Gordon has paid his due respects, now it's his turn (cont'd)

"Jeff came out of the gate winning so much early on," Hendrick said. "Usually when people don't like somebody, there's a reason. I've never kind of figured out the reason other than he was a winner, because he gives back so much and he does so much for the sport. You haven't seen a lot of confrontation out of him. He's good to the media. He's good to NASCAR. I mean, he's been a good citizen."

Can a guy be too nice? Sure, when it's Earnhardt on the other side of the garage.

Weekend That Was

Jeff Gordon said that he was afraid some fans might think he now considers himself as good a driver as Earnhardt was "and that wasn't the case." Well, Earnhardt fans might not like to hear this: but a case could be made that Gordon is as good or better than the late Earnhardt.

• Complete story, click here

"If he hadn't won any races, I wonder how many people would like or dislike him, you know. I think it just comes with the territory. I look back over the years, guys like Darrell [Waltrip]. ... If you were a fan of Bobby Allison, some of the other guys, here comes Darrell Waltrip, all of a sudden people don't like him. I think Jeff has paid some dues for his early success."

Today, even without Dale Earnhardt, the rivalry with Jeff Gordon lives on. A rivalry that really existed in the grandstands more than in the garage.

"I never really saw any conflict between them," Hendrick said.

"I saw it as respect. I saw Earnhardt come over and put his arm around Jeff and talk to him about things."

Gordon came to NASCAR from sprint cars, where they run shorter races. Cup was a marathon, something Gordon struggled with as a rookie.

"You can't drive 10-lap heats in a 500 mile race. That was one of the things Earnhardt said to Jeff," Hendrick said. "I think that helped. I think because Dale could see he had a tremendous amount of talent ... he had those kind of conversations early on. I think Jeff listened to him and learned from him."

If Earnhardt could see the talent, so could Hendrick. Still, the accomplishments of the 24 driver amaze him.

"I'm impressed. I've always been impressed with him. I'm one of his biggest fans from the time I saw him drive Busch cars till the things I've seen him do in a Cup car. He is totally focused," Hendrick added. "He was extremely unselfish with Jimmie [Johnson] early on. He has really just, from the very beginning when he got into Cup racing, shown a tremendous amount of talent and [been] a very smart racer. Then when you get down to 10 to go, the money's on the line, he really steps it up when he has to."

Now you have to believe Gordon is sharply focused on the future. The way Tiger Woods would focus on winning a major. In NASCAR you cannot pick out selected events and try to win those. You have to compete every week in every race. You could make the point that the grind had made Gordon even better.

"Jeff was always mature way beyond his years," Hendrick said.

"Now that he's older and has as many years of experience as he does, he [has] spent a lot of time with Jimmie, a lot of time with Kyle [Busch] and Casey [Mears] as well as a lot of other young drivers. I see a lot of people coming up to him and asking him questions. You know one thing, Jeff, he's not going to talk a ton but when they ask him, he's pretty direct and gives them good advice."

In the beginning, it was Gordon getting advice from Earnhardt, among others. Listening was important. It still is, but so is leading. (Continued)