re: Jeff Gordon's last year for a championship

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Between him and TD/Ginobli, I'm going to have no one to root for in a couple years

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I was thinking the exact same thing when the news broke. Grew up with the 24 and those Spurs. Gonna be weird when they all finally hang 'em up.

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I'm going to have to make it to Darlington, the 600, or Atlanta this year.

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Yeah, this news turned one of the Kansas races into a must-go for me.

After this year, my primary driver will be the 48. I know Imma be subconsciously looking for the 24 on the scoring ticker for a long time, though

Yeah, that's what I've gathered.

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No race that I know of goes 500 laps

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The Food City 500 is an annual 500-lap, 266.5-mile (428.89 km) NASCAR Sprint Cup points race held at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. This is one of two NASCAR races held at Bristol, the other being the Irwin Tools Night Race, and is considered one of NASCAR's best races.

Gordon will be remembered as a legend in NASCAR. Phenomenal talent. Four season championships, and but for the advent of The Chase a few years ago, Gordon would have likely won two or three more.

I'm certainly not a friend or even a personal acquaintance on his, but I did get a chance to spend a fair amount of time with him over the years in professional settings off the racetrack. He was consistently one of the nicest and most down-to-earth people you could hope to deal with, particularly when you consider he is fabulously wealthy and one of the most recognizable stars in all of sports (not just racing).

There is a great deal of stupid in many of the posts in this thread, and I've no interest in getting into a slappy fight with folks. (I think baseball is the American equivalent of soccer - very talented players but the game itself is so incredibly boring that I won't watch it on television or in person. But I see no reason to jump into baseball threads and bash the sport - I'll let baseball fans enjoy talking about their sport.).

But as several posters have pointed out, unless you've actually attended a NASCAR race, and many of the negative-posters in this thread have admitted they haven't, then you've no idea of the talent these drivers have. And one of the most talented drivers of all time is Gordon. He's done so much for the sport - it will go on but he will be missed.

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I'm sure the board will hate me, but I've been on with Kyle Busch since he was in the 84 for Hendricks. The same brash, young arrogance lets me root for someone like myself. That thing where he might be the most skilled driver in NASCAR (even if he can't control himself from doing stupid shite that costs him) doesn't hurt.

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Not gonna upset me, for some reason I love Kyyyyyyyyyylllleeee (I always pronounce his name like Cartman does on South Park )

He will be in the running behind Jr. for my favorite driver when Gordon is done

Well said

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Junior annoys me. He would drive 4 times a year like Michael Waltrip at the restrictor plate tracks if not for his last name and all the people who buy his merch just for that.

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Ditto. I've cooled a tad on my hate for him since he joined Hendrick, but his incessant popularity based on nothing more than name recognition, not track results, irks me.

Gonna full-time root for the 48 once JG hangs 'em up. Also like Danica Patrick and Kyle Larson, though.

Yeah, I'm not trying to say the guy isn't talented (you have to be to race for any length of time at the Cup level), but just vastly overrated, IMO. I also think he's done less with more, given the rides he's had in this series. If his name weren't what it was, he'd be another average to slightly-above average driver in the lay fan's eyes.

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I also think Jr is sort of mentally fragile (tends to happen when your dad is basically god and then he gets killed) and his personality doesn't lend itself to being a very good communicator which is vital in this era of racing.

It's no coincidence that his best run as a driver has come when he was working with one of the best communicators around in Letardte

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That's actually a great point

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I've always wondered what would happen if they put David Streme in Gordon's car and Gordon in Stremes

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It'd be interesting for sure. You're right--equipment is such a huge determining factor in a guy's success or failure it's not even funny.

Then again, you have to think that those who have the most invested in their equipment/teams are going to scout/sign the best drivers they can, so it's a little of both I guess.

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Tbird I always enjoy talkin racing with you as you clearly have a passion for it as do I, I hope you have the opportunity to make it to some more tracks in the future as we have talked before and I know that's been sort of limited for you. Nothing like watching them in person and that doesn't even include the tailgating atmosphere

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Thanks man, and likewise! Definitely a scene I hope to be more a part of in the future. No sport like it