Will Gordon ever be loved by NASCAR masses?

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With 81 career NASCAR victories and four Nextel Cup titles, Jeff Gordon is inching ever closer to the seven crowns shared by legends Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty. But again I pause to wonder why so many fans still hate him.I remember when he burst onto the scene, complete with bowl cut and cheesy mustache, the rap was that he didn't "earn" his way into the top level of Motor Sports.I've never quite figured that one out.No, he didn't learn his craft running moonshine through the mountains of the Carolinas, and he didn't spend every minute he wasn't racing with his noggin under the hood of some car, tweaking it so it would become faster and more powerful.But let's be honest; this is not your father's NASCAR. It's certainly not your grandfather's NASCAR. The days when drivers went from outrunning cops to outrunning the competition ended with Junior Johnson.For better or worse (and to me, it's worse), NASCAR is now a big, corporate machine. Owners with big money scout drivers with big talent, and they couldn't care less if those drivers know the difference between a restrictor plate and a plate of spaghetti. As long as they can run to the front and make money for the sponsors and teams, that's what matters.So to that end, no, Gordon wasn't a grease monkey who worked on the cars he raced. But the cars he did race, he raced well, otherwise he never would've caught the attention of Rick Hendrick.He won in go-carts and Late Models, and he won enough that he was put on NASCAR's fast track, first in Busch and shortly thereafter in Cup.And I'm guessing if you canvassed the garage area at any NASCAR event today most, if not all, of the drivers simply sit back and admire the handiwork of their crew chief and crew. They are the ones responsible for the getting the car race ready -- it's the sole responsibility of the driver to race it.Maybe Gordon was disliked early on because he talked funny -- you know, he didn't have a southern accent. But southern accents are decreasing in Cup racing these days. It seems that more often than not a driver will hone his craft in California, New York or Wisconsin instead of South Carolina, North Carolina or Georgia.Like it or not, the days when NASCAR was a regional diversion are gone forever. And in the future more and more international drivers will move to stock car racing now that IndyCar and Formula One racing play second and third fiddle to stock cars.It's funny, really. I recall a time not too long ago, when it was hard to find anyone cheering for Dale Earnhardt. Go to any track and you'd find thousands of card-carry members of F.A.D.E. - Fans Against Dale Earnhardt. The logo of the club was the 3 car up on a rack with its hood open.But over time Earnhardt became one of the most beloved figures in the sport. F.A.D.E. faded fast, and "The Intimidator" was the guy we cheered for more than any other.Will Gordon have the same reversal of fortune?Either way, it'll be fun to watch.(Contact Scott Adamson of the Anderson Independent-Mail in Anderson, S.C., at www.andersonsc.com.)