Jeff Gordon is among the greatest drivers NASCAR has ever seen. He has won loads of trophies over his career and competed with some of the best drivers that the sport has seen. By extension, his words have great credibility. The Californian has won 4 Winston Cup Series and 3 Daytona 500 races, among several other achievements.

For him though, it was the rivalry that made him so good. He drove and competed against greats like Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Earnhardt has a statue of himself in North Carolina. Gordon visited the statue and was reminiscing about all the memories and moments that he shared on the tracks with Earnhardt.

Gordon said, “I didn’t realize how important rivals were. I wish I had the confidence that he had to play into it, to build it up even more. You could easily say that’s what launched my career. As much as he messed with me, somehow on the inside I always thought it was a sign of respect. He would not have said anything at all if he didn’t care. I respected the heck out of this guy. I loved racing with him, hated it at times but overall my experience with Dale was incredible. I miss him a lot, a lot of people do.”

Read More: Dale Earnhardt’s Death Didn’t Make HANS Compulsory; It was His Son’s Role in Fatal Crash That Forced NASCAR As Tony Stewart Resisted

It is always beautiful to see that rivalries stay only on the tracks. Having respect for each other is key to becoming a better sportsperson and that’s what made both Dale and Gordon the legends they were.

Jeff Gordon is now in charge of making young talents into legends

Gordon currently works as the Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. As part of building a team to win, he scouts for new talents that can make it big in NASCAR.

Kyle Larson, one of the hottest talents of NASCAR, recently narrated a story of how Gordon deals with drivers at Hendrick.

Larson said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve gone through anything like that I guess. It was a fun process and fun to kind of go through it with Jeff. He’s somebody that I’ve looked up to my whole life. It’s just neat to see me dealing with contracts with my childhood hero.“

He added, “Jeff is more of a friend I feel like than I view him as a boss or somebody like that. I think it’s good to have that kind of relationship with him. I think it makes going through negotiations and stuff like that even easier.”

Watch This Story: Dale Earnhardt Jr Provides Much-Needed Clarification on Victim Jordan Anderson’s Burns to a Confused NASCAR Audience

Gordon’s experience brings a lot to the table at Hendrick. His years of driving and competing at the highest level can surely teach a lot to any upcoming driver.