“One of the Most Frustrating Times”: Jeff Gordon Learned of Dale Earnhardt’s ‘The Intimidator’ Persona the Hard Way

Back in his days, Dale Earnhardt Sr. was feared out on the racetrack. After all, there was a reason people called him the Intimidator. Well, former Cup Series driver Jeff Gordon knew about this reputation of his, but it wasn’t until after an incident with the 7x Cup champion that he realized the true nature of Earnhardt’s Intimidator personality.

While speaking on a NASCAR documentary on the late seven-time Cup Series champion, Gordon recalled an instance that took place between him and the NASCAR legend. He narrated, “So pretty much most of the time we roll off pit road for practice, just let Dale go. On this one weekend, we were at Michigan, had an amazing car, such a fast car and Ray (Evernham) said to me, ‘Stay away from Dale.'”

Gordon recalled that he vividly remembered Evernham asking him not to go near Earnhardt Sr. But since he was so fast on the track, the Hendrick Motorsports driver didn’t think he would have any issues passing Dale.

Since the latter was seen slowing down. Gordon believed that he would easily catch up to Dale and pass him without any problems.

Jeff Gordon learned why people fear The Intimidator on the race track

Speaking further, Gordon continued, “So I get underneath him going down the back straightaway. Now he’s drag racing. I’m like, great. No problem, my car is so good I’m just gonna dive in this corner and I’ll clear.”

“I drove down in there so he drove in there as hard as he possibly could on my door and sucked me around. Boom, my back in the wall. Hard hit too. It was a really hard hit because we’re hauling a**.”

“Those were the most frustrating times I had with Dale. Moments like that at the track were ones that just pissed me off, and Dale was probably grinning ear to ear.”

Judging by the person Dale Earnhardt Sr. was during his prime, he surely would have been smiling after the altercation with Gordon. It is not sure if he was driving slower on the track that day on purpose or not, but Gordon surely learned his lesson about messing with Earnhardt that fine day.