“You must be somebody”: When Hollywood superstar Leonardo… – EssentiallySports

Building on the legacy created by Dale Earnhardt and Bill Elliott, Jeff Gordon played a very crucial role in popularizing stock car racing in America. The Californian dominated the sport in the 1990s and 2000s, becoming a hero to many thanks to his driving style and love of publicity. With 93 Cup Series victories and 4 championships, he is widely considered one of the greatest in American motorsports. But he hasn’t always been very popular off the track.

In an interesting revelation during the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame speech, former runner Kenny Wallace spoke about the time Gordon met Leonardo DiCaprio and, surprisingly, was not recognized by the star.

Kenny Wallace recounts the incident where Gordon met Leonardo DiCaprio

Jeff Gordon’s expertise behind the wheel of a high-performance machine has earned him the respect of being the third most successful driver in terms of victories in NASCAR history. After announcing his retirement from full-time racing, he began working as a commentator and analyst for NASCAR on Fox. Currently, he is the vice president of the most influential racing team in NASCAR: Hendrick Motorsports. Unfortunately, he didn’t always have these accolades that could have helped him attract the attention of Leonardo DiCaprio.

Speaking about the time Jeff Gordon met the movie star, Kenny revealed how the former racer approached him and introduced himself. Citing Gordon’s narration of the incident, Kenny said: “Jeff Gordon shakes Leonardo’s hand and says ‘My name is Jeff Gordon.’ Leonardo takes those sunglasses off his nose. He looks at Jeff Gordon and says, “I don’t know who you are. But if you’re here, you must be somebody.

Being one of the biggest stars in a country where NASCAR is one of the most popular sports, it’s quite surprising that DiCaprio doesn’t know one of the sport’s biggest legends. As Joe Garner, the author of Jeff Gordon: his dream, his motivation and his destinythe incident that Kenny Wallace had spoken about happened at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in 1997. The book also contains an extended version of this story where Jeff Gordon was no stranger to another superstar for whom no mission is impossible.

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Star-struck Jeff Gordon gets cozy with Tom Cruise and talks ‘racing’ with the superstar

Receiving an invitation to the starry skies of the 1997 post-Academy Awards party, courtesy of Rick Hendrick, Jeff and his wife attempted to meet Tom Cruise, who had been nominated for an Oscar for his role in the hit film, Jerry Maguire. Just as the couple was about to leave after the star’s security denied them the chance to chat with him, Tom Cruise called Jeff’s name and spent more than a few minutes talking about racing with him . Recalling the incident, Jeff said: “He sits us down in his booth and says, ‘Oh my God, this is awesome. It’s such a pleasure to meet you. He introduces us to Nicole [Kidman]. He couldn’t have been nicer.

It was on his way out of the party that he met Leonardo DiCaprio, 22, who couldn’t figure out who he was. As quoted in the book, Jeff said: “He was wearing these purple sunglasses and two glasses of champagne. I said, “Leonardo, I know you’re probably not a NASCAR fan, but I’m a NASCAR driver and I love your work, and congratulations on everything.” I’ll never forget; he looks at me and says, ‘Ah, man, I’m not NASCAR, but if you’re here, you must be somebody.’

Maybe Jeff Gordon’s love of Hollywood comes from this party. The rider went on to be part of commercials, music, video games, TV shows, feature films, and more. He notably lent his voice to a character, Jeff Gorvette, in the famous film series “Cars”. As Pixar says, the character was inspired by the pilot itself. Along with several appearances in other Hollywood films, he has also appeared on television, including hosting “Saturday Night Live” in 2003.

Currently in his second year as Vice President of Hendrick Motorsports, he continues to make appearances on shows like The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Hopefully Mr. H’s right-hand man needs no further introduction to Leonardo DiCaprio.