Blk3GM's Response to a Gordon Fan

We received this response to our letter to Mr. Fennelly from a Gordon Fan.
His/her or whatevers (they didn't leave a name) comments are first and Blk3GM's follows.

Date: 11/19/98 2:24:28 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: THEAIRDALE@aol.com
To: Blk3GM@aol.com

Great letter. Just a couple of minor points. When Jeff had the unappvoved not illegal front suspension part so did Earnhardt and 10 other GM Teams. The manufacturer paid the fine because he was at fault. He was an approved NASCAR supplier who supplied an unproved part. That part is now legal. Also many of us Gordon fans are not as stupid about racing as you make it seem. I attended my first then Grand National race in 1962 and have attended races ever since. Much of Gordon's fan base came from his open wheel days and ESPN Thursday Night Thunder.

Your Mr. Earnhardt is not very approachable for autographs either. Lastly the term modern era was set as a benchmark long before Jeff came along and Dale saw no problem accepting records based of this term over the years. The ability to like or dislike a driver or team is great it is just the extremes people go to in their quest to express themselves that is wrong.

no name

You should really get your facts straight before you email us stuff like
the above person did. We may just have to create a "Hall of Shame" for
people like this.

Blk3GM's Response

Date: 11/24/98 10:34:51 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: Blk3GM@aol.com
To: THEAIRDALE@aol.com

First of all, thank you for visiting our web site. I am sorry for the delay in replying to you however, I wanted to do some research first. We have put some time, effort and a little bit of money into our reply to you so we hope that you will read it completely.

I will have to differ with you on the Evernham fine. The following is a quote from an article, June 3, 1995.

If you will note, Evernham states he purchased the hub from a manufacturer that was NOT approved by NASCAR. These are Ray Evernham's words. Nowhere could I find any mention of Earnhardt and 10 other GM Teams having the same unapproved part. Believe me, if Evernham thought that others had this same unapproved part on their cars and they didn't get fined, he would have been jumping up and down screaming, "foul"!

In fact, I believe Ray was more embarrassed that the rotor broke and fell off of the car in front of Nation Wide Television than he was at the fine. Kinda like getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar.

QUOTE:
OFFICIALS TO DISPLAY STEEL HUB
Date: Saturday, June 3, 1995 Edition(s): ALL
Page: C4 Section: SPORTS

NASCAR announced Friday that it would reveal more information about the cheating incident on Jeff Gordon's car sometime this weekend, after it completes its investigation.

NASCAR Spokesman Andy Hall said Winston Cup Director Gary Nelson also plans to display the ``cheater'' suspension part that led to a record $60,000 fine for Gordon's crew chief, Ray Evernham.

Evernham, meanwhile, said there was no mystery to the incident - he was simply caught with a part that was not approved by NASCAR.

Evernham said the part, which NASCAR still hasn't identified, was a steel wheel hub. He said it was not approved and he knew it, but he thought there was room for doubt.

``It was a regular old hub, period. It was definitely a steel hub. It was good quality aircraft steel. The way the hub is built, it has some scalloped pieces in it. It had less 'face' than an approved hub,'' Evernham said.

``We did not drill it, we did not lighten it, we did not touch it,'' Evernham said. ``We bought it from a manufacturer that is not approved by NASCAR and put it on the race car.''

Evernham said he used the part as part of a broader program to try to remove weight from the car. ``But again, we didn't do it in trying to break a rule,'' he said. ``Look at the rule book. Read it. We were walking that line. And we didn't intend to put anyone in danger and have it be a safety issue.''

NASCAR's Hall said the reason the fine was not announced until Tuesday afternoon, when the violation was discovered Sunday, was because ``we couldn't get everyone together'' before then.

``The race didn't end until late and the (Gordon) car had fallen out early, so they'd already left,'' Hall said. ``And it didn't happen Monday because of the (Memorial Day) holiday.''

``When we can talk about it, we will,'' Hall said. ``I think it will answer a lot of questions.''
UNQUOTE

The article is from the News & Record Online. This is not a free service. Archive articles cost $1.95 each to download. You are welcome to visit this site and download the article just as we did.

http://www.greensboro.com/nronline/archives/index.htm

Also, I could not find anywhere that the manufacturer paid the fine.

I also disagree that "Much of Gordon's fan base came from his open wheel days" as you state. The majority of Gordon's fans are women and children. As you drive to a race look in the cars around you. The husband or boyfriend will be wearing an Earnhardt, Wallace, Martin or other drivers apparel and the wife or girlfriend and the children will be wearing Gordon apparel. Oh there are some men who are Gordon fans but what can I say about that! Yes everybody does have the right to choose.

Also, if you haven't had the opportunity yet to read our "Why we don't respect Jeff" page
< https://members.tripod.com/~Blk3GM/Jeffy.htm > you will find a very interesting comment made by some members of the Jeff Gordon Fan Club. They are quite disillusioned with Jeff and the Rainbow Warriors. The comments were published in the November 19, 1998, issue of NASCAR's Winston Cup Scene.

As far as "Your Mr. Earnhardt is not very approachable" as you state, yes there are tremendous demands on his time, however, I have met the man and he certainly knows how to treat fans. It was in 1995. He came to Jackson, MS, for a charity golf tournament. The same day he was testing in Daytona. He flew from Daytona to Jackson for the golf tournament. Our company was a small sponsor in the tournament. Following the tournament he did an autograph session at Blackwell Chevrolet in Jackson. The manager of the dealership was quite disturbed that they were running behind schedule and announced to the fans waiting to see Mr. Earnhardt that the autograph session was going to have to be cut short as they were out of time. My NASCAR hero, Mr. Earnhardt, stood up in front of all the people waiting and told the manager of the dealership that if he wanted to leave that he was most welcome to but that he, Mr. Earnhardt, was here to meet these fans and to sign autographs and was staying until it was finished. And he did!

As for the Modern Era media hype that has been created this year, it has been a media marketing strategy for the 50th anniversary of NASCAR. Jeff has been used as a marketing ploy by both the media and NASCAR. Yes I understand, what NASCAR says about the modern era and why they chose to declare that year as the "turning point" for the modern era. But in 1975 when Richard Petty won 13 races it was done in only 30 races. It took Jeff 33 races. So if you want to make things equal, then in 30 races this year Jeff only won 11. Earnhardt won 11 of the 29 races in 1987. Both of these are within the "Modern Era".

I have no problem with people making choices on who they like and dislike. Yes and some people go to extremes in their like or dislike of a NASCAR figure. Again, that is a choice that we all have. I do not question that Jeff Gordon has talent. What I do not like is the way he has been promoted as the Wonder Boy of NASCAR. It is great we all don't have just one person as our favorite driver or it would really get boring!

Thanks again for visiting our web site.

Gary Harris
Blk3GM's Dale Earnhardt Site

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Blk3GM's Dale Earnhardt Site was born on July 26, 1998 and is owned and maintained by Gary Harris. This site is a tribute to "NASCAR's Greatest Driver" and his up and coming son. We are not affiliated with any official Team, Sponsors, Media Group or NASCAR. This site is solely for entertainment purposes. Information and statistic's on this site have been collected from various NASCAR related sites on the internet, from Winston Cup Scene, Newspapers, Television and our personal experience at Winston Cup and Busch Grand National races. All statistics are believed to be accurate at the time they are updated but cannot be guaranteed.