BSmack wrote:Jeff Gordon is the Jack Nicklaus to Dale Sr.'s Arnold Palmer. And just like it took Arnie's fans 15 years to appreciate the greatness that was Nicklaus, slowly the Earnhardt fans are just going to have to accept that Jeff Gordon is the greatest racer of the modern age of NASCAR.
Hmm. Not a bad analogy, but I don't think many Earnhardt fans will ever grow to respect Jeffy like Arnold Palmers fans respected Nicklaus.
I've recognized for 10 years that Gordon is a great driver. He races clean, and always says the right things on and off the track. The reason us old school #3 fans never took to Gordon is that he didn't have to pay his dues like most others who got to that level. He was an instant success, and just too much of a pretty boy. Sure there's a level of envy and jealousy there, and I readily admit that. #3 fans recognized him as a looming threat to The Intimidators legacy, rightly so, and hated him for such temerity.
Perhaps if Dale hadn't met such an untimely and unfortunate demise, we'd feel different by now as he'd be comfortably retired and mentoring Jr. We've never gotten over that shock, and probably never will. I don't know. I DO know that six years later, I can't drive from point A to point B
anywhere and not see #3 logos plastered over every other pick-up truck. I still see people wearing his hats and T-shirts every day. We WILL not forget the man in black, and won't let anyone else forget him either.
As for Jeffy, yeah... great driver, classy competitor, blah, blah, blah... but if he got ran over by a train tomorrow he'd be virtually forgotten about in a few weeks.