Gordon looks for No. 77 on late Earnhardt's best track
By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
April 28, 2007
02:57 PM EDT
type size: + -TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Dale Earnhardt taught him how to drive at Talladega Superspeedway, how to use mirrors and the draft and the air to win at NASCAR's biggest track. Now Jeff Gordon will try to use those same tactics to surpass the late seven-time champion on the sport's all-time victory list.
Gordon's victory last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway was the 76th of his career, tying him with Earnhardt for sixth in premier-series wins. Now he turns his sights to Talladega, the big, fast, unforgiving beast in the north Alabama hills, where he could pass Earnhardt like the Intimidator passed so many people here.
"Nobody was better than him. I think I may have beaten him one time here, and I thought it was one of the greatest accomplishments in my career, because I watched him just wear guys out," said Gordon, who will start Sunday's Aaron's 499 as the pole winner (watch here) and leader in Nextel Cup points.
"I can remember being in a race, riding along toward the end, trying to make some moves happen and Dale was nowhere in sight. All of the sudden, the checkered flag is waving and I'm like, 'Who won?' They're like, 'Dale.' You've got to be kidding me. That guy is nowhere even in the hunt. He was amazing here. To be able to win here meant a lot to me, especially when I raced with him. I just take that along with me, and it would be a great victory to be able to do that."
He may have been a son of North Carolina, but nowhere is the Earnhardt legacy stronger than Talladega. Daytona International Speedway, the sport's other restrictor-plate venue, frustrated him throughout his career and eventually took his life in 2001. But in Alabama he was bigger than a Crimson Tide quarterback, winning a track record 14 times on three different circuits, 10 of them coming in the series now known as Nextel Cup. His most memorable may have been his final career victory, when in October of 2000 he vaulted from 18th to first in the final five laps.
The armies of sunburned spectators who now wear the red of Dale Earnhardt Jr. once wore the black of his father. And into this atmosphere steps Gordon, often reviled by Earnhardt fans despite a relationship between the two drivers closer than many realize, who will go for career victory No. 77 and sole possession of sixth place on what would have been the Intimidator's 56th birthday.
No one grasps that significance more than Gordon, pelted with beer cans by some after his Phoenix victory for displaying a No. 3 flag that was intended to honor the late champion. It was a scene reminiscent of the ugly aftermath to Gordon's victory at Talladega two springs ago, when a late caution helped him overtake Earnhardt Jr. and spectators responded by hurling 12-ounce projectiles of discontent.
At the time, Earnhardt Jr. remarked that a lot of the cans being thrown had formerly contained Budweiser, the beer that sponsors his car. He's since taken a harsher stance. "It ain't cool at all," he said this week. If fans want to throw beer cans, he added, they should throw them at their own cars. If they feel the need to hurl something should Gordon win Sunday, bring a roll of toilet paper along.
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"Beer is for drinking," Earnhardt Jr. said Saturday. "Toilet paper is for throwing."
Gordon clearly appreciates the support. After all, the crewman who handed Gordon the No. 3 flag at Phoenix had received prior permission from Earnhardt Jr. to do so, and Earnhardt was in Victory Lane to congratulate Gordon after the win. It all goes back to the mutual respect Gordon and the elder Earnhardt had for one another, something Earnhardt Jr. witnessed first-hand.
"It's been incredible through all this to have Dale Jr. supporting our efforts. He looks back at times when his dad and I were talking about racing and things off the track, and he was there and a part of that, so he knew," Gordon said.
"I was at [Dale Earnhardt Inc.] years ago, spending some time with Dale talking about things, when Junior was getting ready to run one of his Busch races. He took me in there to show me the car he was going to be driving, and Junior was there, and I was giving Senior a hard time because it looked like something they had pulled out of a barn. All those memories stick out in Junior's mind. He knows that Dale and I raced one another hard and the fans had their opinions, but that we had a lot of respect for one another."
Gordon cautions against any assumptions -- after all, he was stuck on victory No. 75 for a long stretch of 26 consecutive race weekends, going back to Chicagoland in July of last year. Sunday at Talladega, where Gordon has won four times, brings no guarantees. But it still shapes up at the kind of environment Gordon thrives in, one steeped in spotlight and significance.
"He's a milestone kind of guy," crew chief Steve Letarte said. "The first [Car of Tomorrow] race, he really wanted to win. The first time he goes to a racetrack, he really wants to win. He won the first Indy, he won the first Kansas. He wins a lot of inaugural stuff. He likes the big days. It's not the money. But the races that pay the most are also the most prestigious. He's a prestige kind of guy. He wants to be the first guy to do anything. When you get to where he is on the win list, passing a guy is a big deal. There are only four or five more to pass."
Actually, there are five: Cale Yarborough with 83 career wins, Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison with 84 each, David Pearson with 105 and the untouchable Richard Petty at 200. Over his last seven seasons, Gordon has averaged fewer than four race wins per year. At that rate, he'd pass Yarborough in 2008, Waltrip and Allison in 2009, and Pearson in 2014 -- if he's still behind the wheel as a 43-year-old.
"I guarantee I won't be passing David Pearson with 105 wins," Gordon said. "No, I hope that I can get above my average and win some more races. I'd love to do that. But I know I don't plan on racing until I'm 45. I've had a great career, and I want to keep going as long as I'm healthy and having a good time with a competitive team. But as this sport is changing and with fatherhood around the corner, I don't think I'm going to want to be at that competitive level, or be out there and not be competitive, at that age."
By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
April 28, 2007
02:57 PM EDT
type size: + -TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Dale Earnhardt taught him how to drive at Talladega Superspeedway, how to use mirrors and the draft and the air to win at NASCAR's biggest track. Now Jeff Gordon will try to use those same tactics to surpass the late seven-time champion on the sport's all-time victory list.
Gordon's victory last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway was the 76th of his career, tying him with Earnhardt for sixth in premier-series wins. Now he turns his sights to Talladega, the big, fast, unforgiving beast in the north Alabama hills, where he could pass Earnhardt like the Intimidator passed so many people here.
"Nobody was better than him. I think I may have beaten him one time here, and I thought it was one of the greatest accomplishments in my career, because I watched him just wear guys out," said Gordon, who will start Sunday's Aaron's 499 as the pole winner (watch here) and leader in Nextel Cup points.
"I can remember being in a race, riding along toward the end, trying to make some moves happen and Dale was nowhere in sight. All of the sudden, the checkered flag is waving and I'm like, 'Who won?' They're like, 'Dale.' You've got to be kidding me. That guy is nowhere even in the hunt. He was amazing here. To be able to win here meant a lot to me, especially when I raced with him. I just take that along with me, and it would be a great victory to be able to do that."
He may have been a son of North Carolina, but nowhere is the Earnhardt legacy stronger than Talladega. Daytona International Speedway, the sport's other restrictor-plate venue, frustrated him throughout his career and eventually took his life in 2001. But in Alabama he was bigger than a Crimson Tide quarterback, winning a track record 14 times on three different circuits, 10 of them coming in the series now known as Nextel Cup. His most memorable may have been his final career victory, when in October of 2000 he vaulted from 18th to first in the final five laps.
The armies of sunburned spectators who now wear the red of Dale Earnhardt Jr. once wore the black of his father. And into this atmosphere steps Gordon, often reviled by Earnhardt fans despite a relationship between the two drivers closer than many realize, who will go for career victory No. 77 and sole possession of sixth place on what would have been the Intimidator's 56th birthday.
No one grasps that significance more than Gordon, pelted with beer cans by some after his Phoenix victory for displaying a No. 3 flag that was intended to honor the late champion. It was a scene reminiscent of the ugly aftermath to Gordon's victory at Talladega two springs ago, when a late caution helped him overtake Earnhardt Jr. and spectators responded by hurling 12-ounce projectiles of discontent.
At the time, Earnhardt Jr. remarked that a lot of the cans being thrown had formerly contained Budweiser, the beer that sponsors his car. He's since taken a harsher stance. "It ain't cool at all," he said this week. If fans want to throw beer cans, he added, they should throw them at their own cars. If they feel the need to hurl something should Gordon win Sunday, bring a roll of toilet paper along.
Page 1
Page 2
"Beer is for drinking," Earnhardt Jr. said Saturday. "Toilet paper is for throwing."
Gordon clearly appreciates the support. After all, the crewman who handed Gordon the No. 3 flag at Phoenix had received prior permission from Earnhardt Jr. to do so, and Earnhardt was in Victory Lane to congratulate Gordon after the win. It all goes back to the mutual respect Gordon and the elder Earnhardt had for one another, something Earnhardt Jr. witnessed first-hand.
"It's been incredible through all this to have Dale Jr. supporting our efforts. He looks back at times when his dad and I were talking about racing and things off the track, and he was there and a part of that, so he knew," Gordon said.
"I was at [Dale Earnhardt Inc.] years ago, spending some time with Dale talking about things, when Junior was getting ready to run one of his Busch races. He took me in there to show me the car he was going to be driving, and Junior was there, and I was giving Senior a hard time because it looked like something they had pulled out of a barn. All those memories stick out in Junior's mind. He knows that Dale and I raced one another hard and the fans had their opinions, but that we had a lot of respect for one another."
Gordon cautions against any assumptions -- after all, he was stuck on victory No. 75 for a long stretch of 26 consecutive race weekends, going back to Chicagoland in July of last year. Sunday at Talladega, where Gordon has won four times, brings no guarantees. But it still shapes up at the kind of environment Gordon thrives in, one steeped in spotlight and significance.
"He's a milestone kind of guy," crew chief Steve Letarte said. "The first [Car of Tomorrow] race, he really wanted to win. The first time he goes to a racetrack, he really wants to win. He won the first Indy, he won the first Kansas. He wins a lot of inaugural stuff. He likes the big days. It's not the money. But the races that pay the most are also the most prestigious. He's a prestige kind of guy. He wants to be the first guy to do anything. When you get to where he is on the win list, passing a guy is a big deal. There are only four or five more to pass."
Actually, there are five: Cale Yarborough with 83 career wins, Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison with 84 each, David Pearson with 105 and the untouchable Richard Petty at 200. Over his last seven seasons, Gordon has averaged fewer than four race wins per year. At that rate, he'd pass Yarborough in 2008, Waltrip and Allison in 2009, and Pearson in 2014 -- if he's still behind the wheel as a 43-year-old.
"I guarantee I won't be passing David Pearson with 105 wins," Gordon said. "No, I hope that I can get above my average and win some more races. I'd love to do that. But I know I don't plan on racing until I'm 45. I've had a great career, and I want to keep going as long as I'm healthy and having a good time with a competitive team. But as this sport is changing and with fatherhood around the corner, I don't think I'm going to want to be at that competitive level, or be out there and not be competitive, at that age."
