AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > October > 07 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USGordon’s smart all the time
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Talladega, Ala. — Maybe you wonder why some folks hate Jeff Gordon. Besides the part about him being ridiculously rich and oppressively handsome — he used to be married to Miss Winston, now he’s wed to a former model — there’s also this: He’s a great driver in the way too many of his NASCAR brethren aren’t. He’s bold when he has to be, and he’s smart all the time.
Jeff Gordon led only the last of the 188 laps run here Sunday. He won a rather important race without racing until the very end. He bided his time until there was no time left to bide, and then he made one of those Gordon-type moves — a hard jerk to the right coming off the final turn — and just like that the UAW-Ford 500 had an improbable winner and the Chase for the Nextel Cup had a new leader.
“It was the hardest race I’ve ever had to be in,” Gordon said. “We were just running half-throttle at the back.” He laughed. “We were getting amazing fuel mileage.” And then, a bit later: “I’ve never yawned in a race car, but I yawned today.”
To recap: Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, his Hendrick Motortsports teammate and the Chase leader until lap No. 188, allowed an uncertain day to play itself out. This was the first restrictor-plate race staged with the newfangled Car of Tomorrow, and nobody knew what havoc the collision of the much-disliked vehicle and the much-dreaded track would spawn. (Sure enough, an 11-car pileup on the 146th lap culled the field.) Sometimes, see, discretion is the better part of racin’.
“It wasn’t fun,” Gordon said of his strategy. “It went beyond patience. … But I knew it was the smart thing to do.”
And who was near the front, making his usual grandstand charge? Dale Earnhardt Jr., who hasn’t won a race this year and won’t win another until he joins Gordon and Johnson in the Hendrick stable next year. Earnhardt is, as you doubtless know, the people’s choice everywhere, but at this track he’s as popular as Big Papi in Boston. You don’t have to watch a Talladega race to know when Junior has taken the lead: You only have to listen to the crowd.
But Earnhardt was gone 52 laps from the finish, having blown yet another engine. “I love leading laps [he led 31, or 30 more than Gordon],” Earnhardt told reporters, “and [his fans] like that, too. I’d look in the stands as I’d go by and they’d be cheering. I get excited about that. I just try to keep it up front as much as I can because that’s what they come to see — at least my fans do.”
Gordon, by way of pointed contrast, is more interested in winning championships. (He has four, or four more than Earnhardt Jr.) He’s essentially the anti-Junior, and the response to his victories at Earnhardt’s “home” track is always illuminating. The Junior legions get really excited when their man makes his bid, and then they throw beer cans and make obscene gestures toward Gordon when he wins.
It happened here in April, when Gordon won his 77th race to pass Earnhardt’s dad on the all-time victories list. (The Intimidator’s backers couldn’t stand Gordon, either, because he refused to be intimidated.) The signature victory was greeted with a shower of garbage. On Sunday Gordon made his last-lap move and won this meticulously plotted race, and then he made another move: He did the traditional winner’s smoky burnout smack in front of Junior’s enraged fans, and this time only one beer can flew.
“I’m a little disappointed [that there was only one projectile loosed],” Gordon said, kidding. “They might be throwing Mountain Dew [Junior’s new sponsor] next year. … But I’m OK with them throwing things, as long it’s when we’re doing the burnout and we’re winning.”
Permalink | Comments (11) | Post your comment | Categories: Auto Racing, Mark Bradley
Comments
By NASCARfan
October 7, 2007 9:08 PM | Link to this
Buck, where are you my friend!?!
The AJC Fishwrapper Express finally has a blog about our second favorite sport up, and you’re not here to enjoy this with me!
Mark, I’m one of those non-idiot fans who KNOW that Dale Sr. and Gordon got along off the track and respected each other.
I’m one of those non-idiot fans, like Buck, who like both Jr. and Gordon along with Stewart who’s impossible not to like (but detest the smug, immature Jimmy Johnson like the plague he is).
I hope Gordon can pull this out (or maybe Stewart can, but he’s losing the grip it looks like). ANYONE but Johnson.
People don’t like Gordon because of the media, pure and simple. It’s not like Gordon and Dale Sr. were DW and Dale Sr. It’s not like they were Elliot and Dale Sr. They actually got along off the track, and Dale Sr. was a great mentor to Gordon. The idiot fans who throw stuff on the track are the same kind of idiots who were throwing things on the Dawgs three weeks ago.
And it’s no coincidence that these kinds of things happen in Alabama, either.
But the COT is here to stay, there’s no use crying over a cracked radiator. This has been an exciting year for NASCAR, but next will be even better, with Jr. finally driving great cars and Joe Gibbs Racing (with #20) going to Toyota.
I’ll watch the rest of the season with great anticipation… but I can’t wait until February! Here’s the early prediction: Jr, Gordon, and Stewart fight down the homestretch for the win in Daytona.
By Buck in the NW
October 7, 2007 9:51 PM | Link to this
NASCARFAN, who’s says I’m not here? I just pull a “Gordon” on you and hung back until you had a post then bam! Faster then you can say Tony Stewart, I’m here. That was just a great race. The way team Gordon won was as Mark says “SMART”, Lebetarte(SP) says Luck on the “YELLOW” and Gordon says “I SAW MY CHANCE TO GO”…..1ST. 180 LAPS IT LOOKED LIKE GORDON MAY HAVE BEEN “RACING NOT TO LOSE”, but as opposed to some in the world of sports when he goes for the win he doesn’t mess around, he puts the “PEDAL TO THE METAL”.
By bryan
October 7, 2007 9:58 PM | Link to this
jeff gordon is awesome. i hope he wins the next 6 races
By NASCARfan
October 7, 2007 10:26 PM | Link to this
Buck, there you are!!! You passed in my blind spot and I missed you until I saw the tail lights! Hah! I’ve been trying to bait you into some racing talk in the Dawg Blog, but no dice, I guess.
Man, how is it that Hendricks is absolutely killing with the COT? Any gamesmanship going on do you think? Remember, if you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’. I mean, you’d think RCR and Gibbs would be right with them, but besides the Stewart win, they’re all breathing Hendrick’s exhaust when it comes to COT Races. Doesn’t bode well for Stewart next year unless Toyota can pull something out of their butts. But it does bode well for Jr.
You can tell him and and Tony Jr. are itching to join a raceteam which is going to set them up to win, and where they both don’t have to deal with any of Teresa’s b.s. anymore. Just think, no more political battles. No more family squabbles. Just worrying about winning races. It’ll be the difference between having AOL as a baseball owner and Steinbrenner as an owner. We all hate Steinbrenner, but he plays (and pays) to win. You can’t say that about AOL or Teresa, but you can say that about Hendricks.
I just wish that 88 isn’t his new number. Why couldn’t they have gone with a number that would have forced all the idiot-redneck faction to sell all of their QVC-purchased Dale Sr. “collector’s” items to get the laser tatoo removal? That would have been truly funny. I hope he does 88 proud, like Jarrett did.
By Buck in the NW
October 8, 2007 1:25 AM | Link to this
NASCARFAN, sorry I missed a net you threw to me because I needed it. As far as I’m concerned today showed the JG, even with the new baby hasn’t lost the “fire down below”. I know I don’t want to see a Tony Jr. and Stewart hook up. About JR. I think he’s had a pretty hard life because the expectations put on him all of the man’s life have been high just because of his Dad. I’ve never thought and still don’t think he’s an all time Top 10 driver but now everyone will find out because he’ll have all he needs to win. I get so mad at Rusty Wallace. He doesn’t like Gordon an whenever he can put a “cheap shoot #24 he does. He tried today but I’ll bet the producer speaking to him in his shut him down. Did you catch when at the end of the race Wallace started to talk about JG leaving his team mates hung out to dry? He made a couple of comments but then he said about the 1-2 finish that everything was OK because they’re team mates. Pay attention over the last 6 races and I thing you’ll hear what I mean. It’s late back there but if the column and blog is still up I’ll be back.
By Marc
October 8, 2007 7:25 AM | Link to this
Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Junior - great. But what about Dave Blaney! The Cat car finishes third!
By NASCARfan
October 8, 2007 9:40 AM | Link to this
Rusty’s just mad because he has one lone title, and Gordon has four, going on five.
By Buck in the NW
October 8, 2007 9:41 AM | Link to this
Marc, speaking on behalf of only myself and being a #24 fan, I want to thank Dave Blaney for the bump he gave my man to start a move that will go down in NASCAR history as one of the greatest ever.
By Bily
October 8, 2007 11:39 AM | Link to this
I’m also a die-hard Jeff Gordon fan, and I’m hoping for Championship #5 this year! Congrats on win #80!
By Buck in the NW
October 8, 2007 1:36 PM | Link to this
Dawg fans who are NASCAR people are gonna have a remote problem. the Dawg/Vandy game starts at 6:00pm your time back east and at 7:00 pm, on ABC is the race at Charlotte. Like a ping pong ball I’ll be back & forth. Noticed that the crowd was very respectful of JG during his burn out. He broke SR’s. record again at Talladega for restrictor plate wins but the crowd showed him respect this time but even die hard anti Gordon people were stunned by the way he won the race. Since I won’t be here for the ‘08 season, I’d like to see him win again and get the Title.
By NASCARfan
October 8, 2007 10:37 PM | Link to this
Buck, it’s all good. The Dawg-Vandy Game isn’t being televised. At least I think it’s not being televised.