Jeff Gordon’s Blatant Hypocrisy Revealed, Days After His Marketing Rant Backfired

Though stock car racing is a team sport, NASCAR fans have always had an emotional connection with their favorite driver rather than with the team as a whole. This is significant even if one is to consider some of the promotion’s top teams like Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing.

Even after teams’ glorious reigns, NASCAR fans rally behind drivers more than they do behind teams. This is exactly what 4-time Cup Series champion and HMS Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon mentioned a few days back. The veteran reiterated his take, promptly urging teams to market the team as a unit rather than rally behind a particular driver.

However, the veteran has now been caught in the line fire as NASCAR nation uncovered his blatant hypocrisy, urging teams to take things back while his team of 4 drivers has their own interests.

Jeff Gordon faces the guns after his marketing rant went down in flames as enthusiasts expose his double standards

A few days back, Jeff Gordon took the example of the San Francisco 49ers from the NFL to prove his point that for the sport and its teams to stand the test of time, they need to prioritize their team’s efforts instead of marketing drivers on an individual level. To be fair, the astute veteran’s argument made sense. Unlike sports like NFL and NBA where fans are glued to teams like New York Jets or LA Lakers, NASCAR fans follow drivers and are more drawn towards them.

Kyle Busch is a perfect example of this, his fans followed him to RCR just like they did when he was in Joe Gibbs Racing. In fact, we have multiple examples to prove the point. Emphasizing this aspect, he was reported by motorsports.com as saying, “I think we have a role as race teams to build our brand up, maybe not as much as the star power of the driver, but in a way where drivers—and we’ve seen this recently with Jimmie Johnson, Dale Jr, and myself, several big drivers that have huge fan followings stepped away from the sport, and I think it had a big impact on the sport. Because the fans seem to not have a connection to the team as strongly as they did to the driver.”

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While the 4-time Cup champion is spot on about this, fans just couldn’t ignore the blaring irony here. Even as Gordon is relaying the obvious fact, the situation inside HMS isn’t great either. For instance, who would the fans rally behind? Chase Elliott or Kyle Larson? Or would they choose to be neutral and follow Hendrick Motorsports as a unit?

Here comes the hypocrisy argument that one may find amusing. After all, Gordon is vocal about the issue which is pretty evident in his own team.

Denny Hamlin hits back at Gordon after the veteran shared his mind on Hamlin’s heel turn

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Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin is one of those individuals who doesn’t back out from a fight. Whether be it an argument or a heated back-and-forth on the track, Hamlin is always on the get-go. And it didn’t take much from Gordon to rile Hamlin up when he revealed his take on the 42-year-old drastic heel-turn in Bristol.

Gordon said that he wouldn’t want any of his drivers to follow the JGR path, denouncing it as a “distraction” that stood in the way. Later, Hamlin came out rambling, spewing some as he doubled down on Gordon. Hamlin said, “He’s like, ‘Hey I’ll go to war, but you get up front.’ Jeff Gordon said that? That is How to Stunt NASCAR Growth 101, is say, ‘Oh, that’s too controversial for us. Call us stiff.’” 

Hamlin further added, “He’s basically saying I want them to be tidy, not controversial. I couldn’t disagree more. I’m glad I drive for Joe Gibbs Racing. I’m glad I run my team the way I run my team because I will never run my team saying things like that. That’s his opinion. He’s allowed to have that opinion but certainly think that is the absolute wrong way to go if you want star power in this sport.”

READ MORE: Jeff Gordon Drops Disguised Warning to Rick Hendrick About Next Gen Car’s Detrimental Effect to NASCAR Supremacy