Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon at Daytona, 1993. Credit: Getty Images/Jim Gund

Hard to compare records of Gordon, Earnhardt

He's already won three times in 2005, and by this time next year, Jeff Gordon will undoubtedly have 76 career wins, which will tie him with Dale Earnhardt.

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Be prepared. Every single comparison between the two will be documented. And most of it will be unfair.

Earnhardt didn't win his first race until he was nearly 30. His win percentage (11 percent) will no doubt be far short of Gordon's (17 percent) when Gordon retires. Unlike Earnhardt, Gordon won't be winning races when he is 48 years old. He will long have since retired.

It's unlikely that Gordon will reach eight Cup championships. He's been stuck on four for three straight years, and at 33, Gordon only has -- at best -- 12 years left. That means that he will have to win a title every three years.

As NASCAR approaches its 60th season, one thing has remained constant -- it seems as if winning a championship gets tougher with each passing season. We have had six different men win the title in the last six years. Only one of those drivers (Gordon) has even won multiple titles.

I see a similar parallel with golf. Tiger Woods is halfway to Jack Nicklaus' record of major championships, but with Woods raking in an eight-figure income every year (like Gordon), he won't play until he's 50 either.

Jeff Gordon Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images

I am already sure that Earnhardt's seven titles were much tougher to win as Petty's seven, and I am almost convinced that Gordon's four were as tough as Earnhardt's seven. Certainly, if Gordon wins a couple of more titles, the feats will be equal.

With the new Chase for the Nextel Cup format, that is going to be hard to do. And that is even assuming Gordon races until he is 45. He probably won't. The brutal Nextel Cup schedule will be ending more careers than DNFs ever will -- just ask Rusty Wallace -- and it is only going to get worse.

I just hope that the comparisons between Gordon and Earnhardt are not too loud. I firmly believe that athletes in any sport can only be compared with the best of their era, and Petty, Earnhardt and Gordon were all the best of their eras.

That is all you can do, and all three did it.

The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.