I’ve been a Nascar fan since 1991 when my dad got me hooked on it.
The idiots hate Jeff Gordon because it threatens Dale’s superiority in the sport. Even though they probably never saw Dale race. I was one of those Dale fans that hated Jeff Gordon, until sometime around 95 or 96 when I realized that I only hated him because he was so dang good – and that’s a pretty stupid reason to hate someone. Then when you start reading the stories about how Dale and Jeff interacted – the little shots at each other - such as “he’s so young that they can’t serve champagne” – so then Jeff toasts him with milk.
It’s just ridiculous. These are most likely the fans that became NASCAR fans when Dale died and NASCAR became the focus of every news story on every station. They are the “Gordon’s Gay” fans that don’t know anything about the history of the sport or the drivers who made it what it is. They don’t know about David Pearson, they certainly don’t know about Harry Gant and the 4-race streak, or even Alan Kulwicki and how impressive his Championship in 1992 was as a owner/driver. Nobody has been able to do that in the modern era with that success. They only know DW as the “boogity boogity boogity” guy – they have no idea who “Jaws” the 84-win, short-track dominator was. They don’t know that Waltrip was HATED until some punk named Rusty showed up in the Winston (back when it was run during the day) and stirred up trouble.
And ALL that being said – These same idiots don’t know who Jeff Gordon is and his importance in the sport. Ray Evernham to them is only an owner – not the most brilliant crew chief to ever work in NASCAR. Evernham is the one who looked at pit stops and realized that if they were better coordinated and if you had someone in shape, not just Bubba Ray from the garage changing tires, that you could shave 3 or 4 seconds off of the pit stop. Ray Evernham built a T-Rex car for the Winston (now run at night) that fit every template NASCAR had, but was so monkeyed with that NASCAR told them to never bring it back to another track.
I am a huge Dale Earnhardt fan and respect his legacy in NASCAR. Up until last year, I still had #3 stickers on the cars. My email addresses and message board usernames are all Dale Earnhardt and #3 related (including the name of this very blog), and there’s a framed painting on the wall of my computer room of the #3 and #8 cars…but ragardless of your allegiance, you have to admit that the whole Rainbow Warrior era changed NASCAR.
Evernham is responsible for the aerodynamics of the cars as we know them today. In my opinion, the COT is 100% in response to the advances in body design created by Ray Evernham and Hendrick Motorsports. Jeff is responsible for the young, groomed drivers being the premium in NASCAR today. If Dale Earnhardt were to come along today at age 28 with the cowboy hat and garage guy image, I don’t know that he would even be able to get a ride.
For me, I appreciated the tribute. Some people want to chalk up a lot of Dale’s wins to "past champion perks" like #1 pit stalls, but Jeff’s ridiculous win totals from 95-98 were certainly due to Ray Evernham and his brilliance with car bodies and pit stops. Whether they like him or not, Jeff Gordon is one of NASCAR’s best of all time and has changed the sport, possibly more than any driver who came before him.
