NASCAR great Jeff Gordon roars into The Amelia

The largest and longest-running classic car concours d’elegance in Florida will rumble to life Friday as the 28th iteration of The Amelia comes to the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island and adjacent golf fairways.

As thousands of fans view classic cars over the three-day event, the honoree will be multiple NASCAR champ Jeff Gordon, plus a collection of the steel steeds he’s guided to those wins.

The Amelia weekend starts with a classic car tour of Amelia Island on Friday, ending on Centre Street in Fernandina Beach for a lunchtime public display. There are seminars, a car auction and more. It culminates with a massive display Sunday of 250 rolling sculptures done in steel, aluminum, carbon fiber and wood on the fairways of the Golf Club of Amelia Island next to the hotel.

One show corner Sunday will host race cars celebrating Gordon’s career, a day after he is part of a seminar, “Jeff Gordon: The Hendrick Motorsports Years,” and a dinner interview led by longtime crew chief Ray Evernham.

For Gordon, mingling with fans and his past race cars at an event known as the racer’s concours will also see him trod the ground where other famous racers have been honored in the past 27 years. Those include honorees like NASCAR racers Richard Petty and Parnelli Jones, Indy 500 winners Bobby and Al Unser, sports and Formula 1 racers Stirling Moss and Phil Hill, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske.

Gordon said he’s excited to be coming. Evernham nudged him to come for years.

“He is always raving about what a great event it is and the car culture and all the spectacular things to see and do, so I have been trying to get there for several years,” Gordon said. “Little did I know that my first experience would be as an honoree. And to join that list of past honorees is incredible, so I am very excited. My family is looking forward to it, and I can’t wait to spend some quality time with a lot of folks down there, see some great cars and show some cars from my past.”

Begun in 1996 by Jacksonville businessman, car collector and magazine photographer Bill Warner, the automotive charity event is always held at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island and the 10th and 18th fairways of the Golf Club of Amelia Island. Warner remains chairman emeritus after The Hagerty Group acquired the concours’ rights in mid-2021. The event continues to annually honor a famous racer and his cars while showcasing classic marques, antiques and muscle cars to crowds numbering more than 25,000.

McKeel Hagerty, whose automotive lifestyle and classic car insurance companies own The Amelia, says they will celebrate many milestone American, German, Italian and European car marques and racing machines.

“We view us at Hagerty as stewards of this event, and our purpose as a business, as an organization is to…