Speedtv experts to decide who is better: Gordon or Earnhardt?
Quote selected text Published May 3rd, 2007 in NASCAR News
As part of its weeklong All-Star programming lineup leading up to the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge, SPEED will deliver a special episode of Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain. The 90-minute special, entitled “Wonderboy or The Intimidator … Who’s Better?” will air live at 7 p.m. ET on May 16, as Despain brings in experts to compare the careers of the sport’s ultimate all stars — Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon.
“Earnhardt versus Gordon is a fascinating comparison,” Despain said. “Earnhardt is the epitome of “old NASCAR,” a series born among WWII vets who treated racing as another form of combat. “The Intimidator” was the last in a long line of grizzled tough guys who reigned as the sport’s biggest heroes. In contrast, Gordon opened the door to “new NASCAR.” He’s the definitive “young gun,” the first driver to combine on-track prowess with mainstream marketing appeal. Which of these guys you think is better says as much about you as it does about the drivers, and I suspect hearing the differences between Earnhardt fans and Gordon fans will be half the fun of this show.”
Despain will lead an all-star panel discussion, with early confirmations from team owner Rick Hendrick and former drivers Darrell Waltrip and Rusty Wallace. Wallace, the 1989 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion and current ESPN broadcaster, and Waltrip, a three-time NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion and current FOX/SPEED broadcaster, will each make the case for the driver of their choice.
“When the Wind Tunnel staff pitched this idea to me, I must admit was a little skeptical,” said Frank Wilson, SPEED VP of Production and Executive Producer for NASCAR content. “But after hearing Dave and the Tunnelheads out, I quickly came around to their way of thinking. This is just what Wind Tunnel was designed to be: a place where experts and fans alike can debate relevant motor racing topics. Wonderboy vs. The Intimidator is certainly relevant and stirs the passion of just about every NASCAR fan.”
Bookmark to:
- With baby on the way, Gordon not thinking of retirement
- Report: three to six weeks until Earnhart, Jr. sponsorship announcement
- No 4th Team for DEI But…..?
- Busch, Gordon, Johnson go road course testing
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. Stars in Upcoming Episode of SPEED Reality Series ‘Payback’
At this point I gotta give it to Dale. He won 7 Championships. That doesn’t mean Gordon won’t win some more but that’s my reasoning.
BTW, I don’t like Gordon but the poll didn’t ask me if I liked him. He’s a great driver so if you can’t recognize that then you don’t know much about the sport in my opinion.
*rubs hands together* oh man i cannot wait for the comments on this post!!!
agree with TT…Dale won 7 in a tougher era too.
well, im a hard core Gordon fan, but really…i cant say one over the other. Earnhardt has more championships, but Gordon has more wins. so i cant honestly cant say i think Gordon is hands down better, but nor can i say hands down that Earnhardt is.
well see!!!!
Gordon is no where near as good as Dale. If Dale were alive Nascar would have not cheated the past two races for Gordon. Figures idiots have to comare the two. Everybody knows Dale is and Always be better.
well I am a gordon fan and he is a great driver and all but I think that dale was a great driver. yeah he won 76 races in his career, won 7 championships but since dale is no longer with us how can you compare? now maybe if it was who is better gordon or dale jr….it may get attention and somewhat heated maybe?? lol I was never really a dale sr fan but I loved how he drove. his attitude on the track..and if you think about it, gordon has somewhat of the same attitude…and drive to win.
I can’t BELIEVE this is even up for debate Earnhardt is so much better hands down.
Jeff Gordon doesnt hold a candle to Dale Sr.Dale always Kicked His a** around the
track.He is NO WHERE near the same league as jeff Gordon.
same stats
Earnhardt Family Wins at Talladega 15
Senior 10 Junior 5
Gordon Family Wins At Talladega 4
——————————————————————————–
Earnhardt Family NASCAR Championships 10
Ralph 1 Sportsman Class
Dale Senior 7 Winston Cups
Dale Jr 2 Busch Series
Gordon Family Championships 4
Earnhardts..only family to have 3 generations of champions
——————————————————————————–
Dale Earnhardt Senior Average Finish lifetime 11.1
Jeff Gordon average Finish Lifetime 12.5
——————————————————————————–
Dale Earnhardt Senior Average Finish in Points lifetime 4.45
Jeff Gordon Average Finish in Points lifetime 5.07
——————————————————————————–
Dale Sr Average Points Finish Gordon Years 3.75 1993-2000
Gordon Average Points Finish 1993-2000 5.25
——————————————————————————–
Dale Sr Finish Last Full Year (2000) in Points 2
Jeff Gordon Points Finish 2000 9
——————————————————————————–
Daytona 500 2001 Dale Sr finishes 12th while Deceased
Daytona 500 2001 Gordon finishes 30th while Alive
——————————————————————————–
Go alana! You morons should not even have to choose Dale kicks A**. Gordon is GAy. That Homo can’t race at all. He has to have Nascar Cheat For Him. All you Gordon Fans must be from California because I here there is a lot og Fags out there.
This is not about Gordon verses the Earnhardt family it’d about Gordon verses Dale Sr.
I’m a Gordon fan but I also now Sr was a great driver too.Gordon dont in any way think he’s better than Sr.
Oh by the way i’m not from California
It doesn’t have to be the Earnhardt family. Look at the stats. Dale vs. Buttmunch, Dale wins hands down.
I agree with the majority, Earnhardt is better. In fact I belive he is the greatest driver there has ever been in this sport. And if you think about it, some people say Gordon has more wins, however, Earnhardt’s career unfortunatly got cut short. Who knows how many wins and championships Earnhardt Sr. could have racked up in the past few years? So I vote Dale Earnhardt, although I give Jeff Gordon full respect. He is a great driver in his own way.
GO DALE JR!!
I personally think Gordon is better….mabe Earnhardt has won more races but this
technically isnt about how many races they have won its about what they did to get
those wins. Yes, all be it Dale Earnhardt is a good guy and was a great race car driver
but I think that its Gordons time.
thanks william ya i’m from Florida and theres alot of tourists from cali and there all kinda fruity
no wonder jeff and jimmie are so touchy feely lol.but like i said this shouldnt even be up for debate
Jeff is no where and will never be as good as Dale we all know if Dalw was still here Dale still be on top.
ya Dale is the man but ur wrong Gabriella its JR’s Time not jeffs
Thank God… I was dreading looking at this post. I’ve seen it sitting here for the past couple hours and was afraid of how I would feel if everyone said Gordon was better… Not that Gordon isn’t great BUT he is not the greatest. I know there is going to be some haters coming soon…
Earnhardt’s ability on the track is unmatched, regardless of stats. Still the stats do say Earnhardt is better. I don’t care how many more wins Gordon gets than Earnhardt. Gordon has superior equipment compared to anything Childress had, plus you show me anyone on the planet who could control something with four wheels, pedals and a steering wheel better than Earnhardt. No one can say Gordon fits that bill and think of themselves as honest. Gordon DOES take care of his car better than anyone else… hmmm, better? nah.
Try this on for size… Cale Yarborough, 3 consecutive Cup championships… Back to back to back. 4 Daytona 500 wins (non-restrictor plate). 83 wins, 69 poles. Yarborough would have 4 championships if a young driver named Earnhardt hadn’t won it by 19 points in 1980…
Gordon still has other drivers who have been and still are superior to him (Including Earnhardt). Keep that in mind.
On a side note its pretty impressive to see so much mutual admiration for one human being. This may be Gordon’s time, but this is Earnhardt’s sport.
as long as i’m breathing u will never hear me say Go Jeff or Go jimmie nor will i ever slander the
Earnhardt name
That is not even a question that should be asked because Earnhardt should not even be mentioned in the same sentence as Jeffy poo that is a disgrace to him. I think you can tell by my reply I have no use fot jeff at all. I think he is a whimp and always will be. Earnhardt has more talent dead than gordon will ever have.
lol, i agree fay, a dead Dale is better than a live _________
Bob, comeback with something better than that. Could you be an Gordon fan?
Lets dig Dale up… I bet he beats Gordon.
EARNHARDT IS A LEGEND AND ALWAYS WILL BE…GORDON DOESN’T HOLD A CANDLE TO HIM!!!
Ya well u know what bob i’d rather be a redneck earnhardt fan and hated by wanna be loser
jeffy fans i could school u in nascar so come back when ur on my level ok and Fay u rock
just goes to show you how ignorant people can be…bet some of these people were people who tossed cans at gordons car. has it ever occured to anyone that dale sr and jeff were friends. very good friends to be exact. it also seems that dale jr and jeff are good friends as well….even dale jr got pissed off at people about what people had done to jeff the 2 TIME he won a race IN A ROW!!!!…oh and what about the 3 POLES HE WON IN A ROW!!!!!!!! how many championships has dale jr won????? how many has gordon won???? ’nuff said
Axel I have in the past, but a _____________ like you..it doesn’t sink in
Someone call Mulder and Scully…there’s an X-Files conspiracy in NASCAR!!! Maybe the “Smoking Man” is behind it. Maybe it’s the aliens… People get a grip! There were only 8 cautions in this race, and I believe only 2 were for debris, which was plainly show on the tv (of course that’s part of the conspiracy - controlling the video shown!) I mean the first caution didnt come until lap 74, when Debris in Turn 1. Tony Stewart is the benefit of the free pass and will be back on the lead lap. (Is Tony now part of the conspiracy?? Maybe brainwashed while in the NASCAR trailer??) Third, it’s called “PIT STRATEGY”, those people running out of gas on the late laps, could have pitted earlier, they didn’t! But of course, who cares for the safety of crews cleaning up the wreakage. I’m sorry, I think the only car getting things thrown at it was the 24 of Jeff Gordon, so your theory that “fans were throwing cans and toilet paper at nascar not only Jeff Gordon” is totally full of manure. I really am getting sick of hearing how NASCAR is favoring Hendrick and Gordon and Johnson. Face the facts people, Gordon won the race fair and square, deal with it. OH, but you can’t forgot! Have to have someone to blame when your driver loses! Finally, those throwing stuff, they should have been arrested, you do that at a MLB or NFL game, you’re going to jail. It’s even on the tickets. These yahoos that decided to throw beer cans at Gordon were even WARNED before the race! Serves them right!
candace, yet another person denouncing Earnhardt with nothing to back it up. This is not about Junior either. From everything I’ve read and seen, Earnhardt and Gordon couldn’t have had a greater respect for one another but it really doesn’t seem like they were “very good” friends. How many times did Earnhardt take Gordon huntin’? Also, its funny you have to solidify your driver by basically saying Earnhardt approved. Wonder who that means is better?
Stop the name calling on each other or more posts get deleted.
Standings as of: Talladega
Jeff Gordon 1521*
Jeff Burton 1318
Matt Kenseth 1292
Jimmie Johnson 1290
Denny Hamlin 1189
Driver Rating
Jeff Gordon 116.5*
Jimmie Johnson 110.9
Tony Stewart 104.1
Jeff Burton 102.9
Matt Kenseth 98.6
Avg. Running Pos.
Jeff Gordon 7.844*
Jimmie Johnson 8.885
Jeff Burton 10.732
Tony Stewart 11.024
Matt Kenseth 11.030
Results from: Talladega
FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE PTS/BONUS LAPS WINNINGS
1 1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 195/10 192 355,511*
2 8 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 175/5 192 251,736
3 26 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 170/5 192 212,483 4 2
38 David Gilliland Ford 160/0 192 182,689
5 25 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 160/5 192 134,675
View Full List View Season Results IndexBest 25 Over Past Six Races as of: Talladega LAST 6 RANK DRIVER SEASON RANK STARTS W T5 T10 BEST PTS BONUS 1 Jeff Gordon 1 6 2 5 5 1 X 2 1032 40*
2 Matt Kenseth 3 6 0 3 4 2 X 1 895 20
3 Jimmie Johnson 4 6 2 4 4 1 X 2 884 20
4 Jeff Burton 2 6 1 3 4 1 X 1 865 15
5 Denny Hamlin 5 6 0 2 3 3 X 2 815 20
Mile Leaders
DRIVER MILES
Jeff Gordon 769.65*
Tony Stewart 623.23
Jimmie Johnson 494.76
Denny Hamlin 357.77
Kurt Busch 346.01
Laps Run on Lead DRIVER LAPS
Matt Kenseth 2828
Jeff Burton 2817
Jeff Gordon 2800*
Jimmie Johnson 2727
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2599
as for it being JR’s time…not seeing him in to many of these areas!
Bob, you obviously have pent up hostility, be sure to let it all out. And speaking of sinking in… You’ve used your Mulder and Scully reference in another post. It was old before you used it. Speaking of which… I don’t think what you posted most recently is relevant to this article.
was that a personal attack? oops, my bad.
C’mon people! I don’t want to have to close this thread! Can we get back on topic instead of bashing each other??
Sorry….
EARNHARDT. As in Senior!!! Not Junior. I’m aware of what he is and isn’t.
jeff gordon is the biggest whiner in nascar’s history. he’s such a ___ i personally cant take that ____, he dosnt deserve half the wins he has, but when you have nascar conviently throwing yellow flags for “debris” everytime your in the lead, and the keep delaying the restart so everyone will run out of fuel your gonna have 77 some wins. he is nowhere near earnhardt. i hope him and jimmi johnson give each other aids and die.
Who is better Gordon or Earnhardt,Sr?
A.J.FOYT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You accuse me of hostility, but all i see are bigoted comments, outright lies. Yeah that makes me mad, you want to debate on the facts thats great,,,you might be suprised who i think is the best…but to look at all the BS, pisses me off. Just tired of the juvenile BS…wanna talk racing great, but I’m done. Most of you are “johnny come latelys” to NASCAR. I’m just done.
Cant compare the two. Competiton levels, cars, etc. were totally different from Earnhardts time to Gordons. I personally think Gordon is a better racer than Earnhardt, but I dont know about a better driver. By racing, I mean clean passing, smoothness in bad situations, etc. Earnhardt did amazing things with his car that nobody else could do or would even try.
Those of you who dont have the mental capacity to debate, I feel sorry for you. If you have to resort to petty namecalling because you lack a valid point, thats pretty pathetic.
Wow read this and knew this would be a heated one…I love Gordon believe me…but to compare the two I just cant…Sr. was the sport.. he made it what it is and believe it or not taught Gordon to make it what it will become. They were close even went in business together. Hunting nah not Gordon…c’mon now but driving and business and respect for one another is what they had, and as you can see there is still alot of that respect so who are we to judge anyway!
I agree moonfish…see people things can be said with out the BS. Nicely said
Facts speak for themselves and facts are never bigoted.
I’m still done
If you give me your email address we can debate this for real. You wont win on Earnhardt (SENIOR) vs. Gordon.
Bob, I just wanted to reply to you that I am not a johnny come lately to nascar. I drove a truck for 20 years for L G DeWitt who owned NC Motor Speedway and was there when Benny Parson’s was driving for him. I have been around Nascar for the better part of 38 years and I surely am not new to it. We are all entiled to our opinion and can tell you mine is there will never be another race car driver like Earnhardt. So when you talk about people being new it would be nice if you knew what you were talking about.
Touche’ Fay! Love it!
jeff got is wins in less time than sr.
jeff got 3 of his championships running against sr (95, 97, 98 who knows how 2001 would have gone)
3 daytona 500, sr only 1
jeff 51 wins 1992 to 2000, sr 24 jeff 26 wins since sr’s death
I know I will get bashed for this, but the stats speak for themselves. I’m sure NASCAR cheated some jeff could have all those stats. lol
I was a sr fan and a jeff fan. but some of you sr fans are pretty funny with your NASCAR conspiracy therories
Only one person has won a championship immediately after their rookie season.
Are they just trying to stir up trouble??? Of course Sr. hands down.
Gordons the man…the competition is alot better then “back in the day”
since earnhardt can’t when gordon gets win 201 talk about it
I can tell there’s no experts here (I’m not one either)…..I’m sure SpeedTv will get allot of ratings over this junk. Comparing any driver to see who is the best is a complete waste of time and a good way to boost ratings.
Earnhardt won his championships “back in the day”, before there was a “playoff” for the cup,
and when drivers could still fix their own cars!! When racing was still racing. He comes from
a line of racers, there will be a long line behind him. He is, was, and will always be the
GREATEST, and while he was never my favorite driver, he was impossible not to respect. Personally,
I can’t give any respect for Gordon, I don’t care if he and his “friend” (remember, Jeff is
known as the “Rainbow Warrior, lol) Jimmie Johnson win every race this season. HE WILL NEVER
BE AN EARNHARDT!
They should really wait and compare the two when Gordon reaches the same amount of years
that Dale Sr. competed. By the time Gordon reaches that number, he may have seven or more
championships under his belt. You never know. Either way, I have a great amount of
respect for both drivers. I have no desire to bash any driver, let alone call other fans
names. I consider all of these hateful remarks really childish.
Gordon is better, he is much better on Road courses, competes in a more competitive time and accomplished more in less time.
I cannot believe the Earnhardt lovers who can do nothing but call Jeff gay. Get over it
already. I was never an Earnhardt fan as I do not like drivers who can only win by bumping
and pushing everyone out of the way. Yes Gordon has ONLY won 4 championships, but he has not
been racing near as long as Sr. Sr. would NOT have won another championship if he was still
alive. The competition is to hard is he was washed up. As far as Jeff winning he would have
won the Cup the first year the chase was in, but because they took away his lead he did not
get it. He would have won last year too if it was not for the Chase format. Other than championshops
Jeff has accomplished as much if not more than Sr, but in a much shorter time. Sr. would have
been lucky if he won 1 championship if he was racing today. Nascar would not put up with his way
of driving
And as for as Nascar fixing races OMG, get over it. Dale Jr has benefitted from more lucky dogs
and mysterious debris cautions than anybody on the track. Earnhardt nation needs to get
overthemselves and realize if Jr. did not have the Earnhardt name he would be selling hot dogs.
He sucks as a driver. What has he accomplished since coming to cup? Not too much.
And I am by no means a newbie to Nascar, I have been a fan since I was a child and watch every
single race. I don’t just watch some and judge what Nascar has done. I am a diehard Nascar fan.
Stephanie,
Not even you can tell what would have happened or wouldn’t happen if. That is a big word to be so small but no one cane say what would have been or wouldn’t but God so soory get over yourself to.
I honestly don’t see how you can compare the two.
its amazing how off topic so many of these posts are! and you know, you keep saying Jeff Gordon is gay and yadda yadda……..
im not pointing any fingers or anything….
but Gordon DID get married twice, and his second wife is pregnant.
and how many women has he appeared with in victory lane prior to this marriage?….
now how many women has Dale Jr. brought to a track, or had in victory lane with him?…well, minus miss winston of course.
yeah, my dad digs at me too and calls gordon gay, but even he cant explain why Jr never has a women with him.
im just saying is all…….
oh yeah, and i should point out that im a pre-gordon fame fan, and ive watched nascar since i was a little kid, my dad brought me up with NASCAR racing and now im training my husband to watch it too. (haha)
and i needed to point out that i agree with a few of you on that its not a fair comparison right now since first off, dale is no longer with us and gordon is still racing. at the end of gordons career they could do this more accuratly vs. during it because whos to say he WONT get more championships nor will he win more races? he’s running strong this year and you never know. although the way that nascar is doing the points you dont really have to be leading them to win a championship, so you never know anymore who’s going to get it. he could easily pass the 7 championships with the race for the chase they have now. honestly, i dont think that he’ll pass the 200 win mark, but the championships he could easily do. he’s not even 40 yet!
Earnhardt had a lot more competition in his day. Back then you had people like Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Davey Allison, Harry Gant, Tim Richmond, Darrell Waltrip,Richard Petty, Alan Kulwicki,Buddy Baker. The list goes on.
Now a days you have a handful of guys who are really superstars and a whole bunch of guys who are riding around for a pay check, not saying they aren’t trying to win, but they just don’t hold a candle to guys from Dales era.
If it wasn’t for Earnhardt, Gordon wouldn’t be who he is. You could take away Gordon and Earnhardt would still be the greatest regardless. We don’t even have proof that Gordon is better than Tony Stewart. There’s still miles to go. Its going to take time before these guys reach the end of their potential. Then it will be easy to decide.
AMEN AXEL
Im so lost….i know the race is tomorrow, so why havent they qual’d yet? ive been moving into a new place this week and now im so confused! i almost totally forgot this was a saturday race!!
help!!!!
http://www.myspace.com/nascarbaby2424
for anybody who has a lame-space…i mean myspace
Isn’t Gordon even quoted as saying Dale’s the best driver to ever
be?
Now c’mon people, even HE’S got the common sense.
No matter what Nascar says about competition being at it’s peak,
back when was the real competition. Now it’s a matter of who can
make minor adjustments to make the car faster. Back in the day, the
cars were actually different and you never knew what the guy in front
of you had up his sleeve. It was true competition. Dale raced in a
tougher era, won more championships, and would probably have more
wins had he not passed away. I won’t go into the rest of the
comparisons between the two cuz the bottom line is, they’re opinion.
And therefore can be debated, which I don’t feel like doing. But the
basic facts speak.
Dale. No competition.
When I mention the competition is different now, I am not taking away from the talent back in the day. I just mean Nascar would not put up with Dales way of driving of get out of my way or I will push you out of my way. Nascar has changed so much and they would fine and suspend the crap out of Sr. for the way he drove. If he was driving today he could not be “The Intimadator” because Nascar would not put up with that crap. That is why I say Jeff is better because he does not have to resort to that to win and get to the front. Enough said.
Stephanie,
Did God die and leave you in charge because you sure are saying a lot about what would be or wouldn’t be??????
Fay,
You are quite opinionated yourself. He who lives in a glass house shall not cast stones. I thought this is where we are suppose to express our opinions. You need to get a life and quit attacking people because they don’t love your beloved DEAD earnhardt, sr.
on nascar.com they said that the speedTV deal said that Gordon wins the Jeff vs. Dale Sr. debate. and it actaully just came down to Gordon’s last win. (as i thought it might)………..
and Stephanie, im a Gordon fan through and through, but that