Jeff Gordon hopeful he can make one more good memory at 'his' Phoenix track

— -- AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Jeff Gordon has received all kinds of gifts this year, from barrels of bourbon to Shetland ponies for his children.

Several tracks even renamed nearby access roads after the four-time Cup Series champion, who's retiring after this season. But only Phoenix International Raceway saw fit to rename itself in Gordon's honor.

On Sunday, PIR will be known as "Jeff Gordon Raceway," the culmination of a six-month campaign to send the driver of Hendrick Motorsports' No. 24 Chevrolet out in style.

In fact, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey issued an official proclamation that Sunday will be "Jeff Gordon Day" throughout the state.

"I didn't think it could get any better than having the track named after me," Gordon said Friday between practice sessions at "his" track. "I guess I was wrong."

Realizing that Gordon would be the center of attention at next week's season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway whether he was in championship contention or not, PIR president Bryan Sperber and his track pulled out all the stops to make the driver's final visit to Phoenix a memorable one.

"Jeff's career is so much more than the amazing track record that he had behind the wheel," Sperber said. "He's just had a huge impact on the sport and American sporting culture in general and probably beyond."

Gordon already has plenty of good memories of Phoenix, dating to well before his NASCAR career took off in the mid-1990s. His victory in the 1991 Copper World Classic at PIR in a USAC Silver Crown car was a crucial moment in his path to stock cars.

"In the early days it was like going to Talladega or Daytona for me," Gordon recalled. "PIR was really the first one-mile paved track that I ever raced on, so I think about how intimidating it was to go that fast in that type of a car and compete there. It took me back to my pavement days, in go-karts and quarter midgets, and I took to it very, very well.

"That was a big, big event as an up-and-coming open-wheel driver," he continued. "It was a big year for us to do some great things at a level in USAC that got us recognized while I was pursuing NASCAR. Wins like that meant the world to me, and it definitely was one of those big milestones and steppingstones in my career in the early stages."

Gordon went on to win the inaugural Busch (now Xfinity) Series race at Phoenix in 1999, and fans voted his triumph in the spring 2007 Cup Series race as the No. 1 moment in the first 50 years of the desert mile's history.

That win was the 76th of Gordon's Cup Series career, tying him with the late Dale Earnhardt, and Gordon memorably drove a victory lap carrying a No. 3 flag honoring his longtime rival.

Since then, Gordon has increased his win tally to 93, the most recent and most important coming two weeks ago at Martinsville Speedway. That triumph locked Gordon in as one of the four drivers who will compete in the Championship Round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup next weekend. But that doesn't mean he isn't going to be trying to win Sunday. Gordon's last Phoenix victory came in 2011 in the last race before the track was reprofiled and repaved into Kevin Harvick's personal playground.

Gordon done a remarkable job this year of putting the distractions of the retirement tour out of his mind while focusing on the ultimate goal of one final championship.

"Right now we're all about team building and momentum and confidence," Gordon said. "Since the Martinsville win, the schedule has gotten really hectic, so it's going to keep my mind off of everything until race day. It's become a little more real, and I think it's all going to sink in next week."

The activities this weekend at "his" track should give Gordon even more memories to take with him when he transitions into the Fox television booth next year.

Aside from the change in nomenclature and the state proclamation, PIR also created a set of five limited-edition Gordon trading cards. PIR's digital platforms have highlighted "24 Moments of Greatness," and several unique items were created and auctioned for charity, with the proceeds split between Phoenix Raceway Charities and the Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation.

"When I think about what some of the tracks have done -- the towels with the fence on the 24th lap and some of the different signage and things on the track -- it's been really overwhelming," Gordon said. "When I first showed up to the tracks and it said '24' in the grass at some of the mile-and-a-half tracks, or on the walls, it really put a big smile on my face. It was really cool.

"Never did I think any of them would be named Jeff Gordon Raceway for a day," he added. "I hope this has been fun for the tracks to be a part of, to have a friendly rivalry among one another.

"Hopefully on the track I can give them what they came to see, which is a great performance and hopefully a win."