Jeff Gordon Bringing Back Old-School Mustache For NASCAR’s Chase

Earlier this week, SB Nation proposed 10 different mustache options for Jeff Gordon in light of the driver’s promise to bring back his ‘90s ‘stache after making the Chase.

With more than 1,100 votes counted, it’s clear readers prefer “The Depp” mustache by an overwhelming margin. But as it turns out, Gordon’s ‘stache is probably going to look like “The Ditka.”

“I can’t control the grey,” Gordon said Wednesday in downtown Chicago. “I mean, yes, I could with some products – but I’m going for it. I’m excited.”

Gordon didn’t have the mustache yet during NASCAR’s Chase Media Day, but he did have a bunch of greyish stubble. After visiting a barber on Thursday, Gordon planned to bring his ‘stache to Chicagoland Speedway for the race weekend.

“I wanted to have it (Wednesday), but I need a little more growth,” he said. “... Friday, for sure, I will have a mustache.”

It’s unclear what exactly what sparked the mustache pledge – even Gordon can’t remember the specific circumstances – but he recalls being in the No. 24 team hauler one race weekend looking at Twitter when yet another fan brought up the awful-looking mustache he sported early in his career.

“I threw it out there and said, ‘Listen, if we make this Chase, I’m bringing back the mustache,” Gordon said. ”(The crew guys) were all like, ‘Yeah! Yeah!’

“I have fans all the time on Twitter, off Twitter, other competitors who all say, ‘Bring back the ‘stache! Where’s that ‘stache?’ And I guarantee it’s not because it was cool.”

In addition to Gordon’s promise, crew chief Alan Gustafson also pledged to shave his head – which he did – if the team made the Chase. Of course, none of this might have happened if Gordon’s wife, Ingrid, hadn’t reminded everyone on Twitter about her husband’s promise.

“I made a statement and I’m a man of my word, so that’s where it’s coming from,” Gordon said.