Reconciliation

The image endures.

It is a man rolling a Budweiser cooler through a parking lot at New Hampshire International Speedway, No. 8 hat on his head and t-shirt over his chest. Behind that cooler, tied to a rope, is a tattered die-cast replica of Jeff Gordon's No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet skipping along the gravel and pavement. A few more race weekends, and the paint job will be unrecognizeable.

People point and laugh at the ultimate Earnhardt vs. Gordon slap.

Now that the two are teammates, I'm wondering how on earth the sea of red in the grandstands is ever going to reconcile this in their heads. It's the cleanest-cut organization in the sport, the polished drivers of Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, welcoming the good ol' boy swilling beer and living life as the ultimate bachelor.

Hendrick Motorsports is the polar opposite of all things Earnhardt. Now they are teammates, sharing notes, comparing setups, trying to help each other win. What's going to happen when Earnhardt pushes Gordon to victory at Daytona next spring?

Who will Earnhardt's fans throw beer cans at then? Kurt Busch? Tony Stewart? Mike Bliss?

The NASCAR world will stand on its head, and Earnhardt Nation can't be happy about this.