DATE: Wednesday, November 12, 1997          TAG: 9711120667

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   95 lines

WHY DO SO MANY NASCAR FANS HATE JEFF GORDON ?

He's a prima donna.

His fame has gone to his head.

He's making Sunday afternoons boring.

He is the beneficiary of a NASCAR conspiracy.

He's the victim of pure jealousy.

He's winning too much too soon.

You name it, NASCAR fans came up with it as a reason why so many of them are booing Jeff Gordon. But at least half of the more than 60 people who responded to a Virginian Pilot come-on, either by regular mail or E-mail, were Gordon fans out to defend their man as aggressively as he drives on the track.

Gordon, of course, has been on a tear in the Winston Cup series almost since he arrived in 1993, winning 29 of his 155 races. And as the series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the season finale on Sunday, Gordon is on the threshold of his second Winston Cup championship.

He must finish only 18th or better in the NAPA 500 to win the title. Whatever happens, we know from experience that he will be booed if he does well and cheered if he has a problem.

Some folks used to be Gordon fans, but changed their minds. Jeannie Shorter of Chesapeake remembers meeting Gordon at a sparsely attended autograph session at a Chevrolet dealership in northern Indianapolis in August 1993.

``In the same showroom, the local radio station was having a promotion for concert tickets,'' she wrote. ``The line for the concert tickets was actually longer than the line for Jeff Gordon's autograph.''

Gordon invited Shorter to sit next to him for a photo, then offered his hand in thanks. ``I was surprised, then thanked him!'' Shorter wrote. ``Jeff was so sincere.

``In contrast, just a year ago my husband went to see Jeff at one of the dealerships in Virginia Beach that Rick Hendrick bought. He waited in line several hours. . . . When he got to the table, a `guard' took my husband's program and handed it to Jeff, who never looked up.''

``We think that since Jeff has attained stardom so quickly and at such a young age. . . he has become inaccessible and guarded. His marketing strategy has worked and the results are unpopular with the average race fan.''

John Croix of Portsmouth offered a list of reasons fans boo Gordon:

``1. Lack of loyalty. Ford poured a lot of time, money and equipment into grooming/developing Jeff Gordon. . . . Then he jumped to the rival Chevrolet at the first opportunity.

``2. Whining. I do not like any driver who complains and blames someone else for his misfortunes. I listen to Jeff Gordon on the scanner and he is continuously complaining about the car, other drivers, track conditions, the heat, etc.

``3. Age. Jeff Gordon is younger than the average fan so they can't identify with him as well. They resent his success at such a young age.''

Wes Harvey of Virginia Beach is one of a number of fans who thinks NASCAR has tilted the tables in Gordon's favor.

``Our consensus is the problem is 75 percent NASCAR's and 25 percent Gordon's,'' Harvey wrote. ``Almost single-handedly, Gordon has brought in new millions to NASCAR, plus a whole new generation of younger fans.

``If you were NASCAR, wouldn't you make darn sure that his car had specs none of the others had, all the while swearing that his car has to conform like everyone else's? Our group thinks the fans are really booing NASCAR for letting Gordon cheat . . . ''

D.R. McMillion concurs. ``Jeff Gordon isn't Wonder Boy; he's NASCAR boy,'' McMillion wrote. ``Jeff drives the way Earnhardt used to drive, but NASCAR will not black-flag him and penalize him the way they did Earnhardt.''

Gordon fans don't want to hear it. In fact, they are themselves a bit cocky in the defense of their hero.

``He just has this phenomenal talent that God has given him, and he does the absolute best he can every race of the year,'' wrote Trudi Morton of Portsmouth. ``So all of you fans who sit on your couch every Sunday, drinking your beer and wishing bad things on Gordon, why don't you just relax and enjoy the new `man' making history yet again.''

``I think Jeff Gordon is great,'' wrote John Parker of Norfolk. ``He is the reason I got interested in NASCAR again. I grew up watching Tiny Lund, Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly race. After they were gone, I lost interest.

``Then, a couple of years ago, I saw Gordon hit the wall, pit, fix the car, go to the end of the longest line and then. . . WIN the race. I was hooked again.''

But it's clear that more fans are booing Gordon than cheering him. To N. Bruce O'Connell of Norfolk, it's nothing personal.

``Jeff Gordon is a fine young man and a tremendous driving talent who is single-handedly turning my Sunday entertainment into so much monotony,'' O'Connell wrote.

NASCAR has always measured the sport by its entertainment value, O'Connell said. ``Lawrence of Arabia is the best movie I have ever seen, but there is no way I am going to watch it once a month, which is roughly the rate at which `Boy Wonder' has been winning races for the past three years,'' he said.

``So here's to you, young Jeff, a heartfelt and well-deserved BOOOOOOOOOO!'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo ASSOCIATED PRESS

Since 1993, Jeff Gordon has won 29 of his 155 Winston Cup races.

Color photo by ASSOCIATED PRESS

An irritating sight for many: Gordon en route to victory again, here

at June's California 500.

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