover athlete for NASCAR 09 this year. He set aside some time before the NASCAR 09 Premiere Party last month at Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s new nightclub, Whisky River, in Uptown Charlotte, to talk about video games and life on the cover.
Q: Jeff, you've been on the cover first with just your car, and then with Jimmie Johnson. Now you're the only driver. How does it feel?
A: It's such a privilege. As far as these games have come -- and at this point in my career -- to be on the cover is the ultimate. The way they're using me within the game to mentor drivers ... I know I've been around the sport for a while and I'm recognizing my role these days.
Q: Did you play games all that much before you landed NASCAR Thunder 2002 cover?
A: Oh yeah, I've always ... since Atari, Intellivision, Nintendo. I've always been big into games, and of course racing has always been a part of my life so I liked the racing games. When EA came out with their first game it took it to the next level. They do such a great job with sporting games, but the reason they do such a good job is that they get into it and they understand it. And of course the graphics blow me away. The realism of the games, and that's really what I've been amazed by the last couple of years. When I'm playing the game and I'm at Talladega I'm like, "I feel like I'm at Talladega."
Q: When a lot of guys travel, they're bag is stocked with consoles. Are you same the way?
A: I'm the same way. Rock Band has been my big thing. I love Rock Band, which EA does, thankfully. And I've always wished I could play an instrument. But from Tiger Woods to the NASCAR games, we're fully stocked. There's not a lot of down time, but what down time there is I think a lot of us like to escape and video games are the best way to do it.
Q: OK, now I know there are Xbox 360 logos all over the event tonight, but are you more of a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360 guy?
A: I've got to admit, I'm a huge Xbox 360 fan. As soon as the 360 came out, I switched everything. My boy Jon Edwards (Gordon's PR rep) over here keeps talking about some other racing games that might be around PlayStation, because we like 'em, but until they perfect that, I'm Xbox and NASCAR all the time.
Q: Just as some musicians find it difficult to pick up a game like Rock Band, knowing what real instruments feel like, is it tough for you to pick up a controller and play a NASCAR game?
A: That's the thing that's so realistic. If you go into a corner and the car doesn't turn, I will go into the setup, pretend I'm a crew chief, and I will do the same things that I would tell my crew chief to do. Sometimes you've got to do a little bit more. Every track is different. If you go in there and put in more right rear spring in the car, it acts the same way it does if we have more right rear spring in our cars.
Q: Everyone likes to talk about the Madden cover curse, but this is your third time around and you've survived this long, right?
A: Honestly, I hadn't even thought about it until tonight, but I'm going to have to go back and look at the years I was on the cover. But no, I don't believe in jinxes and bad luck. I believe you make your luck based on how you prepare, work hard, and if you do your job, then the results are going to show if all the ingredients are there.