Gordon insists no malice in black car.
Jeff Gordon’s running feud with fans of the Earnhardt family is well documented, but the four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion insists that running a black version of the #24 DuPont Chevrolet is not meant to stir things up.
Dale Earnhardt was synonymous with the black GM Goodwrench car at the time Gordon began to threaten his success, and the dislike of the Hendrick Motorsport driver has lived on beyond ‘the Intimidator’s untimely death, at Daytona, in 2001, into the present day as Dale Earnhardt Jr took up the on-track battle.
“It only lightened up [in 2008] because I wasn’t winning,” Gordon said of a perceived lifting of the tension, “I hope I go back to winning and the boos get loud as can be because that’s one of my favorite things to hear.”
The black paintjob on this year’s #24 could be seen as a means of riling those fans so intent on seeing Gordon continue to struggle - he failed to win a race in 2008 and has not lifted the Cup title since that fateful 2001 campaign - but the veteran, who will continue to feature DuPont’s now famous flames as part of the livery, insists that is far from the truth.
“I just think black with red and yellow flames…. it doesn’t get any cooler than that,” Gordon claimed, “I think it’s an awesome car. I’m really pumped to drive it - and it had nothing to do with Earnhardt.
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