The Joe Gibbs Racing driver spun out and says he “tried to cause a caution” to get to pit road. “And I ended up backing into the fence and ended our day.

“We got a DNF; I was pissed so I talked to Mark on Monday and he was like, ‘Why were you even running me that hard?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know to be honest with you.’

“But I feel like all the mistakes I’ve made, I’ve at least made a conscience effort to try to correct them or learn from them. I think that’s the biggest difference people have seen from the guys that are like that today versus back in the days. Sure everyone had a little wild hair in them at some point in their career, but they got over it and they were a little more humble about it.”

It’s not always the older, more experienced drivers that offer a bit of advice. Jimmie Johnson had yet to make his move to Cup when Matt Kenseth, just a two-year veteran of the series, dumped him while working his way through the field.

“I was running sixth or seventh and he had dominated all day long and something went wrong and he was coming up through and there were just a few laps left,” Johnson says. “And he turned me around in (turns) 1 and 2 and I hit the fence.

"I was sitting down on the inside of the track waiting for him to drive by … I had the engine running and I was just going to door him, and when I dropped the clutch to take off, the bumper bar had wrapped up under the race car and had the rear tires off the ground. So when I tried to take off I couldn't go anywhere! And I was like, ‘Damn it!’”

Just as memorable, he says, was an on-track altercation he had with driver Ward Burton at New Hampshire. And the following obligatory phone call to try and smooth over any ruffled feathers.

Both drivers were working their way through traffic when Johnson says he got into Burton, turned him around, and Burton “hit the fence.”

“He got back on track and spent like four or five laps trying to crash me,” Johnson says. “So then I was pretty nervous about what went on and started tracking him down. I called his office but that didn't work and somehow I got his home phone number.

“And I don't know what made him more mad actually, whether it was me calling him on the phone or calling him at home. I think he was cussing at me because it was a little tough to understand him. But he went on for 30 seconds in just four-letter words and he finally calmed down and we talked it out from there.”

Give and take is expected, Gordon says, and newcomers should expect no less. But there is a limit.

“If somebody does something and pushes you out of the way, or does something that is sort of a ‘hey rookie, this is your lesson,’ then you kind of give them that,” he says. “But if it happens over and over again, then you realize that this person isn’t respecting me and if I continue to let them get away with that, then they’re never going to respect me.

“You kind of get to your limit and you have to push and shove back. Even with the hazing … of a rookie, they’re still trying to accomplish the same thing that the rest of us are out there and you can only get away with so much.”

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