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Bobby Labonte's win in the NAPA 500 is overshadowed by his successor as champion.
By JOANNE KORTH
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 19, 2001
HAMPTON, Ga. -- Go ahead, debate.
Argue that Jeff Gordon's fourth Winston Cup championship places him in the company of NASCAR's all-time greatest drivers, legends Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Argue that it does not because he always has had the silver-spoon advantage of a superior race team.
Gordon doesn't care.
He just wins championships.
Gordon joined Petty and Earnhardt as the only four-time Winston Cup champions, clinching the title with a sixth-place finish in Sunday's NAPA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Petty and Earnhardt each won seven titles.
But the countdown is on.
"I've always said it doesn't matter who's the greatest as long as I'm winning and able to be a part of a race team in championship form," said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "Whether I'm the greatest or not doesn't matter, this is a great moment."
Bobby Labonte won the race, his fourth fall victory at AMS in six years, when leader Jerry Nadeau ran out of gas a half-mile from the checkered flag on the 1.54-mile track.
"It was a gift," said Labonte, who struggled this season in defense of his championship. "But you take them any way you can, because they're hard to come by."
Unless you're Gordon.
At 30, Gordon leads active drivers with 58 victories and is the sport's youngest four-time champion. Petty was 35 when he won his fourth in 1972; Earnhardt 39 for his fourth in 1990.
Gordon, who also won titles in 1995, '97 and '98, is in his ninth full season. There is no telling how many more races and titles he might win.
"I see Jeff Gordon at age 30 and as mature as he is in the car and with the chemistry of this team, we're going to win a lot of championships," owner Rick Hendrick said. "I'd like to say we could win seven or eight championships. That's our goal."
This title was the first for crew chief Robbie Loomis, who two years ago replaced Ray Evernham. After struggling last season, the team has six victories and six runner-up finishes in 2001, which wraps up Friday at New Hampshire International Speedway.
"You can just close your eyes and imagine where Jeff Gordon ranks in my mind," said Loomis, who spent 11 years at Petty Enterprises. "He is the best."
Critics claim Gordon's early success was not the product of his ability but of near-perfect circumstances: great team, great cars, great crew chief. But it will be hard to dispute this championship after a complete rebuilding of the team during which Gordon took over the leadership role.
"I told you so; I told you so; I told you so," said Evernham, who left Gordon after 47 victories and three titles to become a team owner and spearhead Dodge's return to Winston Cup this season.
"They said it was me, they said it was the car, they said it was the motors, they said it was the pit crew. All that's changed and what's left? Him. He is as good as I always said he was, and right now people have got to realize that."
NASCAR reached a level of unprecedented popularity this season, with a 36-race schedule broadcast by Fox and NBC. But it also lost its biggest icon when Earnhardt died at the Daytona 500 in February.
The mantle fell to Gordon.
"It seems like yesterday I was winning my first race," said Gordon, who will collect a $3.6-million champion's bonus next month at the NASCAR banquet in New York City. "Here I am, 30 years old, winning 58 races, a fourth championship -- that's awesome. But that's not how I set my goals.
"I just try to think of how we get to 59, how we get to five championships. I plan on coming back next year and giving it everything I have."