Jeff Gordon: On Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Sr.

  
   Jeff Gordon (R) and Kyle Busch: So, Jeff, does Kyle look like the next Dale Earnhardt? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   MARTINSVILLE, Va.
   Jeff Gordon has raced against both Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Kyle Busch…so what does he think about the current media rush to compare the two drivers?
   Gordon does a double-take: "Please tell me you aren't trying to compare those two."
   Well, yes.
   "There's no comparison," Gordon says flatly.
    When that didn't end the question, Gordon became more reflective about the two rivals.
"Well, I didn't race against Earnhardt when he was in his early 20s," Gordon said. Earnhardt didn't join the Cup tour till he was nearly 28; Busch has yet to turn 24.
   "Maybe they would have been the same then.
    "Kyle is just this incredible talent. He can put a car on the edge like nobody I've ever seen.
    "The difference is that up until maybe this year…..well, I really see him maturing so much over the last couple of years, but until this year, he was a guy that he would put it so far on the edge that he was making mistakes, or would take it too far.
   "There's a big difference between that and what Earnhardt would do.
   "Earnhardt was rarely on the edge, to be honest with you. But he was more of a bully.
    "He was a guy you never count out.
    "He was just tough as nails.
"He'd be a lap down and come back and be battling for the win.
   "He was just a totally different type of racer in how he approached it than Kyle.
    "As far as results, I guess you could maybe compare results, because they both really get the results.
    "But to me how Kyle goes about getting the results…well, he is still a little bit young, and it's like this guy trying to tame a bull: when he first started, he was riding that bull in a china shop. But now he's learned how to ride it in a rodeo arena, and control it…and maybe back off just a little bit when he needs to, and get it to the end.
    "I'm way more nervous about Kyle this year (in the championship chase) than I ever have been.
    "I think he really needed to go through last year (with the fall collapse), his first year with Joe Gibbs, and learn some of the pitfalls and learn how to just continue to mature.
   "This year he could be way more of a threat for the championship."