"Something I got from my mom": Dale Earnhardt Jr. recalls how Jeff Gordon discovered his unexpected side at Hendrick Motorsports

In 2008, Dale Earnhardt Jr. became teammates with Jeff Gordon at Hendrick Motorsports, which led the four-time champion to discover the newcomer's astonishing trait. This characteristic was inherited by his mother, Brenda Jackson, as the 51-year-old revealed in an interview.

Jeff Gordon and Jr.'s father, Dale Earnhardt, were fierce rivals in the NASCAR Cup Series. However, this didn't deteriorate the relationship between Gordon and his son.

After years of racing for his father's team, Earnhardt Jr. decided to move to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008, where he stayed until making his final Cup Series appearance. Also, it was the team where Gordon and he became teammates and forged a close bond.

Through their teammate chapter, the 54-year-old got to realize that Earnhardt Jr. was quite funny and had solid humor, as the latter revealed in an interview with The Athletic:

"When I went to race at Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon was like, “Man, I didn’t know you were as funny or as big of a smarta— as you were.” That’s something I got from my mom. And this is a compliment — my mom was an unbelievable smarta—, and I loved it about her. She was going to pick on you, she was going to jab, but it was all in fun, and it was hilarious, and nobody was safe. If you slipped up around her, you might get called out. And she was just so damn funny."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon's relationship has evolved over the past decades, where the duo doesn't even have to think twice to help each other.

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When did Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon first meet?

Former Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. (L) and Jeff Gordon (R) - Source: Imagn

Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jeff Gordon had been omnipresent in the NASCAR scene in the 1990s, when Earnhardt Jr. was trying to cement his name in the junior racing series. That's when their first encounter took place, as the four-time champion revealed in 2016 (via NASCAR's official website):

"I remember sitting there on pit road and Dale Sr. and he came walking by… it was the first time I ever met [Junior]... I don’t exactly remember but I knew he’d been doing some racing and was building some momentum."

“I remember that he was very respectful. It was cool to meet him and then shortly after that see him rise as quick as he did."

On the other hand, the pair have not raced in the Cup Series since 2017, with Gordon bidding adieu to the sport a year earlier. Since then, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has focused on keeping the JRM outfit up and running and taking part in a few professional races every year.

Meanwhile, Gordon is still in the Hendrick Motorsports stable, but as the vice chairman of the squad.