Gordon’s PR Rep, Jon Edwards, Receives Prestigious Award

Jon Edwards, who has been media representative for four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon for almost 15 years, today was announced as winner of the 2014 Jim Chapman Award for excellence in motorsports public relations.

The Chapman Award is considered by many in the industry as the highest honor in racing public relations. It is named in memory of Chapman, the legendary PR executive and innovator, who worked with Babe Ruth and was named Indy Car racing’s “most influential man” of the 1980s. Chapman died in 1996 at age 80.
The announcement and presentation were made at Phoenix International Raceway by Michael Knight, chairman of the selection committee, and one of Chapman’s closest friends. The award is determined by a vote of national media members, most of who knew Chapman, and is authorized by the Chapman family. PR representatives from all forms of motorsports are eligible for consideration.

As has happened before, the selection committee chose two equally-deserving Chapman Award recipients this year. Elon Werner, of John Force Racing, was recognized last weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway before the NHRA national event.

“Jeff Gordon is one of the most media friendly athletes in all of sports and Jon Edwards has played an essential role in making that happen,” said Knight, the longtime journalist/publicist and award rights-holder. “Jim Chapman would approve of the committee’s choice because Jon’s open approach in working with the media parallels what Jim did with his own roster of legendary clients, including Babe Ruth.

“Jim set the ultimate standard of professionalism, class and dignity. He knew that building good one-on-one professional relationships with journalists was important in good times and absolutely essential in bad times. That’s too often missing today in a communications age where an E-mail or text message or over-reliance on social media is incorrectly considered ‘relationship-building.’ Jim was a true ‘people person’ and knew nothing could replace a handshake, a face-to-face conversation, or the sound of another person’s voice.

“Jeff’s cooperation with the media has not only benefitted him, his team and corporate sponsors, it has benefitted NASCAR and all of motorsports. It’s very appropriate to recognize Jon’s many important contributions to this aspect of Jeff’s successful career.”

Edwards began as a PR/marketing assistant at North Carolina Motor Speedway while attending the University of North Carolina in the early 1990s. He joined Performance PR Plus, DuPont Motorsports’ agency, in 1994, managing PR in several series and trackside hospitality. In 1999, he was with driver Ricky Craven’s NASCAR team, then began working with Gordon in mid-2000 and became an employee of Jeff Gordon, Inc. in 2011. Edwards received NASCAR’s most valuable PR representative award in 2003 and 2007.

Established in 1991 by media and publicists within the CART series, the Chapman Award originally focused on achievement in CART. After a hiatus of several years, the award was resumed in 2004, with eligibility expanded to anyone working in racing PR.