This story appears in ESPN The Magazine's September 14 New Orleans Issue. Subscribe today!

We sat down to talk shop with Jeff Gordon as he prepares to close out his 24-year Cup career. And after 92 wins, four championships and $150 million in earnings, The Kid says he still has one more line to cross.

You still retiring after this year?

Yeah, I am. The closer we get to the end of the season, the more people seem to ask me that. If we were the points leader like a year ago, I wonder if these guys would be so nice about this farewell stuff. They might help me pack.

You've had your family by your side at the track a lot lately. Your son, Leo, is 5 and was just fitted for a quarter midget racer. Ella is 8. She's already turned some laps.

I told you a year ago how important it was to me that they have memories of experiencing Victory Lane with me, when they're old enough to really remember it. We got to experience that last year, and now this year they've seen all the great support. Hey, now they know that Dad used to be a big deal, man! Maybe I can be a big deal one more time.

So it's two races to go before the Chase and you're hanging on to the 15th of 16 spots. Do you think if you were running better it would change the way you feel about the finality of the season?

Honestly, I think the fact that we haven't run as well has kept me focused week to week, trying to finally get that win. Trying to get ready for the Chase. We have a lot of ground to make up on those top guys, and I've been so worried about getting the job done that I'm not really allowing myself to go there.

But when Bristol Motor Speedway names a grandstand for you or the Kentucky Speedway gives you a big gift ...

Yeah, I thought I told everyone not to give me a bunch of presents all year.

OK then, how about when the car is painted in the Rainbow Warrior throwback paint scheme or we all start digging out photos of the '93 mustache/mullet combo?

I joke, but really, those gestures are amazing. Every week now I have track presidents thanking me and using words like "bittersweet." Those are the moments when I'm reminded that we're in the middle of something special this year. If I won at one of these places, especially where I've had a lot of history, then there might be a bit of reality hitting. I really think Homestead [Nov. 22 season finale] is where it's going to kick in for me.

During the preseason media tour back in January, [team owner] Rick Hendrick said he expected 14 wins and your fifth Cup title. He was joking ...

Yeah, sort of.

But honestly, after last year, that didn't sound too outrageous. NASCAR's made some big aerodynamic changes since last year, and things have changed during the year too. Is that the problem?

We're missing speed. Some other organizations have gotten ahead of us. They've reacted to those changes quicker. You don't just find that overnight. It is certainly not from a lack of effort, but we are not in the position that we are in right now because we're performing poorly. It's because we're having issues ... the brake line at Watkins Glen [started fifth, finished 41st], getting caught up in that wreck at Indianapolis [finished 42nd], just things that are out of our control. If we can just do what I think we are capable of doing, we make it into the Chase. Then we get a reset, take a breath and see what we can go do there.

Still, though, and I've written this all year: I don't know if I've ever seen you smile this much. You were smiling after you wrecked out in your last Daytona 500. You were smiling at the Indy 500 driving the pace car. You were sure smiling during your Jeff Gordon Day parade back home in Pittsboro.

It's been so much fun. If you based it off what has happened on the track solely, then maybe you wouldn't think that. But if I can just step back from ... I'm very competitive. But if I just take one step back from that, this has been one of the best years I've ever had. Things like this, just reminiscing with longtime friends and family and people who have been a part of my career.

And getting to go to races. Like Indy. Like the Knoxville Nationals. Your Fox TV analyst duties will be done midsummer. So are we going to see Gordon the race fan in the grandstand?

Heck yeah. Parked in the infield every weekend, I get envious hearing all the screaming and yelling and whooping and hollering and music out there, and I'm in my bus fixing my own dinner and getting ready for bed. I am a fan of the sport. I love it. I keep telling my friends that we're going to get a group together and get a motor home and go to an infield and do a little tailgating.

And maybe do a little racing ...

Let's get this year done first.