As one of NASCAR’s greatest athletes, Jeff Gordon was a beloved character in his field. But behind the smoke of burning rubber on the asphalt, Gordon was dealing with a complicated divorce from his first wife, Brooke Sealey.
Despite the glamor of his sporting career, Gordon’s reputation was tarnished by cheating scandals and allegedly excessive court claims that accompanied the fallout from his first marriage.
While Gordon nearly made it through his 25-year NASCAR career without a blemish, his seven-year marriage to the former Miss Winston turned to ashes in the public eye.
Here, DailyMail.com looks at the bitter divorce that shook the NASCAR world.
NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon was one of the sport’s most beloved racers.
His almost perfect sports career was marred by his divorce from model Brooke Sealey.
The couple met while Sealey was modeling for Winston and Gordon’s stardom was taking hold.
Their titles made the couple hide their relationship from the public from the beginning.
To begin with, Gordon and Sealey’s relationship wasn’t exactly rainbows and butterflies. When the couple first crossed paths in 1993, their respective titles prevented them from dating publicly, forcing them to keep their relationship under the radar.
Gordon was making a name for himself as a babyface on the racetrack. On the other hand, Sealey had just been named the face of the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, a title almost synonymous with the most beautiful woman of the time.
RJ Reynolds rented NASCAR from 1997 to 2003, naming the series Winston after his popular line of cigarettes. The race became a way for the two to meet. However, Sealey’s affiliation with the sponsor proved to be an obstacle to their relationship, something they cleverly navigated in private.
Driving his iconic No. 24 car, Gordon won two qualifying races for the Daytona 500, elevating his stock in the world of NASCAR. With his popularity on the rise, many began to pay attention to him, including Miss Winston herself.
With the handbook prohibiting NASCAR drivers from dating Winston models and the media’s eye on scandals, the couple began dating privately to avoid scrutiny.
The couple did a good job sneaking around to stay out of trouble. Realistically, though, Sealy would have been the only person who would have faced consequences for the replaceable nature of his position.
Secrets came out when Sealey ended his time with Winston, and their big reveal made them the hottest couple in NASCAR. After going public with their relationship, the couple married in 1994.
They quickly became the most attractive couple in NASCAR, given Gordon’s status as a racer.
After going public with their relationship, Gordon and Sealey married in 1994.
Their marriage took a sour turn when Sealey filed for divorce out of the blue in 2002.
Sealey publicly alleged that the NASCAR superstar was having an affair, hence the divorce
As newlyweds, the couple seemed to be on cloud nine, not having to hide their romance after saying I do.
Sealey later shared that an audibly nervous Gordon approached her at Daytona and asked her to have lunch in a shaky voice. Gordon later revealed that he went to the bathroom five times during that lunch to make sure he could receive the ring correctly when he asked the all-important question.
“And they all lived happily ever after” was not the line he followed. Their fairytale love story took a radical turn when Sealey filed for divorce seemingly out of the blue in 2002. The marriage “irretrievably broken as a result of the husband’s marital misconduct” was cited as the reason for the separation.
While many would cite irreconcilable differences, Sealey wanted the public to know where Gordon went wrong. A cheating scandal would be detrimental to his babyface image, which was his ticket to lucrative brand endorsements.
Sealey’s outrageous demands for the deal included a plane, a boat and two cars.
Sealey suspected her husband was not being honest about how much money he had.
Sealey’s attorney also went to the Daytona 500 to deliver legal documents to Gordon’s team.
At the time, the running back turned down a big payday to work with a beverage sponsor for a commercial. However, the deal was torpedoed by news of his adulterous acts. In the snap of a finger, Gordon went from NASCAR favorite to another famous athlete who cheated on his model wife.
The shocking news came followed by more as a messy divorce played out in public. While Sealey took on the role of victim in this situation, the masses began to shock the former Miss Winston when she filed her claims in the settlement.
The model asked to have a plane, use the couple’s boats, get two cars and alimony.
Although Gordon was portrayed as a villain due to his infidelity, the outrageous demands made by the Sealey camp caused people to switch sides and support the broker.
Gordon’s lover was identified as actress and model Deanna Merryman (not pictured).
After Sealey’s divorce, Gordon married model Ingrid Vandebosch.
Gordon and Vandebosch were regularly seen at sporting events outside of NASCAR.
Gordon and Vendebosch married in a private ceremony in Mexico on November 7, 2006.
To add fuel to the fire, Sealey’s attorney, Terry Young, went to the Daytona 500 in February 2003 to deliver legal papers to Gordon’s closest colleagues at the track. He did it to find out how much the broker was really worth.
Sealey’s group was eager to find out how much her soon-to-be ex-husband was earning outside of their knowledge. Suspecting that Gordon was hiding money from him, Sealey’s group did everything in their power to extract everything they could from the division.
At the time, Gordon’s lawyers filed documents saying his fortune was $48 million, half of which would go to Sealey under Florida law.
The dramatic divorce dragged on for another 16 months before it was finalized, almost ten years after their first meeting on June 13, 2003.
While the division of their assets was not publicly revealed, Sealey received a staggering $15.3 million from the divorce when the dust settled.
The alleged third party and catalyst for the divorce was Deanna Merryman, an actress and fitness model who appeared on the cover of Iron Man magazine.
Vendebosch is originally from Belgium and began her modeling career in 1986.
Vandebosch and Gordon met in 2002 when they were introduced by a mutual friend.
The couple had their daughter, Ella Sofia, in June 2007 and their son, Leo Benjamin, in August 2010.
Like their previous marriage, Gordon and Vendebosch kept their relationship a secret at first.
(Left to right) Jamie Foxx, Ingrid Vandebosch, Jeff Gordon and Betthany Frankel post a photo
Sealey was married twice after the divorce: to James Dixon and Mullins McLeod (pictured)
A year before the split, tabloids linked Merryman to Gordon. Regardless of whether the rumors were true or not, their alleged romance did not last, as the runner was spotted with another model shortly after. A month before Sealey’s attorney went to pick up his net worth in Daytona, Gordon was with a model named Amanda Church in St. Barts.
The picture-perfect couple who spent the early stages of their relationship away from the spotlight left their bitter conclusion on display and went their separate ways.
Gordon married model and actress Ingrid Vandebosch in 2006. On the other hand, Sealey was married twice: first to James Dixon and to lawyer Mullins McLeod.
After separating from Dixon, Sealey received $10,000 a month in alimony payments, a $1.5 million house and a Mercedes Benz vehicle.