Another Side
by: Greg Engle- Cup Scene Daily

Jeff Gordon's shove of Matt Kenseth following the Food City 500 got him a hefty fine this week from NASCAR. However, the incident also revealed a fiery competitor under the firesuit that not everyone knew existed.

The terms 'Jeff Gordon' and 'controversy' are a rare pairing in NASCAR.

In years past the four-time champ has seemingly left his emotions at the door and away from the track. Rarely has Gordon shown any type of anger or even outward aggression away from his racecar.

According to Gordon however, we've never seen his true self.

Perhaps the first sign of the true Jeff Gordon came this past Sunday when he shoved Matt Kenseth after Bristol. The shove came after Kenseth booted him out of the way during the race and into a 21st place finish. That move got Gordon a $10,000 fine from NASCAR, the first time in Gordon's 14-year career that he has been penalized for his conduct. In addition, Gordon will be on probation until August 30.

"For many, many years I've been so reserved from controversy," Gordon said during a teleconference Tuesday prior to the fine being announced. "I was just so concerned with 'What was this person going to think?' and 'What was that person going to think?' and I was more caught up in that than I was in being true to myself.

"What you see today is a more truer Jeff Gordon and who I really am. I'm not a robot. I have a personality and I have emotions and I have a humorous side to me and an angry side to me."

Gordon also explained his side of Sunday’s incident.

"I did not make a conscious effort to go over to Matt or park near Matt; that's where NASCAR and my team told me to park," Gordon said.

"I was very angry at the time, and I got out of the car, and Matt walked over to my car.

"I think he (Kenseth) said it best. It's not the best time to walk over to me, and I was angry and I showed it, and I told NASCAR that had I been thinking more clearly at the time without being so angry, then I'm sure I wouldn't have shoved him.

"I'm not encouraging that, I'm just telling you that's what happened. That's what I did, and at that moment you're not thinking about what's over the line and what's not."

After failing to make the cutoff for the “Chase for the Championship” last year along with a mediocre season, Gordon seems to feel that he has to become more aggressive on the track this season because that's the way many younger drivers acted last year while fighting to make the Chase.

But if this aggressiveness is a truer reflection of Gordon then why hasn’t it been there all along, especially in his early years?

"I felt like an outsider," Gordon said. "I felt like I wasn't a guy who was your typical NASCAR driver at that time, a guy who grew up in stock cars or from the Southeast. I felt like I needed to do extra things to be accepted. It was about being accepted within the garage area and earning respect within the garage area, so I chose to go that path."

Gordon said he owes it to his team, his sponsors and himself to get every position he can on the track; and do what needs to be done to redeem himself after a few less than stellar seasons.

"I think that I kind of heard a lot last year that maybe I wasn't being aggressive enough on the racetrack and different things," he said. "My team has done an awful lot this year to make our race cars better, to put me in better positions... and I'm giving them everything I possibly can out there on the race track because they deserve it.

"If that means I've got to be more aggressive, then I'm going to be more aggressive. When you're more aggressive, sometimes it carries over off the racetrack as well.”

Gordon has two top-five finishes through five races this season and is seventh in the Nextel Cup points standings with 644 points, 138 behind Kenseth. So his strategy may be working so far.

While Gordon may no longer shy away from controversy, he’s matured enough to know when to take the high road as witnessed by his team, Hendrick Motorsports, making no mention of an appeal to NASCAR’s Tuesday ruling.

"You've got to be responsible for your actions," Gordon said.