How much better of a driver is Jeff Gordon than the late great Dale Earnhardt?

Question

100% better?

75% better?

or 50% better?

Answer 1

O %! He is not a better driver than Dale Sr. and it is doubtful that he will ever be.

Go Jr.>>>>

Answer 2

First of all I am the biggest Jeff Gordon fan. The only reason people hate Jeff Gordon is because he is good and at the time was the only person who could challenge and beat Dale Earnhardt week in and week out. They were the two superstars in the sport in the 1990's so just like the Boston RedSox and New York Yankee rivalry there is going to be a rivalry created amongst the fans of either team. As most intelligent people know, Jeff and Dale Sr. were business partners and the first people in Nascar to have their signatures copyrighted. Back before Earnhardt's death, the Gordon vs. Earnhardt rivalry was good, clean fun. Post Earnhardt's death, the old Earnhardt fans have tried to gel together with the new younger generation of Earnhardt Jr. fans. The new Jr. fans come into the sport and see there is a rivalry with the old Earnhardt fans and Gordon fans so they think it is alright to disrespect Jeff Gordon and Nascar. The newer fans just don't have the same loyalty to the sport as the long time fan does. In my own personal opinion, one should have to pass a Nascar IQ test to get tickets to a race because some people think that Nascar is a joke so they disrespect it. It disgusts me to see how low humans can sink.

Answer 3

When Gordon hit the scene, he was provided with top notch equipment and the best pit crew available. Remember the "rainbow warriors?" He won a bunch of cups until he no longer had the warriors and his first crew chief Ray Everham. Its taken him several years to re establish a winning team even with all of hendricks money.
Dale Sr. started in a back up car provided by Darrell Waltrip and when he finally joined Richard Childress, they built the team from the ground up against the likes of Petty Racing. Thanks to Dale Sr., RCR is one of the premier teams now. Earnhart Sr. had no where near the backing that Gordon had when he started and he still became a legend.
The answer is, although I respect him now, Gordon is 0% better than Sr. I can think of no category that Gordon would be better in. Hes better than most racing today, including Jr., but not Sr., never on his best day.

Answer 4

LOL

You can tell people answer questions with bias rather than with actual answers based on facts. Jeff Gordon has more wins the Dale Sr, and would have 6 championships if racing under the same rules as Sr. in his career..... and Jeff Gordon has many more years left in his career. Who knows, Jeff will probably win #5 this year and have 100+ wins before his career is over. So people can keep denying the truth, but Gordon could win 300 races and have 20 championships and those same losers will keep pretending that Gordon is not a legend. Sr. was great but Gordon's stats say he was not as good as Gordon. 81 wins and counting.....

Answer 5

Dang it Ricky Craven, see what ya started? I like Ed's logic on how in terms of the numbers, Gordon appears to be the better racer.
I'm a HUGE Gordon fan, but..........Ya can't look past "intangibles" (another term stolen from another sport). Earnhardt raced like no other. The guy just did things no one else has ever done or ever will do.
People try to do this in the other sports, too, and its futile. Dale was great. Jeff is great.
Can we all agree on that?

Answer 6

I definitely wouldn't call Gordon a finesse driver. He'll move you out of the way if you're holding him up.....just ask Rusty Wallace.

I don't think you can say that either of them were a better driver than the other. Sure, Jeff says that he's not as good as Dale. But if Dale were alive today, I'd be willing to bet that he'd say Jeff is one of the all time greatest drivers.

The answer is that they are/were both phenomenal drivers. No true racing fan can say that one is a significant amount better than the other. You'll get the die hard Dale Sr. fans who say that Jeff Gordon doesn't even compare, but to say that is ludricous. If there is a difference between who is better, it's marginal at best.

Answer 7

Well, considering that Dale Sr. is considered as the best
NASCAR driver ever, I don't really see how Jeff can be a
better driver. Dale was a champion in both the old style
NASCAR and the new style. Even if Jeff happens to break
all of Dales records, he still won't be considered as great.

Answer 8

Neither is better. When you are comparing greats its unfair to say one is better then the other. Magic or Bird?...Ruth or Mantle?...Earnhardt was amazing at the draft everytime i hear the stories on how he could "see the air" it sends chills down my spine because you kind of get a sense that in a weird may he might actually have, Gordon is a finesse driver, he wont rub fenders, Earnhardt would do whatever it took to win a race. Neither is better then the other, both are amazing drivers who had so much respect for one another. Gordon has admitted though numerous times he isnt as good as SR, but he has that right, i dont think fans have the right to compare.

Answer 9

I don't know how you would even compare the two. They are (were) both great drivers. Dale started in a completely different era in NASCAR, and his career was cut way too short. Dale also had to start near the bottom and work his way up. Jeff started with a great team and pretty much had instant results. If you are simply looking at a most wins scenario I guess you can get a simple answer.
Someday, we will possibly be having this discussion about Gordon and Johnson - if you are just looking at actual wins.

Answer 10

You'll never get a straight answer for this one probably. People who dont like Jeff will say Earnhardt and back it up (if they try) with rediculous statements about how the cars are better now.

Jeff has passed Sr's wins already and Dale had at least 200 more races.

Dale had more championships, again, he had at least 200 more races to do it in and lets not forget that new buzz word "Parity". Everyone says it is harder to do now-a-days because of it. (Oh snap, now we're gonna get people saying that Hendricks has PAID NASCAR to let his drivers win more, lol)

The bottom line is that to try and rate the two drivers and base it on some arbitrary % rate does a diservice to both. Both are/were outstanding drivers and tremendous ambassadors to a sport they love. I wish more of thier fans had as much class as they showed.


Go Gordon!
Rest in Peace Dale!

P.S. To Gracious. Dont be rediculous. Saying that Dale Sr was the only reason Jeff is in NASCAR and the only reason they were friends? That is the single biggest load of horseshit I have heard in a long time. Oh wait. You must be one of those #3 fans that has so little class that it would kill them to ever admit to Jeff earning his way into NASCAR and being responsible for his success. Yes, Dale helped him, but they werent on the same team and Dale woulda punted him in a second for a win. He didnt lavish ALL his tricks of the trade on him, he HAD teammates and a son too....

Answer 11

It's kinda tuff to say. People are won't to venerate the departed. People, naturally attach sentimental value to the achievements of the late Dale Earnhardt. This is not taking anything away from the achievements of Jeff Gordon.

The time and clime is different but I'll take the late Dale Earnhardt @ 75%.How improved are the cars these days from the days of the late DE?


With the improvements being made to the race tracks and the cars, future generations would look back and credit Jeff Gordon too,with sentiments of course.They will even give him kudos that his achievements paved the way for them. The same way the late DE's accomplishments must have paved the way for Jeff Gordon and others.