Wednesday Afterschool Special: Jeff Gordon Returns

24 takes over for 88

Jeff Gordon is coming out of semi-retirement to drive the number 88 car for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is currently experiencing concussion symptoms. Gordon will return to Sprint Cup racing this Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and at Pocono on July 31. Gordon last raced in Miami in November 2015, when he placed sixth. 

Rare photos of Jeff Gordon

NASCAR great Jeff Gordon turns 40 on Aug. 4, 2011. The four-time Sprint Cup champ has collected 84 career wins since his debut at the Hooters 500 in 1992 and seems poised to add to that total in his fifth decade. Here, Gordon celebrates his victory in the 2004 Brickyard 400. The win made him the first driver to win the race four times. He has not won the race since, though, while Jimmie Johnson has won it three times in the past six years.

The 2002 DuPont Day featured a cake shaped like Gordon's No. 24 race car.

In 2005 Gordon became the fifth driver in history to win the Daytona 500 three times.

Gordon holds a $1 million paycheck after winning the Southern 500 race in 1997 for the third year in a row.

A costumed dance group performed at the opening ceremony for the Jeff Gordon Children's Hospital in Concord, N.C., in 2006.

Gordon's daughter Ella Sofia admires her father's car before the 2008 LifeLock 400 at Michigan.

Gordon, in his rookie year, watches qualifying for the 1993 Pepsi 400 with Dale Earnhardt. Gordon went on to win the Rookie of the Year award but did not get his first career victory until 1994.

Fans ask Gordon for autographs before the start of practice in 2007.

Gordon and his wife, Ingrid Vandebosch, make an appearance at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala in 2009.

Gordon used a pair of pistols to celebrate his victory at the 2009 Samsung 500 at Texas.

Gordon talks with fellow driver Jimmie Johnson in 2007. At that time, Johnson had just won his first Sprint Cup title. Johnson now has five Sprint Cup championships, one more than Gordon.

Gordon jumps from the roof of his car after winning the Winston Cup championship at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1997.

Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. talk before qualifying at the 2006 Sylvania 300.

Jeff Gordon and his wife took their children to New York to celebrate the launch of Gucci's "Children Collection" in 2010.

Gordon and his then-fiancee Brooke Sealey celebrate Gordon's win of the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994. The couple divorced in 2003.

Jeff Gordon celebrates winning his third Winston Cup by standing atop his car in Times Square as part of the lead-up to the 1998 NASCAR annual awards show.

Gordon poses with his parents at the grand opening of the Jeff Gordon Children's Hospital in Concord, N.C.

Gordon takes a pit stop during the 2007 Subway 500.

Gordon poses with Britney Spears, who was the grand marshal for the 2001 Pepsi 400 in Daytona.

Gordon and his wife Ingrid, Vandebosch, pose at the premiere of the film Valkyrie in New York.

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'Murica

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I'm just gonna leave this here. Happy birthday, champ.

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Little man has moves, especially considering how young he is. 

He could have at least warned this guy

That's gonna bruise.

Today's Peanuts

(Photo credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)