Jeff Gordon

[JohnBM01]

Hi again, GTPlanet.

You know, I'm not a serious NASCAR fan, but some people can be so dumb when it comes to Jeff Gordon. I said I had so much respect for Jeff Gordon because he's done well on ovals, real good on road courses, and what does he have to show for it? He's 30 or 31, and he has won 4 championships. He still stands as the youngest driver to ever win the Winston/Nextel Cup at age 24. But just recently on ESPN show "Pardon the Interruption," one person E-mailed PTI with this message:

(From: April 26, 2004)
E-MAIL: "The fans of the Nextel Cup race at Talladega were embarrasing- throwing cans and food at Jeff Gordon's car just because he was rightfully awarded the win."

DIALOGUE (Legend: MW = Michael Wilbon; TK = Tony Kornheiser)
MW: "Let me tell you what Dale Jr. said. He said it was 'a pure form of expression.' It is the only outlet of fans telling it like it is. Each beer can out there had a little message. I don't know what that means, these were apparentely a lot of Dale Jr. fans and they didn't like seeing ANYONE else other than Dale Jr. winning. (interrupted by TK) And he went crazy...

TK: (interrupting MW) "...let me tell you, okay, okay. Throwing food went out in the Middle Ages. I... it would be incredibly ironic if Jeff Gordon for people to don't like him and like Dale Earnhardt Jr. It would be incredibly ironic if this kid, who goes around at 200 mph at the track in a safe got killed by a flying bologna sandwich. It would be incredibly ironic. Awful."

If you ask me, I am not a NASCAR fanatic. But I love Jeff Gordon. He's one of the best DRIVERS in America. I mean, he grew up with oval racing, he challenged road racing, and he got the chance to race a freaking F1 car. NASCAR fans obviously know who they love on the track and probably couldn't care less about anyone else. So, I don't see why Gordon is so hated. All because he won a race at Talladega, upsetting "Little E," does that give the fans an authoritarian right to dump crap on him. So what? If Dale Earnhardt Jr. edges out Gordon at Fontana or Sears Point, the people will spoil Dale Jr. with praise and happiness?

I mean, why do fans dislike him? I got respect for him.

 

[Darin]

Thats my question, all them rednecks freaking out about gordon winning. Whoop-De-Do. I respect gordon as a racer, so, I could careless what the hell they do, he passed the line first, and Dale lost, so them rednecks need to get over it. I did watch this race just cause I was quite bored. NASCAR does bore me. But throwing trash at gordon was unacceptable. I mean, let me set a example.

Micheal Shumacher is claimed to be a fantastic driver, and we all see that, best driver, best car, best team. What if Fernando Alonso beat him? Would Micheal Shumacher fans throw trash at Alonso's car, certainly not. A real race fan would respect the driver who wins and just has fun. But depending on 1 driver to win is just not right.

But back to the problem. The trash throwing at gordon's car shows how them NASCAR fans act. Children on the play ground throwing dirt other children is exactly how they were.

 

[mwoodski]

accuallt, the trash throwing was because the race ended under caution, the caution came out with 5 to go, the last lap the red flag couldve been throw was at lap 3, so NASCAR couldve stopped the race, let the fans get what they wanted, or couldve gone caution (as they did) and get the fans pissed. Besides that, the reason i hate JG, is because at the victory circle celebration, his car was sponsered by PEPSI, but someone put a case of coke on the roof of the car (thats because they have to), what JG does, is gets out of the car, sees the case of coke, gets mad, and shoves it off the car. Very, un-sportsman like behavior

 

[Sleek Stratos]

Originally posted by FireEmblem62
accuallt, the trash throwing was because the race ended under caution, the caution came out with 5 to go, the last lap the red flag couldve been throw was at lap 3, so NASCAR couldve stopped the race, let the fans get what they wanted, or couldve gone caution (as they did) and get the fans pissed. Besides that, the reason i hate JG, is because at the victory circle celebration, his car was sponsered by PEPSI, but someone put a case of coke on the roof of the car (thats because they have to), what JG does, is gets out of the car, sees the case of coke, gets mad, and shoves it off the car. Very, un-sportsman like behavior

Um, no.

You tell me if all those beer cans etc. would've been thrown had Jr. made the pass before Brian Vickers caused the yellow flag, giving Dale the win. Certainly not.

I saw the rerun of the race recently and it was clearly mentioned that the red flag could not be thrown out anymore.
A lot of talk about how the Trucks and all other NASCAR series (except Nextel and Bush) can have a 'green-white-checker' did spark nonetheless.

For the record I believe it was a bottle of Powerade (or some other sports drink) that was placed on Gordon's car, those are always placed on the winning car when it enters Victory Lane. Gordon being sponsored by Pepsi had to celebrate with his sponsors' drink, it wouldn't have looked very nice if he had taken a Powerade (or whatever) bottle and started spraying it around. I think it was Ryan Newman who did likewise last year at some race he had won, knocking a rival sponsor bottle off the roof of his car, or maybe he did that at all of the races he won, who knows... shows how little it matters I guess.

Keeping one's sponsor happy is using your head, "un-sportsman like behavior" is socking another driver in the face. (i.e the Jimmy Spencer/Kurt Busch incident at Michigan last year)

 

[3rdgenracerX]

IIRC the caution came out with 4 to go, that's 1 past the red flag limit.That left the safety crews 2 laps to clean up the 25's debrits thus giving a green/whtie restart. The race "could" have gone back Green/white but Dale Jr FANS started throwing crap on the track because he was not in the lead. They were unhappy that Nascar said he wasnt ahead when the caution was shown. So JR's fans stoped the race from going green/white. If JR was in the lead none of that would have happened, has it ever happened when he has won? I know sure as heck that they have never thrown crap on the track when jr has won any of his races. So people hate Jeff so what, thats somewhat expected when your young and sucessful.


Drivers knocking other brands off of their cars in victory lane has been happening for YEAR's. With the way sponsorships are these days drivers have to only be seen with the products that they are sponsored by. Thats not unsportsman like conduct. Unsportsmanlike conduct is drivers disrespecting other drivers, saying that they will wreck someone, celebrating that they wrecked someone, threatening someone....ect

 

[Klostrophobic]

Did anyone see the 37 foot deep pothole in one of the NASCAR "races" recently? Haha, Gordon hit it at 200 MPH. Damage ensued.

The only thing I like about NASCAR are the ridiculous fans, and the constant problems on the track (crashes, potholes, fighting). All NASCAR events should be condensed into a 6 second clip and then aired on TV, as opposed to airing the entire race.

 

[kart racer]

I was at work on Sunday so I taped the race.My tape ended with 10 to go so I didn't see what happened at the end but from what I just read,it is a discrace to all true race fans,of any form of racing.There were to many to single out the offenders and ban their a$$es from future races so NASCAR will have to do something to keep this from happening again.Jeff Gordan is a heck of a driver,so is little Dale. It is unfortunate that the race was finished under yellow,but that's life.And on this day,the better man won.It will be interesting to see what comes from all of this.BTW,not all NASCAR fans are rednecks.Montoya is a NASCAR fan,is he a redneck?Alot of drivers from other forms of racing are fans of NASCAR and alot of NASCAR drivers are fans of the other forms of racing.When there is a F1 race on early in the morning,most of the TV's are tuned in (at the track) to watch wich gose to prove that a race driver,from any form of racing, is a true race fan.

 

[3rdgenracerX]

Originally posted by Klostrophobic
Did anyone see the 37 foot deep pothole in one of the NASCAR "races" recently? Haha, Gordon hit it at 200 MPH. Damage ensued.

Dear god your about as dumb as wearing cement shoes while swimming in the middle of the ocean
The hole your talking about was from martinsville, it was only a few inches deep and maybe 8 inches by 10 inches wide. He didnt hit it at all, "all be it conquidence"sp"" Dale Jr ran over a piece of the concrete that came from the hole and that small chunk hit gordons nose on the right corner. They were only going 60-80 mph at the time.

As for potholes it rarely happens, this is the 2nd or 3rd documented occourance of a pothole on a track during a Nascar race, thats the trucks, bush and Nextel cup combined over their entire exsistance.
Fighting I.E. a fist fight may only happen once in the entire season. Last I can think of was Ricky rudd and an engine builder throwing a water bottle at one and another, even that doesnt qualify as a real fight just a scaful"sp"



Kart racer is correct many if not all of the Nascar teams are fans of F1. They even admit to watching it on air during delayed races.

 

[Solid Fro]

3rdgen is right. The pothole at Matinsville was only 1x1 feet wide and about 2-3 inches deep. 37 feet deep? Yeah right.

 

[Solid Fro]

Originally posted by JohnBM01
I mean, why do fans dislike him? I got respect for him.

It's the same reason why F1 fans hate Shumacher, the same reason why baseball fans hate the Yankees, the same reason why basketball fans hate the Lakers. No reason at all. Just the natural hate towards the 'winner'. No one truely likes the winner. It leaves no room for the other players. Most people gravitate towards the 'underdog' (Jr. in this case).

For the outraged Jr. fan like myself, here's a pic of Gordon being violated by beer cans and other foreign objects.

 

[kart racer]

Originally posted by Viper Zero
It's the same reason why F1 fans hate Shumacher, the same reason why baseball fans hate the Yankees, the same reason why basketball fans hate the Lakers. No reason at all. Just the natural hate towards the 'winner'. No one truely likes the winner. It leaves no room for the other players. Most people gravitate towards the 'underdog' (Jr. in this case).

For the outraged Jr. fan like myself, here's a pic of Gordon being violated by beer cans and other foreign objects.

This is the first image I have seen of the stupidity that happened on Sunday.It made me so made that I emailed a appology to Jeff on behalf of all TRUE race fans.This should not have happened.I don't care who your favorite driver is.NO one deservses this kind of treatment.

 

[JohnBM01]

So let me guess...

(1) If Sam Hornish wins the Indy 500 over Helio Castroneves, will Indy fans throw crap at Hornish because they want Helio to win?

(2) If Audi doesn't win the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright, will fans be... no wait. I don't know if Europeans have the same winning passions as us Americans, so I'm not sure.

Now, you were talking about a "love to hate the winner" deal, and you referred to different sports. Nice of you to go outside of racing. Now let me continue the trend. To a sport where there have been issues of unsportsmanlike conduct- the National Football Leauge. I still remember seeing Joe Horn and the New Orleans Saints just BLOW OUT the New York Giants. And later in the game, Joe Horn would go underneath the padding on the goal post, pull out a cell phone, and make a phone call. That's UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT, and you pay you for it either on kickoff or the extra point, especially when concerning touchdowns.

But when it comes to NASCAR, I was shocked. I remember watching clips of an old college football game after a snow storm, and fans were throwing snow out on the field until the referrees told them to stop. I mean, Jeff Gordon got the win at Talladega. So Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn't continue his restrictor track streak. I mean, auto racing is a sport (contrary to popular belief). Upsets can happen at the same speed of a finger snap. Jeff got the win by the rules. And fans throw crap at them? I hate to imagine how the next Supra Bowl... I mean, Super Bowl (where did that come from?). Anyhow, I hate to imagine if the Super Bowl in Jacksonville has the Jacksonville Jaguars winning the Bowl in a damn near blowout... and they get dumped on with crap for some strange reason.

In my view, when you bring racing fans together, there are all teams on the track at once. So everyone has their favorites. You can't expect to have an entire track full of fans of the same driver. That's not fair, and not humanistic. People don't sell out to racers. They choose whomever they like and cheer them on. And if that driver loses, there is always next time. But as I said, Jeff Gordon is a great racer. I know I don't follow NASCAR every day of my life, but this guy has done more before age 30 than most other people. Some think he's whiny, so just because he was handed the win by the rules, that seems to give people a cue to dump crap on him, because they want to celebrate Dale Earnhardt Jr. owning the Nextel Cup points championship. Well let me tell you, you can't expect your favorite driver to win all the time. I like Michael Schumacher in F1, and even he screws up. Audi slipped in sportscar racing. You can't expest your favorite driver to win. So if Shawna Robinson or Sarah Fisher did a race deal for some Nextel Cup teams and they win a race over the competition when most of the fans want to see someone else win, will they dump crap on either of those racers? But final point, Jeff Gordon won by the rules, so what's the point of throwing crap on him? Be sure to look at my introduction for the "Pardon the Interruption" segment I seen about the Talladega incident. I even have a Wave Sound saved on my computer featuring that argument. It is a shame. This could have happened in any other sport. Hell, I hear of Philidelphia sports fans that boo and cheer at athletes in the wrong situation. You know, cheer because one of their own teammates is down and needs help getting up. Booing because they lost or are losing. What the hell has this world come to?

 

[Klostrophobic]

Originally posted by 3rdgenracerX
Dear god your about as dumb as wearing cement shoes while swimming in the middle of the ocean
The hole your talking about was from martinsville, it was only a few inches deep and maybe 8 inches by 10 inches wide. He didnt hit it at all, "all be it conquidence"sp"" Dale Jr ran over a piece of the concrete that came from the hole and that small chunk hit gordons nose on the right corner. They were only going 60-80 mph at the time.

As for potholes it rarely happens, this is the 2nd or 3rd documented occourance of a pothole on a track during a Nascar race, thats the trucks, bush and Nextel cup combined over their entire exsistance.
Fighting I.E. a fist fight may only happen once in the entire season. Last I can think of was Ricky rudd and an engine builder throwing a water bottle at one and another, even that doesnt qualify as a real fight just a scaful"sp"



Kart racer is correct many if not all of the Nascar teams are fans of F1. They even admit to watching it on air during delayed races.

You don't understand when someone exaggerates? Seriously.

There should never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever be a pothole anywhere on a racetrack where people are going 150+ miles per hour.

 

[animateria]

I watched the race from start to finish and I enjoyed it. (Probably cause I don't have the Speed Channel anymore.. Dumb Cable Company! )

And I was rooting for Jeff from start to finnish...

Although the race ended in a boring fashion, I still like how the race went.......... Until....

Those dumb drunk A-Holes started to throw crap on the race track!!! What's wrong with those people anyways? If they can't respect how NASCAR makes it's decisions, fine!! E-Mail em or something... But throwing beer cans into the race track?! These people do not deserve to be entered into a race again... NASCAR should make a Black List for these dumb A-holes cause all they're doing is justifying to other countries that NASCAR is a joke!!

American Pride? YEAH RIGHT!! A-HOLES!!

(Uh... I hope that is okay language I used )

 

[JohnBM01]

I'll tell you one thing. I'm not big on ovals, but how about the bold moves Jeff Gordon pulled off within the closing laps? Purely entertainment TV. It still surprised me that Gordon now has only two wins at Talladega.

But like I said, this could have happened elsewhere. Carolina Panthers fans may have thrown their hot dogs and drinks at the New England Patriots after winning by Adam Vinaterri's game-winning field goal. If the game was played here in Houston, Rockets fans would have soiled the floor in Rockets merchandise because of the Rockets missing out on the playoffs (hell of a good job getting them there, Stan van Gundy. Good season). Or who knows? Maybe the Michigan Wolverines will win over Ohio State 49-0... AT OHIO STATE'S HOME STADIUM. People just have to realize that racing is as much of a sport as the NFL, basketball, baseball, college football, college basketball, or whatever. I will be looking forward to the next college football season, by the way. I just hope the University of Houston can build off of a great year last year, despite losing to Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl, but winning the big fight at the end ;-).

Anyhow, how can you hate Jeff Gordon? I don't think he is a worn-out racer. He still has the ambition to win. He's not going to be like Kenny Schrader, Darrell Waltrip, or (I hate to do this to a fellow Texan, but) Terry LaBonte, whereas they will not likely win a championship for the next few years. Jeff Gordon still has the heart and soul he possessed when he won his first NASCAR championship back in 1994 at age 24. Why hate Gordon? He's just out there working his 9 to 5 as any other racer.

 

[Sleek Stratos]

Originally posted by JohnBM01
...Why hate Gordon? He's just out there working his 9 to 5 as any other racer.

Viper Zero already answered your question.

 

[JohnBM01]

Some people can be weird, sometimes... so what's going to happen if everyone in America wanted a certain president to be elected to office, but the election results came in with the non-favored president going to the White House? What? Are people going to throw ballots at the president they DIDN'T want to nominate to office? Again, some people...

 

[gmartin]

NASCAR is a waste of gasoline.

 

[Klostrophobic]

You are a waste of bandwidth, oxygen, and countless other things.

 

[JohnBM01]

Wow! That's quite a way to punk somebody out... looks like Gordon is ready for the race at Fontana. If he wins fairly, PLEASE save your food and sodas and beers and octopei... oh wait, that's only with the Detroit Red Wings. But who knows? Maybe the fans can do one better for California.

In terms of fans who have little or no respect for drivers, I'd hate to see if Jeff Gordon wins that Pepsi Daytona night race and the fans boo him because Matt Kenseth or somebody was going to win. What would be even worse is... what if the fans threw Pepsi cans at Gordon in his Pepsi car? That would be shame to racing, and Pepsi. But as you know, some people can be jackasses. So let's see if some of the NASCAR fans will get through elementary school and learn to show respect to whomever wins...

 

[Solid Fro]

Originally posted by JohnBM01
Maybe the fans can do one better for California.

Of course!

The fans at Martinsville threw cans not because Gordon won, but because of the way that he won. Winning under caution isn't a 'true' win. Being Jeff Gordon only made the fans even more furious.

 

[3rdgenracerX]

Originally posted by Viper Zero
Of course!

The fans at Martinsville threw cans not because Gordon won, but because of the way that he won. Winning under caution isn't a 'true' win. Being Jeff Gordon only made the fans even more furious.

It was at Talladega not Martinsville

I dissagree though, do you think that the fan's would have thrown cans at Dale Jr if he had won with the caution comming out at the right time and place just like it did for Jeff. I think not, IIRC 3/4ths of the fans in the stands are wearing red "budwiser"
Not a single can would have been thrown if Dale Jr would have won in the same fashion that Jeff did. I know Jr has won under the yellow before at a restrictor plate track, except he wasnt pelted with can's for winning under the yellow. Many other drivers winning under yellow in the past few years and never was there an incident with fans throwing crap at the winning driver. Yet this time crap was thrown out on the track for a win under the yellow, NO it wasnt from winning under the yellow it was because of who won and who came in second. Every time Dale Jr take's the lead the crowd over powers the sounds of all 43 cars going around the track. 3/4ths of the fans were mad because Dale Jr didnt win, and they showed that disgust.
I wonder if they would have thrown cans at Michael Waltrip if he had won?

 

[72ElCamino]

there was no need for the beer cans and cups thrown at jeff gordon but he acted like he won the race and dominated when he won under caution. He talked about how his pepsi boys beat the beer boys or whatever, but he got lucky becasue i think Jr. could have took him...

 

[JohnBM01]

Congrats to Gordon for winning at Fontana. Next race- Richmond (night race)

 

[animateria]

Nice race too...

It was a blast to watch...

 

[Gordonfan24]

I know I'm a little late to answer this but I had to have a say in all of this . . . uhh. . . chaos?
One reason that NASCAR fans may not like him is because they think, or want to think, that he's gay. Now I, myself, do not have a problem with gays, nor do I have a problem with other races, but I think that some, not all, NASCAR fans still have that "redneck" in them and to them, being gay is just not allowed.
Well, I recently found out how that rumor started. . .
I was reading Gordon's new book and in one chapter, he addressed the topic of his sexuality. He talked about how he was married (to a woman). He stated that :

"At some point during this time (I have no idea when), anti-Gordon fans started passing aroung the rumor that I was gay. I can only guess that it had something to do with my driving a rainbow-colored car. I also figure some folks took a joke Dale Earnhardt made during my rookie year out of context: I had been dating Brooke throughout the season, but because Winston employed her, we had to keep our relationship secret. After her stint as Miss Winston Cup ended, we came out at the banquet as a couple. Dale, being witty as ever, said, 'Whew, I'm glad to see you've got a girlfriend. Some of us were beginning to wonder if you liked girls.' Of course, Dale and a lot of other drivers had known about Brooke for months, but they hadn't said anything out of respect for our privacy. Once we showed up in public together, Dale felt comfortable making a joke about it. I can only guess that a few folks took him seriously, and the rumors about my sexual orientation spread like wildfire.
"The controversy (such that it was) never bothered me, but I was a bit puzzled by it. I'd like to think if I were gay, I would be comfortable enough to say so and get on with my life. The fact is I'm not, and I never quite understood why so many people wanted to believe otherwise."

The main bit of that excerpt that I wanted to focus on is "The fact is I'm not [gay], and I never quite understood why so many people wanted to believe otherwise."

By the way, in case you already didn't know or if you didn't see my username: I am a huge Gordon fan.

 

[JohnBM01]

Like I said. I don't care if Jeff Gordon parades around on a race track in a hot pink stock car with "Princess" on the hood, Jeff is still a great racer. He's looking into F1 as I hear. Could be a racer for the slumping Jarguar team (even since they debutted. How many wins has Jaguar had in F1 since coming to the series within the past 10 years?). Anyhow, great racer, we like him. He's basically the Michael Scumacher of NASCAR, in terms of a "love him or hate him" guy.

 

[Sleek Stratos]

Originally posted by JohnBM01
...He's looking into F1 as I hear. Could be a racer for the slumping Jarguar team (even since they debutted. How many wins has Jaguar had in F1 since coming to the series within the past 10 years?)...

What I've heard was that Bernie Ecclestone met with (or is going to set up a meeting with) Frank Williams to cobble a deal to present to Jeff Gordon which could turn out quite tempting for him. Then again, it also seems Williams-BMW is more seriously considering Jacques Villenueve.