Amid beer cans, Gordon has Earnhardt-like charge

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- It seemed, at least for a few minutes, that the Intimidator had shrunk several inches and slipped inside a No. 24 car. Jeff Gordon jumped from one lane of traffic to another, clawing from the middle of the pack to the front as the final laps at Talladega Superspeedway wound down. It was the perfect way to honor Dale Earnhardt, by passing him on NASCAR's career victory list with a winning charge like he would have made.

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Not that everyone appreciated it. Seconds after it was announced over the public address system that a crash had ended the Aaron's 499 with Gordon in front, the projectiles started flying. Just as they did after Gordon won here under caution in 2004, just as they did after Gordon tied Earnhardt with his 76th career victory last weekend at Phoenix, a few spectators resorted to hooliganism. And one of the more poignant days in the sport's history was marred by beer cans raining down on the field as it approached the checkered flag (watch video).

"That's terrible," said Jimmie Johnson, who followed his Hendrick Motorsports teammate to a runner-up finish. "They're going to hurt somebody. I just can't believe that people who love this sport would take the chance to hurt a kid or hurt another person. I'm sure there are cans that didn't make it to the track that fell into the stands. A full beer can hitting somebody in the back of the head, on one level that's disrespectful. The other side of it, throwing them at racecars and damaging our racecars, that's not a way to show that you support our sport and our racing. I was just disappointed to see that."

It's gone on long enough. Despite protests from Dale Earnhardt Jr., who asked fans to throw toilet paper if they felt the desire to throw anything at all, these boozed-up copy-cat can-chuckers continue to embarrass everyone from the series to the track to the fans who behave.

It's time to take a cue from teams in the NFL, which hunt down and prosecute yahoos who toss anything onto the field. Just ask Jeffrey Lange, caught by a newspaper photographer throwing a snowball during a New York Giants game in 1995, and eventually arrested and forced to pay $650 in fines.

"I don't know what you do," said Rick Hendrick, Gordon's car owner. "You have people in there to watch it, but there are so many [fans], I don't know how you stop it. Maybe bar the guys throwing if you spot them, and don't let them come back in. It is dangerous. I don't know what we should do. The drivers have talked about it, NASCAR has talked about it. If you can't bring beer cans into the stands anymore, they're doing it to themselves. Maybe make them drink out of paper cups. Maybe that's the next step." (Continued)