Jeff Gordon joked the girls he was signing for had no clue who he was -- he was right. Some of 'em thought he was Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

BTW -- Jeff was in NYC at the Madonna concert. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was not.

According to Ricky Bobby, if you ain't first, you're last -- and according to our camera guy, if you're in 9th place -- like Jeff Gordon -- you're as good as retired.

Even though he was in town to attend a Pepsi 500 event, our guy had the stones to ask Jeff about life after NASCAR in front of his wife. Oops.

A few hours later, we got a shot at redemption at Madeo, where Jeff decided to heckle our guy for all that retirement talk earlier in the day -- unfortunately, it was a totally different photog!

Afterwards, Gordon high-tailed it over to the Avalalon, where our spies say he was all about the PDA -- making out with his wife throughout the party. Then, he finally retired ... for the evening.

Even Jeff Gordon's wife knows he's the king of divorce.


Jeff was involved in a nasty split from his first wife, so when a papper asked him if he had any advice for the possibly-splitting Madonna and Guy Ritchie, his current wife was quick to say he knows all about divorce lawyers.

He's not ready to have another baby yet -- but Jeff Gordon's wife says they're getting in a lot of practice.

Just look at Ingrid and it's easy to see why Jeff's probably trying for as much off-road training as he can get.

We caught Kate Hudson downtown again, where she weathered the December chill in New York to walk, and walk and walk all over SoHo and NoLita. Without gloves, no less!


Meanwhile, Famke Janssen braved the snow to take her dog out (very briefly), the usually effervescent Eva Mendes just wanted to be warm, while an extremely daring Ingrid Vandebosch (Mrs. Jeff Gordon) wore an incredible backless dress -- in sub-freezing temperatures.

Throw on a fuzzy warm sweater before you watch this "Cold Catcher" edition of Star Catcher NYC.

How tough a town is New York? Even Jeff Gordon, a man who drives cars for a living, can't find a ride home.

A slew of auto racing's biggest stars -- Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Gordon -- were in the Big Apple last night to rock the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Champion's Party at that ever-throbbing cauldron of celebdom, Marquee, along with Jamie Foxx, Gina Gershon, and Robert Iler, among others. When Gordon emerged from the club with new wife Ingrid, he wandered Tenth Avenue looking for his car, wearing a peculiarly lost expression on his face. Finally, his carriage arrived -- a Benz.

Jeff -- next time, take matters into your own hands. You're a driver. Just grab a car. Drive.