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In the movie Days of Thunder, Cole Trickle became upset with teammate Russ Wheeler because he felt that Wheeler was harassing him on track. It looks as if the modern day version of Days of Thunder is being played out between Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson.
In the movie, both Trickle and Wheeler drove for a Charlotte based car dealer Tim Deland. In real life, Gordon and Johnson drive for Charlotte based car dealer Rick Hendrick.
Wheeler became Trickle’s teammate after driving for him while he recovered from injuries. Shortly after becoming Trickle’s teammate, Wheeler began to push Trickle around on track. When the team owner was asked about it, he called it good, hard racing.
Jeff Gordon was the Top Gun in NASCAR before he suggested to Rick Hendrick to put Jimmy Johnson in a car. Johnson has been on an unprecedented tear in NASCAR. He has won the past four season’s championships, he has race wins at nearly every track on the circuit, and he currently leads the standings this season.
Gordon was called Wonder Boy during his rise to dominance in the mid-nineties. Johnson has also been compared to a super hero, Superman. A good rivalry could be good for tickets sales. As much as the broadcasters have tried to get a big rivalry going between drivers, each attempt has fizzled out. This one could latch hold because some folks want to see Johnson get out run, even if that means Jeff Gordon has to be the man doing it.
On the other hand, for folks that look at Hendrick Motorsports like fans did the ‘Fully Jeweled’ Chrysler’s of Karl Kiekhaefer back in the 1950’s, this rivalry will do little to sell tickets.
For the rest of the story, see this week’s Hometown News Sports.
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