Jeff Gordon really sounds like he wants to race again

No one is suggesting that Jeff Gordon wants to make a full fledged comeback, but he definitely appears to have getting behind the wheel again on his mind.

With several seasons under his belt as a broadcaster, Jeff Gordon appears pretty comfortable in the current stage of his life. Certainly, he sees the youth movement in full swing at the top level of NASCAR and knows he probably got out of full-time racing at just the right time.

But the operative term there is “full-time,” and it’s become pretty apparent over the last 48 hours or so that Gordon is having some thoughts about getting behind the wheel of a race car again.

First, he caused a stir (especially with the track’s social media team) by suggesting that he’d be willing to try a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville. Today, during the lengthy rain delay prior to the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Gordon once again hinted that he’s got a racing itch he’d like to scratch.

The final interview the Fox Sports team talked to in the Hollywood Hotel before the race was Daniel Suarez. Gordon expressed his admiration for how quickly Suarez learned to handle NASCAR cars coming from a different racing background than most other Cup Series drivers, particularly his lack of dirt racing experience — something Suarez said was not even an option growing up in Mexico.

After Suarez said that trying out some dirt racing is something that’s on his list of things to do, Gordon noted that he was so pumped hearing the young driver talk about it that he felt like he might join him.

Next: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from Atlanta: Highlights, updates and stage results

Just spitballing here, but maybe Gordon’s two comments can be taken together. After all, there’s a dirt track race in the Truck Series in mid-July …

Okay, so we probably won’t see Gordon in the field at Eldora Speedway this summer. What we do think is that he’s going to run a race somewhere, in some series, either this year or next. You can’t take the racer out of the champion altogether, and a one-off return might help ensure he gets his fix of driving fast instead of merely watching other people do it.