(Photo courtesy of NASCARmedia.com/Chris Trotman/NASCAR via Getty Images)

Jeff Gordon announced today that the 2015 NASCAR season will be his final full-time Sprint Cup season racing for a championship.

The four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion and Hedrick Motorsports driver revealed that this will be the last year that he climbs into the #24 Chevrolet for every Sprint Cup race of the year.

Jeff began racing for Rick Hendrick when he signed a lifetime contract with the team owner in 1999. Since then Jeff has racked up 92 wins in NASCAR’s top series to rank third on the all-time race winner’s list.

Jeff has won the Daytona 500 three times during his career. That will likely make him a sentimental favorite to win the race next month when the 2015 NASCAR season opens in Daytona.

Last year Jeff won four races and made the Chase. However, he was eliminated under the new Chase Grid format in the final race before the Championship race.

With the announcement today, this will be the final chance the 43-year-old driver has to complete what he has been calling the “Drive For Five” and score his 5th championship of his career.

NASCAR.com reports that Jeff hesitated in using the word “retirement” when he made the announcement to his #24 racing team this morning; “I thought long and hard about my future this past year and during the off season, and I’ve decided 2015 will be the last time I compete for a championship. I won’t use the ‘R-word’ because I plan to stay extremely busy in the years ahead, and there’s always the possibility I’ll compete in selected events, although I currently have no plans to do that.”

By: Buck Stevens