Gordon no longer Mr. Nice Guy

Brian Hilderbrand

Thursday, March 30, 2006 | 6:36 a.m.

Throughout his NASCAR Cup career, Jeff Gordon has gained the reputation of being one of the few drivers in the series who routinely takes the high road when it comes to off-track confrontations with fellow drivers.

That might not necessarily be the case in the future, Gordon said. While commenting on his uncharacteristic postrace shove of Matt Kenseth on Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee - which earned him a $10,000 fine - Gordon said his off-track demeanor could be influenced by his determination to be more aggressive on the track.

"When you're more aggressive, sometimes it carries over off the racetrack as well," Gordon said. "I'm still capable of taking the high road ... I typically do because I avoid those situations. In the future, there will be times when I'll avoid it, and there will be other times when I'm going to voice it or show my emotions.

"I guess that's maybe the Jeff Gordon that's evolved over the years. When in the past I've reserved a lot of my emotions, I'm not afraid of showing them these days."

In addition to the fine, NASCAR placed Gordon on probation until Aug. 30. Gordon said before the penalty was announced that he didn't have a problem with a fine but was hoping he would not be docked points in the standings.

"I felt like I paid the price in my points by getting spun out in the last lap and going from third to 21st," he said.

Same old, same old

Although the dust-up between Gordon and Kenseth drew national attention, veteran driver Kyle Petty said such confrontations were commonplace in NASCAR's early years.

"Twenty years ago, that went on every week almost," Petty said. "Somebody was out pointing a finger at somebody and somebody was out pushing somebody. The difference is there were no TV cameras; the difference is there weren't 160,000 fans sitting in the grandstands.

"I think with the increased visibility and with that increased attendance at the racetrack, there has to come some sort of responsibility and some kind of accountability on the participants' part."

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