From choirboy to playboy: Footloose and fancy-free, Jeff Gordon is eschewing his squeaky-clean image and coming out of his cocoon

Auto Racing Digest, Dec, 2003 by Larry Woody

THE HEADLINE ON THE COVER OF A SUPERMARKET tabloid screamed: "Revealed! Sexy Model Who Broke Up Jeff Gordon's Marriage!"

The young woman reputed to have sent Gordon's seven-year marriage spinning out and crashing into the wall was identified as Deanna Merryman, a former exotic dancer and actress who said she met the four-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion while working at a cosmetics counter in a Florida department store. (Ms. Merryman would later tell her story in an, ahem, revealing Playboy spread--more on that later.)

Gordon's wife, Brooke, meanwhile, filed for divorce, citing "marital misconduct."

The Perfect Marriage--the handsome, dashing young racer and the gorgeous former Miss Winston--was over. NASCAR's Ken and Barbie had split.

The divorce was messy. Brooke sued for half of the couple's estate, valued at around $50 million. Jeff balked and sparks flew. Their attorneys went it like Petty and Pearson swapping fender paint down the backstretch at Talladega.

Amid all of the turmoil, titillation, and tabloids, Gordon tried to remain focused on his racing. He issued a brief statement, asking the public and the media to respect his privacy during this "difficult time," and for the most part he got his wish.

Now the divorce is settled, the dust has settled, and a different Jeff Gordon seems to have emerged. The driver who once was derided by hard-core NASCAR fans as too goody-goody has shed his choirboy cocoon. Gordon broke up with Merryman (she claims he traded her in for a newer model), took an apartment in New York, and has recently been seen in the company of another drop-dead young lovely. (Yes, this is the same wholesome Jeff Gordon who, after winning his fourth title, was mischievously toasted with a glass of milk by Dale Earnhardt at the NASCAR awards ceremony.)

"We're seeing a new Jeff," says David Poole, a veteran motorsports writer with The Charlotte Observer who has not only covered Gordon's rise to NASCAR stardom but has become a personal friend as well. "He's now less-guarded, more open with people. The single biggest change I see in Jeff is that--maybe for the first time in his life--he is doing things in a way he thinks is best for him. It used to be that he did everything to try please other people.

"I don't know that his personality has changed. Jeff was never the type of guy to tell someone to get the hell away from him, and he's still a nice guy. He's still very personable and easy to get along with. He's still a great guy, but when someone goes through major changes in his life the way he has in the past year or so, he can't help but be affected."

Gordon's crew chief, Robbie Loomis, also sees a change in Gordon the race car driver--and he likes what he sees. "Jeff is more outspoken than he used to be," says Loomis. "That actually helps us as a race team. He won't let us go too far without speaking up. He's more willing to tell us exactly what he thinks, what he wants, and I like that in a driver.

"As far as his personality goes, I can see a difference there, too. It used to be that if there was a crowd of people gathered together and having a conversation, Jeff tended not to join in. Now he'll come over and start taking to people. He seems to enjoy mixing in more."

Gordon declines to discuss his private life with the media. But he has admitted that the strain and distractions of last year's divorce took a toll. "It had to," says Darrell Waltrip, a retired three-time NASCAR champion who is now a color commentator for the Fox Sports racing broadcast team. "Jeff is a major celebrity and his and Brooke's divorce was splashed all over the headlines. He couldn't escape it. It's impossible for a driver to have to deal with all of that and at the same time remain focused on his job."

Waltrip continues: "I know that when I was racing, I had to have everything exactly the same day after day, week after week. If there was the slightest difference--one of the kids was sick with the flu--it was a distraction. I can only imagine how tough it was for Jeff to try to keep his mind on racing while all of that mess was swirling around him."

Adding to the tumult was an attempt by Brooke's attorneys to gain closely guarded, secret financial information concerning other NASCAR race teams. When an attorney showed up in the garage prior to the Daytona 500, some team owners angrily suggested that the Gordons should keep their problems to themselves. Through it all, Gordon kept his head up and forged ahead. "

For years Gordon was something of an introvert, borderline shy, carefully guarding his personal life. Lately, he has begun to bloom. Earlier this year he accepted an invitation to guest-host "Saturday Night Live," having turned down a similar invite a few years earlier. "It was a blast," Gordon admitted afterward.

He later appeared as a celebrity guest on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" His "lifeline" was Poole, whom Gordon phoned for help to answer, "Which rock star was a boxer before he became a singer?" (Poole, incidentally, provided him the wrong answer.)