Race fans love, hate ‘97 champ

Friday, Feb. 27, 1998 | 1:20 a.m.

He is at once the most revered and the most reviled driver on NASCAR's Winston Cup circuit. His legions of loyal fans are matched only by those who boo him at driver introductions and cheer his every mishap on the track.

Jeff Gordon can bring out the emotions in race fans perhaps more than any other driver on the circuit. At age 26, his overwhelming success on the race track (30 Winston Cup victories and two series championships) and off it (he earned an estimated $40 million last year, the bulk of which came from his percentage of merchandise sales) have made him a marked man.

Gordon, a polished spokesman who has been driving competitively since the age of 5, brushes aside the constant fan criticism that hounds him at every race track the series visits.

"Hey, the fans are what make NASCAR such a great sport," Gordon said, refusing -- at least outwardly -- to admit that the constant heckling bothers him.

Whatever your opinion may be of Gordon, the person, the undeniable fact is that the Vallejo, Calif., native's success as a driver the past three years is unmatched in the sport.

He won his first of two Winston Cup championships in 1995 in only his third full season driving for car owner Rick Hendrick. He has piloted his rainbow-colored No. 24 Chevrolet Monte Carlo into Victory Lane 10 times in each of the past two seasons and 28 times in his past 96 races.

"Whatever you might think of him, he's just a great driver," former Winston Cup champion Rusty Wallace said of Gordon. "When he first came up, I thought he was just lucky to get the ride he has and that he really hadn't paid his dues ... but the more I watch him run -- and win races -- the more I realize he's just a great driver."

Gordon comes into Sunday's Las Vegas 400 looking to write his name into yet another section of the NASCAR record book as he bids to become the first three-time winner of an inaugural race.

Gordon drove his DuPont Automotive Finishes Chevrolet to victory in the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and, last year, christened the new California Speedway in Fontana by winning the inaugural California 500.

"The track is pretty flat and wide enough to pass on," Gordon said. "It looks similar to Michigan, a place that I really enjoy going to because it's such a competitive track that allows for a lot of side-by-side racing."

Gordon, who won 10 races and his second Winston Cup championship in 1997, is coming off a victory in last weekend's Goodwrench 400 at North Carolina Speedway. Despite a strong start this season, Gordon knows better than to predict a repeat of last year.

"Last year was definitely a career year," Gordon said. "When I'm older and look back on 1997, I'm going to wonder how it ever happened the way it did. We're not expecting to go out and win 10 races again this season. Even though we always race to win, our main goal is to maintain consistency all season. The main objective is to win the championship -- that's the ultimate goal.

"We'll take it one race at a time and right now the most important race is Las Vegas because it's the next one."