Gordon-Burton rivalry one of mutual respect

Dick Brinster

Thursday, March 25, 1999 | 10:42 a.m.

The Jeff & Jeff Show is becoming one of the great NASCAR rivalries.

Gordon and Burton had another stirring duel last weekend at Darlington Raceway, and figure to have many more. One day, the rivalry might become as competitive as Petty vs. Pearson or Waltrip vs. Earnhardt.

And they might have another battle Sunday at 3-year-old Texas Motor Speedway, where Burton has already won and Gordon is an unknown factor because of two crashes.

Burton, who defeated Gordon this time at Darlington, tries to deflect talk of a rivalry.

"It's a little early for that," he said. "I've still got a lot to do."

True, but both drivers are extremely youthful by NASCAR standards - Burton is 31, Gordon 27 - and as perennial contenders they figure to have many more unforgettable showdowns this year and in the infancy of the next century.

"That's OK with me," Gordon said. "A rivalry is good for the sport."

Start with the public differences that have bordered on animosity between Burton's car owner, Jack Roush, and Gordon's crew chief, Ray Evernham. Then throw in the propensity for both drivers to be very strong at places such as the old track in South Carolina and those in Loudon, N.H., and Richmond, Va., and it's a great show.

"People want to make us the next rivalry," conceded Burton, who has seven victories on the circuit. "But I don't think it has reached that point yet."

Burton says part of the reason he and Gordon get so much attention when they square off for the win is that a growing number of their battles have come when both were superior to the balance of the field.

"Everyone talks about Darlington in 1997 and Richmond in 1998," he said. "What's important to remember is I wasn't racing Jeff Gordon, I was racing a competitor for the win."

At Darlington in 1997, they raced hard over the final laps then banged into each other as the white flag flew to signify one more trip around in the Southern 500. In 1998, they did it again, although Gordon beat Burton in more convincing fashion.

"Those kind of things are thrilling," said Gordon, a third-place finisher last Sunday in the rain-abbreviated TranSouth 400. "Jeff is a just a great race car driver, a fierce competitor.

"We're both young, and both of us hate to get beat by anybody. You have to be exited about this kind of thing."

The Darlington duel last weekend - in which Burton and second-place finisher Jeremy Mayfield prevented Gordon from getting his 45th career victory - might be the first of several exciting Gordon-Burton encounters this year. Although it might not be the next, the race May 15 in Richmond, Va., offers considerable promise.

Last September, on the three-quarter-mile oval in the Virginia capital, they staged a finish that figures to be talked about in the sport for years to come. Side by side they raced, inches apart in the closing laps at Richmond International Raceway.

Burton won by about three feet. But the outcome seemed less important to both than the way they conducted themselves.

"He could easily have wrecked me and won the race," said Burton, who probably prevailed because he had the preferred high line.

"He raced me hard and clean," Gordon said. "It was one the great finishes I've ever been involved in."

Like Burton, Gordon won't slight the likes of Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte or Dale Jarrett by saying the sport has become a two-car affair. He says all are on the same level as racers.

"But I can see it building, and I welcome it," Gordon said of the rivalry. "Everytime a new face comes out, it makes me concentrate even more, and I really need that if my face is going to around as long as guys like Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip."

Burton wouldn't object to that scenario, either.

"If at the end of our careers they talk about Jeff and I like some of the other great rivalries in NASCAR's history, then that would be an honor," he said.