Artice - Gordon / Earnhardt Rivalry???

[HOF#13]

I found a good article on the Gordon / Earnhardt rivalry - or lack thereof - and thought I'd pass it along.

THE RIVALRY THAT ISN'T

By Godwin Kelly

MOTORSPORTS EDITOR

DAYTONA BEACH -- It's now official: the celebrated rivalry between Dale Earnhardt's clan and Jeff Gordon is pure bunk.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. set the record straight Wednesday after announcing he would drive for Hendrick Motorsports beginning in 2008.

If you check the history books, it was a very young Gordon snatching the reins of NASCAR stock car racing away from a snarling, middle-aged Dale Earnhardt Sr.

From 1990 through 1994, the elder Earnhardt won four championship in the then Winston Cup Series.

The Gordon Era started in 1995 when the 23-year-old driver, who had the nickname "Wonder Boy," captured the first of his four championships. In effect, Gordon bumped Earnhardt Sr. from the top rung of stock car racing.

Earnhardt, who drove for Richard Childress, characterized Gordon as the kid driver. At the 1995 awards banquet, Gordon got his revenge by toasting Earnhardt with a glass of milk.

Earnhardt, who drove a sinister looking black car, was the "Intimidator" and represented the old school race fans.

Gordon, who's Chevy was splashed in color, was the "Rainbow Warrior" and the leader of NASCAR's young "Generation X" racing fanatics.

Race fans either supported Earnhardt and Childress or Gordon and Rick Hendrick. There was no common ground.

It made for great marketing and theater, but the feud was not based in reality. Earnhardt Jr. said the Earnhardts, Hendricks and Gordons have all got along splendidly as friends for a long, long time.

Earnhardt Jr. made this shocking revelation after inking a five-year deal with Hendrick.

"I never really looked at Hendrick Motorsports as our arch rival or nemesis," Earnhardt said. "We competed against them and they've been one of the best over the years. They set the mark for all the Chevrolet teams.

"I always looked at the Fords and Roush and those guys as my competitors, where I had more interest in outrunning and beating."

As for Gordon, there was more bad news for Earnhardt faithful.

"Jeff has always been a really good friend of mine," Earnhardt said. "Dad and him were business partners in several things. Dad helped him a lot coming into the sport.

"Jeff's always tried to express to me that he's always tried to repay that favor by helping me a lot of ways. There are a lot of things that happened behind the scenes that a lot of people don't know about."

The Earnhardt and Hendrick families have a relationship that stretches back to the early 1980s.

Dale Sr. took a Hendrick-owned Busch Series car to victory at Charlotte in 1983, a car prepared by Dale Jr.'s grandfather Robert Gee, a master race car builder.

"My granddaddy worked with Rick and helped Rick get into racing," Earnhardt said during the press conference. "He was there along the way the entire time.

"He was really proud of his employment and involvement at Hendrick. That was always apparent to me as his grandson when I would go to his shop and see his pride about where he worked and what his job was. My dad and Rick were friends throughout his life."

The 32-year-old Earnhardt tried to balance his comments with the fact that he does have a "personal competition" with Gordon.

"If you want to call it a rivalry, fine," Earnhardt said. "I like to outrun Jeff. He's one of the best who's been in our sport. He's fun to race with especially when you beat him.

"That's a good feeling. It's a good feeling when I would outrun my father or anyone else of that magnitude. That will still be there. I will still have that in me, as an Earnhardt, to beat Jeff Gordon. It will always be there in the sport and will continue to be there."