Gordon looks for No. 77 on late Earnhardt's best track

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Dale Earnhardt taught him how to drive at Talladega Superspeedway, how to use mirrors and the draft and the air to win at NASCAR's biggest track. Now Jeff Gordon will try to use those same tactics to surpass the late seven-time champion on the sport's all-time victory list.

Gordon's victory last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway was the 76th of his career, tying him with Earnhardt for sixth in premier-series wins. Now he turns his sights to Talladega, the big, fast, unforgiving beast in the north Alabama hills, where he could pass Earnhardt like the Intimidator passed so many people here.

"Nobody was better than him. I think I may have beaten him one time here, and I thought it was one of the greatest accomplishments in my career, because I watched him just wear guys out," said Gordon, who will start Sunday's Aaron's 499 as the pole winner (watch here) and leader in Nextel Cup points.

"I can remember being in a race, riding along toward the end, trying to make some moves happen and Dale was nowhere in sight. All of the sudden, the checkered flag is waving and I'm like, 'Who won?' They're like, 'Dale.' You've got to be kidding me. That guy is nowhere even in the hunt. He was amazing here. To be able to win here meant a lot to me, especially when I raced with him. I just take that along with me, and it would be a great victory to be able to do that."

He may have been a son of North Carolina, but nowhere is the Earnhardt legacy stronger than Talladega. Daytona International Speedway, the sport's other restrictor-plate venue, frustrated him throughout his career and eventually took his life in 2001. But in Alabama he was bigger than a Crimson Tide quarterback, winning a track record 14 times on three different circuits, 10 of them coming in the series now known as Nextel Cup. His most memorable may have been his final career victory, when in October of 2000 he vaulted from 18th to first in the final five laps.

The armies of sunburned spectators who now wear the red of Dale Earnhardt Jr. once wore the black of his father. And into this atmosphere steps Gordon, often reviled by Earnhardt fans despite a relationship between the two drivers closer than many realize, who will go for career victory No. 77 and sole possession of sixth place on what would have been the Intimidator's 56th birthday.

No one grasps that significance more than Gordon, pelted with beer cans by some after his Phoenix victory for displaying a No. 3 flag that was intended to honor the late champion. It was a scene reminiscent of the ugly aftermath to Gordon's victory at Talladega two springs ago, when a late caution helped him overtake Earnhardt Jr. and spectators responded by hurling 12-ounce projectiles of discontent.

At the time, Earnhardt Jr. remarked that a lot of the cans being thrown had formerly contained Budweiser, the beer that sponsors his car. He's since taken a harsher stance. "It ain't cool at all," he said this week. If fans want to throw beer cans, he added, they should throw them at their own cars. If they feel the need to hurl something should Gordon win Sunday, bring a roll of toilet paper along. (Continued)