Racing's new icons enjoy each other on, off track

Gordon, Earnhardt Jr. know where each other comes from

They're separated by three years, millions of loyal fans, and for many weeks this season, only a few hundred points.

	Nextel President and CEO Tim Donahue presents Dale Earnhardt Jr. with a No. 8 Nextel phone during Nextel's sponsorship announcement Junior and Gordon were NASCAR's driver representatives at the announcement. Credit: NASCAR/ISC Publications

They don't see themselves as demographic and generational extremes, yet whether they like it or not, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are NASCAR's present and future kings -- both featured at this summer's announcement of Nextel as the new Cup Series sponsor, both juxtaposed in a television commercial, both viewed as pop culture icons outside their sport.

They enjoy their pairings on the track even more.

"We're banging a little and we're trying to get to the finish first," Gordon said. "And that's kind of what makes what we do fun. But I think in the back of our minds we also know that people love that. So it makes it that much more enjoyable."

If you thought they didn't like each other, think again. A last-laps Texas tussle earlier this season birthed weeks' worth of buzz after Earnhardt Jr. finished second and Gordon third. They've been locked atop the Cup standings since mid-April, trading second and third place behind leader Matt Kenseth.

And while their factions may war in grandstands, chat rooms or at water coolers, the principals themselves think the other is a pretty cool dude.

"We've gone out and hung out away from the racetrack," Gordon said of Earnhardt Jr. "And yeah, he's a cool guy. No matter who you are, it's hard not to be in awe of him in certain aspects of how he is not afraid to be himself, not afraid to do and live life his way. And he can get away with it. So I respect him a lot for that."

	Gordon is often in the spotlight when NASCAR wishes to make a splash. Junior is quickly becoming visible, as well. Credit: NASCAR/ISC Productions

So what you see is what you get?

"Yeah." Gordon grined. "He doesn't hide much."

Don't expect Gordon, 32, to wear his cap backward or sport an NHL team jersey to drivers' meetings. Do expect Junior, who'll turn 29 later this year, to try to emulate Gordon's resume. He's in his fourth Cup season, his first as a contender and has yet to acquire bragging rights.

"We hang out from time to time," Earnhardt Jr. said. "But he has this deal about him where even though we're buddies, he still wants me to know that, 'Hey man, I won those championships and there's a certain amount of respect I'm going to demand from you.' Cause there's times where I've pushed him a little bit or shoved him a little bit, to a point to where he'll say, 'You going to have to respect me now.' "

Earnhardt Jr. grins as he speaks, because he knows respect is reciprocal. This season's points race has magnified his and Gordon's history, and Gordon describes Junior's as hyper-accelerated.

"Basically driving late-models at Concord (N.C.) to Busch Grand National champion (to) all of a sudden the next great star in Winston Cup," Gordon said.

	Junior says that on the racetrack, Gordon commands a lot of respect. Credit: Autostock

Gordon, whose 1993 Cup debut came at age 22, isn't surprised Earnhardt Jr. needed three years of seasoning.

"Sometimes it takes a little while, you know?" Gordon said. "It took me, believe it or not, a couple of years to kind of take it all in and I didn't have near the popularity or things that he had to go through."

Gordon is comfortable sharing spotlights with Earnhardts; he was The Kid long before Junior, nicknamed so by the late Dale Earnhardt, accustomed to all the hoopla, blather and obligation of stardom.

He and the elder Earnhardt weren't hunting-and-fishing tight -- one was a veteran great, the other soon-to-be -- but mutual admiration tapped deep roots, and their rapport was more extensive than some people know.

"Dad really had a lot of respect for him and appreciated his talent -- knew he was a great race car driver," Earnhardt Jr. said of Gordon. "They actually worked together at a business venture or two and had some things like that going on that I don't know much about."

Earnhardt Jr. remembered a long-ago weekend.

"I was real, real young," he said -- as the senior Earnhardt waited to qualify his Busch series car. Gordon, who hadn't yet graduated to Cup, also waited with his car, and Earnhardt introduced the two younger men.

"And Jeff was just real personable, and was like, 'Hey man, how you doing?' " Earnhardt Jr. said. "And we sat there and talked a little bit just about things. We had some things in common as far as being youthful and very young at that time. I would see him at the tracks from then on, and he was always the first one to go, 'Hey man, come on over.' "

	Junior remembers vividly his first meeting with Gordon. Credit: Autostock

Such openness impressed Earnhardt Jr. who said he looked up to Gordon; knew the older driver was destined for Cup.

"And I thought, 'Man, that's pretty cool of him to be that way because he had so much going for him at that time,' " Earnhardt Jr. said. "I didn't think he really could concentrate."

"I remember him as a pretty young punk," Gordon counters, grinning again. "I'll never forget being in North Wilkesboro and him driving basically this little jalopy street stock car around there, and sitting on a pit-road wall and talking to him. It's pretty amazing that he's come from that to what he's doing today. And I think it's awesome."

The four-time champion and the crown prince aren't constant companions. Their interests don't always converge, and although they've remained friends as lives and careers diverged over the past 10 years, their relationship revived last season -- according to Earnhardt Jr. -- as Gordon weathered a divorce.

"You could kind of see that same guy that I met way back in 94, 93, you could see a little bit of that coming back," Earnhardt Jr. adds.

He and Gordon call their get-togethers infrequent, casual -- perhaps dinner or boating on the lake near their homes. It might include fellow Cup driver Jimmie Johnson, or Hendrick Motorsports Busch Series driver Brian Vickers, or Ricky Hendrick.

"There's this area out there where if it's a nice day, like when we have a Sunday off, there's some areas where you can just go hang, float on the boat, listen to music, you know," Gordon said. "Have a good time."

He's also advised Earnhardt Jr. to expand his hangout horizons.

VIDEO CLIPS Gordon wins earlier this season at Martinsville Play video Junior makes it four straight wins at Talladega Play video  •  Junior's Driver Page  •  Gordon's Driver Page  •  DuPont: The science of NASCAR  •  Join Jeff's Fan Club

"I just give him a hard time about hanging out in Myrtle Beach," said Gordon, who keeps a New York apartment. "I tell him, 'It's OK to hang in Myrtle Beach -- get out every once in a while. Go to L.A. Go to New York. Go some places where you're not so obvious.' "

Johnson, whose Hendrick team is co-owned by Gordon, and who first met Earnhardt Jr. during Speedweeks of 1996, said his boss and Junior are plain ol' buddies.

"Each one knows what pressures the other guy has placed on them," Johnson said. "This sport is very demanding and if there are two guys that know just how demanding it can be, Jeff and Junior are it.

"(They) are not all that similar, but they have found a common ground with each other and enjoy each other's company."

Never more so than at a Kid Rock concert last year -- and the Kid Rock concert after the concert.

"We went to an after party where Kid Rock played for a group of us and we just had a blast," Johnson said of the contingent that included Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. "Everyone just forgot about the world and we hung out like high school buddies having fun on a Friday night."

That comfort zone isn't limited to social engagements. Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. say they go long periods without speaking because of their hectic schedules, but never worry about communication. Earnhardt Jr. knew he'd get a quality answer when he asked about Gordon's car swap with Formula I driver Juan Pablo Montoya.

"He would truly talk to me and get into minor details about it," Earnhardt Jr. said, "to where he might tell somebody else the once-over, rough-draft (of) what happened."

"I would be there for him, through anything," Gordon said. "We've talked about some business stuff a couple of times, and I think that was probably where it stemmed from, was I think that he knew that his dad and I talked about business at times. And it kind of opened him up to talk about it a little bit."

Some conversations are quite serious.

"Me and Jeff have had some times where I've really asked him some substantial, look, I-really-need-some-good-advice-here (questions)," Earnhardt Jr. said. " 'I don't need a sermon or I don't need some kind of BS answer. I need you to really tell me in as few words as possible what I really need to know.' And he would do it."

"I've won championships and races," Gordon said. "I'm not trying to hide anything. I've got nothing left to prove. And if somebody wants a straight answer or wants some advice, or just somebody to talk to about this little world that we live in, I'm right there.

"I want to see guys do the right things. And if I can help them do that, great."

At Texas, a just-arriving Gordon patted an about-to-depart Earnhardt Jr. on the back as they attended a post-race press conference; subtlety as compliments go. Only 30 minutes earlier they'd banged each other like pulp logs.

"He'll tell you like he might tell any driver," Earnhardt Jr. said. "But he'll maybe go out of his way at times to tell me, 'That was a good job.' "

Which means considerably more than a back slap.

"Damn right it does," Earnhardt Jr. said. "Makes a lot of difference."