CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When Jeff Gordon takes the green flag for Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, he will set the mark as NASCAR’s new Iron Man.

Gordon will be making his 789th consecutive start, passing Ricky Rudd for the record. Rudd, who once used duct tape to keep his swollen eyes open so he could drive, set the mark in 2002 when he snapped Terry Labonte’s streak of 655 consecutive races.

Although proud of his mark, Gordon readily admits Rudd and Labonte suffered through far more than he ever did.

“Those guys are way tougher than me. I’ve never had to tape my eyelids open to make the race,” Gordon said. “When you think of those guys and the conditions of the cars, they didn’t have any kind of air conditioning, they dealt with some major injuries and fought through.”

Gordon and Labonte were teammates at Hendrick Motorsports, so Gordon saw Labonte’s perseverance firsthand during their 1996 NASCAR title fight.

Labonte broke his left wrist in a crash during practice at Phoenix, where he was leading Gordon in the championship battle with two races remaining. Not driving was never an option for Labonte, who went on to finish third and fifth to win the championship while competing with a splint and a cast on his wrist.

Gordon, who has battled a back injury the last several years, called the feat amazing.

“I’ve had some injuries along the way that I’ve had to fight through, so I have a taste of it, but certainly nothing like those guys,” Gordons said.

Gordon’s streak began with his Cup debut on Nov. 15, 1992, at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He has never missed a race and holds the record for the longest consecutive starts streak from the beginning of a career.

New Hampshire is also a fitting venue for the four-time champion to become the new Iron Man. He is the only driver to compete in all 41 Cup races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and leads all drivers in top-five finishes, top-10s, laps led and laps completed (11,967) at the 1.058-mile track.

Gordon is also 128 shy of 25,000 career laps led.