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Thanks for the generalization. That type of perspective is what has gotten Jeff and his fans into the situation they are in.

Wrong. Stone cold wrong. First, Dale Sr. began the animosity between the fanbases when he belittled a then very young, barely out of his teens Jeff Gordon. Dale Sr. is the one who even got the "Jeff is gay" thing going. Jeff was secretly dating the then-reigning Miss Winston (and would marry her). Simply because Senior didn't see Jeff with women, he made the first public "Jeff is gay" comment. As though seeing Jeff with women at the time was any of Senior's business. The hatred for Jeff from Earnhardt Nation only grew from there.

I can tell you story after story after story of 24 fans who have been harrassed, abused, and sometimes frightened away from ever attending races again by Earnhardt fans.

Here's a typical true story of how a great many Earnhardt fans -- not all, true, but a very great many -- treat Gordon fans. This one is my own story, and it didn't even happen on a race day or at a racetrack. It is stone cold true, and forever affected the way I see NASCAR, the so-called NASCAR "family" and Earnhardt fans.

Back in early 1997 I discovered there is a Simpson Racing retail store near where I live in the L.A. metro area. At the time I was a new NASCAR fan, having been attracted to the sport by Jeff Gordon, a California native.

So I go over to the Simpson store to check it out. I walk in and there's a black #3 racecar sitting in the middle of the store. Very cool. As a new fan of the sport, I was thrilled, as it was the very first racecar I had ever seen. Then I went around the store and selected several Jeff Gordon items to purchase.

You would have thought I just pulled a gun on the salesman, or something. The salesman ragged on me something fierce about buying Jeff Gordon items. He went on and on about how Jeff is a crybaby, and he's gay, and implied that only squishy people bought his stuff. As a middle-aged woman, I was a little scared, but also absolutely insulted and pissed.

I walked out of that store and never went back. In fact, I don't go to the races when the Cup series comes to Fontana. I wrote to the Simpson HQ to complain, but never received any kind of answer. From that time to today, I have never again considered myself a NASCAR fan, only a Jeff Gordon fan.

I know not all Earnhardt fans behave that way, but plenty of them do. I know 24 fans whose little kids were verbally abused by Earnhardt fans for wearing 24 gear. I know elderly people who needed an escort to leave a track because Earndhardt fans scared the hell out of them.

You wrote: "That type of perspective is what has gotten Jeff and his fans into the situation they are in."

Oh really? What did I do on that day back in 1997 when I walked into that Simpson shop as a paying customer only to be driven out by a salesman who hated the driver whose gear he was supposed to be selling and I was trying to buy? Excuse me for trying to drop a little cash in his coffers, thereby helping to keep him employed and his employer in business. You have no idea...NONE...how nasty that incident was and how it affected my view of NASCAR and everything Earnhardt. Here it is, more than 10 years later, and I can still feel the embarrassment, discomfort and prickle of fear I experienced that day. For what?! Because that jackass dude behind the counter liked a different racecar driver than I did?

Like I said...with all the burbling happy talk about Junior going to HMS, getting better equipment, wanting to take his #8 and Eury Jr. with him, etc., I just wanted to make sure the other side is represented. Unless this is strictly a Junior fan thread, that is.