Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon both drive for Hendrick Motorsports. They both have collected four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships apiece. The two consistently vie for victories every weekend during the spring and summer as top contenders for the Chase. At what point do Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon start stepping on each other’s toes?
Now. Johnson and Gordon, arguably the two best drivers on the NASCAR circuit, have been good-natured competitors over the last decade, but they might have just crossed a line between friendly and fierce. A rivalry boiled and bubbled over during the month of April, when Johnson inadvertently caused Gordon setbacks during two races in a row (at Texas and Talladega).
Racing fans with <a href=”http://www.stubhub.com/nascar-tickets/”>NASCAR tickets</a> to the April 19 Sprint Cup race at Texas saw a Hendrick Motorsports rivalry ignite as the No. 24 and No. 48 cars got tangled up on Lap 241 of 334 at the Texas Motor Speedway. Both cars were running hard for the leading position, but Johnson’s reactions to Gordon’s intensity resulted in a scuttle that left Gordon in a major pile-up later in the race.
As if that wasn’t enough to get Gordon riled up, the following week Johnson’s car again swiped Gordon’s, this time with Johnson blatantly at fault. Gordon’s mangled car eventually crossed the finish line in 22nd place, but he expressed his frustrations with his teammate in a statement the USA Today picked up that said, “The 48 is testing my patience, I can tell you that. It takes a lot to make me mad… I don’t know what it is with me and him right now.”
Both Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson later chalked up their emotions to a healthy rivalry and hard racing, but eyes fell on Hendrick Motorsports and owner Rick Hendrick in the days following the ‘Dega race to smooth over the situation. After speaking with both drivers, Johnson told the USA Today that Hendrick counseled him, “You guys need to voice your opinions, handle things on the track as you see fit, but let’s not let this carry on too far and affect the race shop.”
Essentially, Rick Hendrick is staying out of the situation and letting his two top drivers duke it out for the No. 1 spot – and that’s not all a bad thing. Competition is, after all, the bread and butter of NASCAR’s draw, and a Gordon/Johnson feud can only bring more attention to the racing circuit. Also, there’s nothing like a good rivalry to get a fire lit under drivers, and that’s exactly what Gordon needs right now to get past his four-year slump (or Johnson’s four-year winning streak) and claim another Sprint Cup championship.
Jeff Gordon is, after all, the one who lobbied for Jimmie Johnson to score a place on his team with Hendrick Motorsports back in 1996. Gordon, the quickest NASCAR driver to ever reach 50 career wins, was on top of the racing circuit in the mid-’90s when Johnson jumped aboard his crew, having won the series championships in 1995, 1997, 1998 and 2001. As the years progressed, however, Gordon’s protégé eventually eclipsed him, and Johnson has now won the last consecutive four Cup series titles.
This year, Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 car is driving extremely fast, and he has a chance to steal back the Sprint Cup Series championship in the Chase if he continues driving hard with minimal accidents. As of now, Jeff Gordon is coming off a second-place finish at Richmond on May 1 and is in sixth place overall in driver standings. Jimmie Johnson sits comfortably at No. 2.
Jenna Jay wrote this article, which is sponsored by StubHub.com. <a href=”http://www.stubhub.com/”>StubHub</a> is a leader in the business of selling <a href=”http://www.stubhub.com/nascar-tickets/”>NASCAR tickets</a>, sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and special events tickets.
