Last Saturday night during the broadcast of the Tulsa Shootout, event promoter Emmett Hahn announced that four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon would be back inside the SageNet Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma to serve as the Grand Marshal for the 39th Annual Chili Bowl Nationals. 

This week will mark the second time that the Pittsboro, Indiana native will have served as the Grand Marshal for the biggest Midget race in the world. Gordon was also the Grand Marshal at the 2022 Chili Bowl Nationals.

Gordon started in dirt racing before eventually going to race NASCAR in 1992. Gordon made one Chili Bowl Nationals start in 1990 when he finished 16th. He eventually went on to win 93 Cup races from 1994 to 2015, as well as four championships. Gordon sits third on NASCAR’s all-time wins list behind Richard Petty and David Pearson, and fourth on NASCAR’s all-time championships list behind Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Jimmie Johnson.

Since retiring from NASCAR racing in 2016, Gordon has gone on to become the Vice Chairman at Hendrick Motorsports.

When Gordon served as the Grand Marshal in 2022, he joined the FloRacing broadcast booth to talk about the Chili Bowl Nationals and the growth of dirt racing as a whole.

“I’ve always followed (dirt track racing), but for some reason in the last eight to ten years, my love for it as a fan has gotten so much greater,” said Gordon in 2022. “And it’s kind of brought me back to it. I guess everyone talks about coming full-circle, and this past year I got to drive a Midget for the first time in many years. And that was when I said ‘Man, why did I not go do more races over the years?’”

Gordon got back behind the wheel of a Midget as an exhibition during the 2021 BC39 at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and turned some laps.

Watch: Jeff Gordon Drives A Midget During The 2021 BC39

But now in 2025 he’ll be back at the Chili Bowl Nationals to serve as the Grand Marshal once again, while one of his championship drivers from NASCAR, Kyle Larson, returns to the Chili Bowl for the second year in a row to chase his third Chili Bowl Nationals Golden Driller.

Race fans can watch the entire Chili Bowl Nationals beginning on Sunday, January 12th, all the way through to the final checkered flag on Saturday, January 18th live on FloRacing with a FloRacing subscription. Fans can subscribe to FloRacing by clicking here.