Johnson's dominance, personality has NASCAR fans rooting for Gordon |
By Bruce Martin
PA SportsTicker Contributing Editor
FORT WORTH, Texas (Ticker) - Jimmie Johnson may be NASCAR's "Nice Guy." But his corporate, vanilla personality has done the unthinkable - it's made NASCAR fans actually consider rooting for Jeff Gordon.
For the second season in a row, it appears that Johnson has found the key at just the right time that will drive him to the NASCAR Nextel Cup title.
For most of the 2007 season, however, it looked like Gordon was NASCAR's best - and he was on pace to win his fifth Cup championship, but his first since 2001. At 36 years old, Gordon has matured into the "total package."
He looks like a champion, acts like a winner, is probably the most articulate driver in the garage area and understands his obligation to the sport, whether it be cooperating with the media or signing autographs for the fans.
Usually, when Gordon speaks, he says something interesting.
Johnson has many of those same qualities but far too often seems like a creation from the corporate boardroom. He says the right things all the time, while Gordon has shown flashes of peevishness, which only adds a little character to his persona.
"I'm just mad that we sucked tonight, that's all," Gordon said after finishing seventh Sunday night. "The car was good at the end. We just couldn't ever get it right earlier in the night. I'm disappointed with that."
There was a time when Gordon bore a striking resemblance to the cartoon character, "Speed Racer." Johnson looks more like "Dave Matthews," but probably can't carry a tune.
These are the only two NASCAR drivers left that have a legitimate shot at winning the title with two races remaining, and they are both teammates at Hendrick Motorsports.
To add to the intrigue, both Johnson and Gordon admit to being friends - and Gordon even has an ownership stake in Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet at HMS. But all of that is forgotten once these two appear on the race track.
So when Johnson was asked if he felt the slightest empathy for Gordon after he lost the points lead on Sunday, he couldn't resist but state the obvious.
"No," Johnson said. "This is racing. You have to check your emotions at the gate when you get here. Jeff is a great friend and a great teammate and he's the most challenging guy out there to beat. But no, I don't feel bad for him."
One day, Johnson may reach the same status that Gordon enjoys. But Sunday's win in the Dickie's 500 was Johnson's 32nd in the Cup Series.
Gordon, meantime, has 81 wins and is closing in on some of NASCAR's legendary names, such as Cale Yarborough's 83 victories and Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip, each with 84.
Gordon was so good at such an early age at the beginning of his career that the fans developed a hatred for the talented driver from Vallejo, California who honed his racing skills by living his teenage years in Pittsboro, Indiana as a star in the United States Auto Club (USAC).
At that time, NASCAR was still a Southern-bred, deep-fried sport with most of the drivers from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia or Tennessee. The fans didn't like Gordon because he just wasn't "one of us."
Today, fans still boo Gordon, but most of them have probably forgotten why they booed him in the first place.
So when Gordon entered Sunday's race with a nine-point lead over Johnson, it was a razor-thin margin. Gordon finished seventh and with Johnson's win, he lost the points lead and now trails by 30 points with two races left.
"Thirty isn't much," Gordon said. "The biggest thing right now is that we're just getting beat and those guys are winning races. We've got to put some pressure back on them and outperform them."
Gordon believes his teammate is "spanking us." That's what upsets him the most.
"They're putting it to us," Gordon said. "I don't like it. We're very competitive and we're just getting beat. We've got to go to work. We've got to get it back."
Gordon is upset, and that has led to even more motivation for the driver and the team. And with that type of attitude, he's suddenly become worth rooting for.