Inside Jeff Gordon and Brooke Sealey's divorce scandal that rocked NASCAR: A secret relationship, subpoenas at Daytona 500 and cheating scandals

As one of the greatest athletes to grace NASCAR, Jeff Gordon was a beloved character in his field. But behind the smoke from rubber burning on the asphalt, Gordon dealt with a messy divorce from his first wife, Brooke Sealey.

Despite the glamor of his racing career, Gordon's reputation was tainted with cheating scandals and allegedly excessive demands in court accompanying the fallout of his first marriage.

While Gordon nearly cruised through his 25-year NASCAR career without any blemishes, his seven-year marriage with the former Miss Winston descended into ashes in the public eye.

Here, DailyMail.com looks back at the bitter divorce that shook the NASCAR world.

Gordon and Sealey's relationship was not exactly rainbows and butterflies, to begin with. When the pair first crossed paths in 1993, their respective titles kept them from publicly dating - forcing them to keep their relationship under the radar.

Gordon was creating a name for himself as a babyface on the race track. On the other hand, Sealey had just been named the face of the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company - a title nearly synonymous with the most beautiful woman at the time.

RJ Reynolds leased NASCAR from 1997 to 2003, naming the Winston series after their popular cigarette line. The race became an avenue for the two to meet. However, Sealey's affiliation with the sponsor proved to be a roadblock to their relationship - one that they smartly went around in private.

Driving his iconic No. 24 car, Gordon won two qualifying races for the Daytona 500, raising his stock in the NASCAR world. With his popularity rising, plenty began to take notice, including Miss Winston herself.

With the handbook forbidding NASCAR drivers from dating Winston models and the media's eye for scandal, the pair began dating privately to avoid scrutiny.

The couple did a good job of sneaking around to keep each other out of trouble. However, realistically, Sealy would have been the only person to face consequences with the replaceable nature of her position.

The secrets came out of the box when Sealey ended her time with Winston, with their big reveal making them the hottest couple in NASCAR. After making their relationship public, the pair got married in 1994.

As newlyweds, the pair appeared to be on cloud nine, not having to hide their romance after saying I do.

Sealey later shared that Gordon, audibly nervous, approached her at Daytona and asked her to get lunch with a quivering voice. Gordon later revealed that he went to the bathroom five times during that lunch to ensure he could get the ring right when he popped the all-important question.

'And they all lived happily ever after' was not the line that followed. Their fairytale love story took a hard plot twist when Sealey filed for divorce seemingly out of nowhere in 2002. The marriage being 'irretrievably broken as a result of husband’s marital misconduct' was cited as the reason for the split.

While many would cite irreconcilable differences, Sealey wanted to let the public know where Gordon went wrong. A cheating scandal would be detrimental to his babyface image - which was his ticket to lucrative brand endorsements.

At the time, the racer rejected a big payday to work with a beverage sponsor for a commercial. However, the deal was torpedoed by the news of his adulterous acts. In a snap of a finger, Gordon went from the darling of NASCAR to another famous athlete who cheated on his model wife.

The shocking news came with more to follow as a messy divorce unfolded in public. While Sealey assumed the role of the victim in this situation, the masses started to raise eyebrows at former Miss Winston when she laid down her demands in the settlement.

The model asked to have an airplane, use the couple's boats, get two cars, and an alimony payment.

Although Gordon was painted as a villain due to his infidelity, the outrageous demands made by Sealey's camp had people switching sides and backing the racer.

To add fuel to the fire, Sealey's attorney, Terry Young, went to the Daytona 500 in February 2003 to serve legal papers to Gordon's closest colleagues on the track. He did so to find out how much the racer was really worth.

Sealey's camp was eager to know how much her soon-to-be ex-husband was netting outside her knowledge. Suspecting that Gordon was hiding money from her, Sealey's camp did everything in their power to get her as much as they could from the split.

At the time, Gordon's lawyers filed paperwork saying he was worth $48 million, which Sealey would be entitled to half under Florida law.

The dramatic divorce dragged on for another 16 months before it was finalized - nearly ten years after their first meeting - on June 13, 2003.

While the division of their assets was not publicly disclosed, Sealey received an astounding $15.3m from the divorce when the dust settled.

The alleged third party and catalyst to the divorce was Deanna Merryman, an actress and fitness model who graced the cover of Iron Man magazine.

A year before the split, tabloids linked Merryman to Gordon. Whether the rumors were true or not, their alleged romance did not last, as the racer was spotted with another model shortly after. A month before Sealey's attorney went fishing for his net worth at 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 married twice: first with James Dixon and with lawyer Mullins McLeod.

After splitting with Dixon, Sealey received $10,000 a month in alimony payments, a $1.5 m house, and a Mercedes Benz vehicle.