Tina Gordon

Tina Gordon is a woman who is not only competitive but is driven to succeed, not only in race car driving but every aspect of her life including rodeo competition business and other interests. Born on the 14th March 1969 in Andrews, North Carolina Tina started her driving career in 1995/1996 when she drove her husband’s short track car at Green Valley Speedway in Gadsden. She successfully won all six races that she entered. "I was hooked," she said laughing. The couple bought another car in 1997 and in her rookie season at the Men’s Hobby Division at Thunder Mountain Speedway in Fyffe she had 19 starts, giving her six Top 5’s, eleven Top 10’s and finished tenth in the overall point standings. She sold her business and began racing full-time at Green Valley before she moved on to the Birmingham International Raceway in 1998.

In 1999 and 2000, she raced trucks in the NASCAR All-Pro Series, full time on tracks in Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri and Florida, finishing 20th in the point standings, recording three Top 10 finishes. After making her debut in 2001 into the Busch Series at Darlington Raceway with little sponsorship the team decided to start and park after just one lap, giving her a start at 42nd and finish at 43rd. Tina’s career continued to improve and with a speed of 174.115 ph she qualified 16th on the 18th May 2002 in the 100 ARCA/Remax Race at Charlotte, a prelude event to "The Winston. Being in 13th position she was trying for the 12th position when a crash left her with serious leg and foot injuries. She was unable to race or practice until September of that year but nobody was surprised to see her back racing again. "It’s kind of like riding that horse and when you fall off, you’ve got to get back on it," Tina said then.

Her best career finish came in 2003 when she scored her first top-ten in the Busch Series at Talladega Superspeedway. Tina intended to run in the NASCAR Craftsman Series in 2003, going for the "Rookie of the Year". She raced in the #31 for the Brevak Racing team, again with limited sponsorship. However she didn’t qualify for all of her races and completed eleven races before her sponsor ended her run. She finished 13th at Charlotte and Nashville and in the top twenty three times eventually gaining 25th finish in the point standings.

Again in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 2004 Tina raced in the #13 ThorSport Motorsports Chevrolet, sponsored by Microtel and Vassarette but the sponsorship didn’t last and she only raced in five events, her best run was 24th at Daytona in the opening event. She was involved in a bad crash with Rick Crawford at Atlanta and Tina had minor injuries but she was able to race in the next race at Martinsville. She had her career best starting position in 2004, 13th at Daytona and Charlotte. In 2005 Tina made the decision to stay home with her husband, Gary and her son, Seth. The couple have founded Tina’s Dream Ranch, combining her love for horses and her love for children by sponsoring therapeutic riding camps for mentally and physically challenged children. "That’s probably the thing most folks don’t know about Tina," husband Gary explained. "She’ll do anything to help children, and animals as well." The ranch now includes eight horses, eight rescued dogs and a pond for fishing The Ranch is sponsoring trail rides and other events as fund raisers for the upcoming events for special children as well, because there will be NO CHARGE for any of the special needs children who participate.

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Tina Gordon
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Ala Farm News

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