“Three-quarters of these fans were against me” When Jeff Gordon was pelted with beer cans by fans for beating Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Talledega
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Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Dale Earnhardt, depending on who you ask, is either the greatest driver to ever drive in NASCAR or one of the greatest of the sport. The legacy Earnhardt left behind before his early demise is matched by a handful of drivers, maybe none. Jeff Gordon another great of NASCAR has shared one of the greatest rivalries with “the intimidator” even topping the veteran to win the championship thrice.
Jeff Gordon shared the rivalry following the death of the “GOAT” in 2001 with his son Dale Earnhardt Jr., who later became his teammate at Hendrick Motorsports. Dale Jr. has been one of the most influential NASCAR drivers to ever race as he has earned appreciation and respect from the majority of NASCAR fans with his on-track performance and the surname he carries.
Jeff Gordon once again came on the bad side of the Earnhardt fans in 2004 following his controversial win over Dale Jr. in Talledega. The win had more significance than just a win over Jr. as he broke the record held by Dale Sir’s all-time win record in the process. In Aaron’s 499 spring race the No:24 driver finished ahead of Dale Jr. as the caution came out for the final 4 laps, with just half a car of a length separating them.
The fans were expecting a couple more laps under the green flag following the caution but NASCAR decided to give the win to Jeff. Fans threw beer cans at Jeff Gordon who was celebrating his win as they were upset with both NASCAR’s decision and the fact that Gordon broke the win record of Dale Sr. the day which was supposed to be his 56th birthday beating his sone Dale Jr.
What Jeff Gordon had to say about the incident
Jeff Gordon acknowledged following the race win that it was a tough situation for him as he knew that three-quarters of the fans were against him. He went on to say that he didn’t want to start a riot that day though he had to break that record. Gordon added that he really didn’t think the day would end up being such an unbelievable one for him.
“It’s tough. I knew three-quarters of these fans were against me. I didn’t want to start a riot today, but I wanted to break that record. I really didn’t think it would come here. It’s just an unbelievable day,” Jeff Gordon said following the win.
Later in the Dale Jr. Download Podcast hosted by Dale Earnhardt Jr., he acknowledged that the day was the greatest day of his life. He pointed out that his 1995 season, his maiden championship-winning year, was something where he was cheered on at the beginning of the season which turned into boo’s towards the end. He pointed out that at the start the praises he earned were for being the new guy winning races.
“This is the greatest day of my life. You have to understand I came through in 1995 people were cheering me at the beginning of the year and booing me by the end of the year. In beginning, I was winning races and they were like ‘who is this new guy? He’s winning races and off to a good start,’ Jeff Gordon added.
Jeff Gordon went on to say that when the fight for the championship was against him and Dale Earnhardt as both of them were winning successive races in the season. He added that once he topped the legend in terms of points scored the cheers for him turned into boo’s which made him think about it for a long time, as to why it happened like that. As he later realized it was the acknowledgment of him being better than Dale Sr.
“Then it was me and [Earnhardt Sr.] going through and we were winning a lot of races, but we were winning more. Then we were ahead in the points. Once we were ahead in the points, it was ‘nu-uh.’ They may have cheered for me before but they weren’t then. I went through a lot of years trying to figure out why fans booed me or cheered against me,” Jeff Gordon explained.
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Justin P Joy
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