CUP: Gordon Tired Of Johnson’s Dominance, Too

Sprint Cup

CUP: Gordon Tired Of Johnson’s Dominance, Too

Jeff Gordon is still hunting his fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup championship...

Tom Jensen | Posted October 23, 2009 Martinsville, VA

Jeff Gordon is third in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings heading into the TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

A decade ago, when Jeff Gordon was winning everything in sight in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, fans complained of his overwhelming dominance. This season, fans are complaining about the success his teammate Jimmie Johnson is enjoying as he pursues a fourth consecutive championship.

And guess what? Gordon’s sick of watching Johnson win everything now, too.

Not in a bad way, mind you.

Gordon is third in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings right now, 135 points behind Johnson, who has won three of the last four races in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. And Gordon and Johnson have the utmost respect for each other. But there’s a championship to be won and Gordon’s in no mood to play nice.

“Jimmie and I are always going to be really good friends but we might be better friends 15, 20 years from now because right now I’m a competitor like every other competitor out there that wants to beat him,” Gordon said Friday at Martinsville Speedway.

And while the budding rivalry between Johnson and Gordon might not have the acrid venom of, say, Denny Hamlinvs. Brad Keselowski or Kyle Busch vs. Brian Vickers this season — let alone Petty vs. Allison in years past — Gordon said Friday he’s pretty fired up.

“Because I’m at Hendrick Motorsports and his teammate I see everything that goes on and I’m aware of the setups and the driving styles and the data and all those things and sometimes that can make it even more frustrating when you’re getting beat,” said Gordon. “I think at the same time it makes you hungrier to want to push harder to do everything you can to go out there and beat them.”

And that frustration has boiled over into the interpersonal relationships between the two, said Gordon.

“It’s definitely affected our friendship,” said Gordon. “There’s no doubt about it. We’re competitors on the race track. I’m not going to go over and pat him on the back and say how great he is and, ‘I love you man!’ when I really want to beat him.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Jensen

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