Paul Kizzle / AP file

The Cup careers of Jeff Gordon, left, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. both began with fast-paced success, but beyond that and their talents as drivers, the two NASCAR stars don't have much in common, says Benny Parsons of NBCSports.com.

Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. both burst onto the Cup scene, Gordon in the early 1990s and Junior in the first few years of this decade. So comparisons between the two are inevitable, and although a rivalry does exist, it seems no keener than any the two drivers have with other Cup competitors. Gordon and Junior are both good for stock car racing, but they are different people with different images.

THE ORIGIN OF
GORDON BASHING
Gordon ran his first Cup race in 1992 and won for the first time in NASCAR's top series in 1994.

Starting in 1995, he went on an incredible five-year run during which he won 47 Cup races and three Cup championships.

When Gordon began winning so often and keeping stars like Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott and Rusty Wallace out of Victory Lane, it didn’t sit well with longtime NASCAR fans who had their favorites among the old guard of drivers.

There was great fan loyalty shown these veteran drivers so you can see why there were many fans hoping the big names in the sport would beat the pants off the young phenom.

But in reality, it turned out to be just the opposite -- as Gordon dominated.

With Gordon’s success skyrocketing, these top drivers weren't winning nearly as often.

It just became fashionable to boo Gordon and the booing hasn't stopped because many of the same fans who started it still closely follow the sport.

Some still haven't gotten over Gordon whisking the spotlight away from drivers to whom they had attached not only their rooting interests, but also the devotion of their hearts.

Other fans may resent the millions Gordon has won or his squeaky clean image.

Whatever the reason, there are still a number of fans who dislike Gordon and that's something that might never change.

Yet in fairness, it must be pointed out that the four-time Cup champion has millions of devoted followers and Gordon remains one of NASCAR's most popular drivers as he races in his 12th full Cup season.

BEHIND JUNIOR’S POPULARITY
I think those that support Junior today are truly his fans, although many of them likely became supporters of the young star after the tragic death at Daytona of his father, Dale Earnhardt, in February of 2001.

After the shocking passing of Earnhardt, I'm sure it seemed natural to many fans to switch their allegiance from father to son.

By just being himself and also through his success on the track, Junior has done nothing to make these fans do anything but cheer him.

His popularity and his visibility certainly received big boosts after his thrilling win in the July 2001 Cup race at Daytona -- a bittersweet victory since it came less than five months after his father's death on Turn 4 of that track.

Junior has also added fans whose rooting interest in him has nothing to do with his bloodlines.

They like him for who he is and not for who his father was.

IMAGES DIFFER
Gordon is cut from the mold of driver one would assume hails from the upper class.

He speaks properly, is impeccably groomed and is always respectful.

Junior has a blue-collar image, which isn't hard to notice, especially when he does things like wear his baseball cap backwards.

He's part country and part rock 'n' roll and he's demonstrated great crossover appeal.

A month before he won this year's Daytona 500, a national poll named him as the fifth most popular athlete in the United States.

Gordon comes off as being fairly conservative in nature, while Junior doesn't conceal his passion for a good party.

Both drivers are media-savvy.

Junior benefited from the education he got watching his dad handle the spotlight, and Gordon showed how polished he is in dealing with the press when he had to publicly answer questions over a much-publicized divorce.

When it gets right down to it, the contrast between the two is as clear as the respect they have for one another as top competitors in their sport.

A simple example would be if Gordon were sponsored by a spirits manufacturer, it would be a champagne or wine company, where with Junior, it would be a beer company that would be putting its marketing dollars behind him.

DRIVING STYLES
Gordon races hard and doesn't like giving up any real estate on the track.

He's had his share of dustups and run-ins and we’ve witnessed Gordon move another car over the hard way on occasion.

Case in point is when Gordon bumped his way around Tony Stewart on the last lap at Bristol in 2001, prompting Stewart to retaliate and spin Gordon out on the cooldown lap after the race.

Needless to say, Gordon’s far from the only driver to do this, but when he does, it doesn’t help his popularity.

It just gives fans another reason to boo him, but that's racing.

With a Cup career much shorter than Gordon's, Junior hasn’t been in position to swap paint nearly as much as Gordon has, and we really haven’t seen him do much head-butting with other drivers.

There's no question Junior gives his team 100 percent every race.

He has pushed himself to compete at an elite level despite his relative lack of experience when stacked against veteran drivers like Gordon.

And he's pretty much done so without constantly getting his ire up and nudging others out of his way.

I'm sure as his career progresses, there may be times Junior elects to go with a push-comes-to shove style of passing, but he has a flair for racing that often takes away any need to resort to bumping his way around a track.

Gordon knows the ins and out of his sport and he may seem the more aggressive driver of the two, but Junior is learning and getting wiser with each passing season.

I’m sure there will come a time when to win a race he will move someone out of the way, and that may be when we're most reminded of the legacy left by his late father.