When NASCAR fans paid donations to fund Jeff Gordon’s rival's fine amount

Once, Ricky Rudd was fined for wrecking Jeff Gordon at Charlotte Motor Speedway. However, several fans thought the fine was too high, considering Rudd’s part in it, and hence, they came forward with donations to cover the expense.

It all happened in October 1994, when the great Dale Earnhardt won his seventh and last Winston Cup Series championship. Rudd and Gordon were battling it out for positions when the latter made a stealthy pass against NASCAR’s Ironman, trying to run him into the fence.

Rudd didn’t like it a bit and wanted to send a message to his rival. As quoted by Nascarman through one of their recent posts on X (formerly known as Twitter), the veteran racer said in an interview,

"I intended to send Jeff a message, but not to wreck him. There wouldn't have been a wreck if it had been me and Rusty Wallace or Dale Earnhardt. There might have been an incident, but not a wreck. Jeff hasn't been out here very long and he couldn't handle me pushing him down the frontstretch. I don't know, maybe nobody's ever pushed him like that."

NASCAR didn’t let it slide and slapped Rudd with a $10,000 fine. However, Rudd’s fans always had his back. They donated $3000, having Rudd pay only the rest out of his pocket. Later, he returned the money with “Thank You” notes.

Throughout his NASCAR career that spanned over three decades, Rudd amassed 23 wins, 194 top-5s, 374 top-10s, and 29 poles. He once held the record of 788 consecutive starts, which Gordon broke in 2015.

Today, Rudd is 68-years-old and lives in Cornelius, North Carolina. Although not a full-time racer anymore, the man runs go-karts occasionally at GoPro Motorplex, a 0.7-mile, 11-turn racing facility in Charlotte.

Jeff Gordon, on the other hand, is very much involved in the sport as the Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, a championship-winning NASCAR Cup Series team. The Chevy team, based in Concord, is currently on its 40th year of operation at the Cup level.

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Jeff Gordon recalls horrific crash from 2004 that killed Rick Hendrick’s son

On October 24, 2004, Hendrick Motorsports boss Rick Hendrick lost 10 people associated with his team to a plane crash near Martinsville, Virginia. Among the deceased was his son, Ricky Hendrick. As per reports, Ricky was on his way to Martinsville Speedway for the Subway 500.

Jeff Gordon recalled visiting the heartbroken parents of the 24-year-old. As quoted by Newsweek, the four-time Cup champion said,

"I can remember going to Mr. and Mrs. Hendrick's house and they'd just lost their son and family members ... from emotion of sadness to telling stories of great memories and to be there at that moment was hard but it something I'll never forget. Just how powerful that was."

But despite the loss, Hendrick Motorsports wasn’t going to stay down. Just a week later, Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson took the team to the victory lane at Atlanta Motor Speedway, marking his third straight win that year.

“I've never been to a victory lane like that. Everybody was hugging, everybody was happy and sad and we're going to turn our hats backwards and honor Ricky,” Jeff Gordon added.

Hendrick Motorsports is the winningest team in NASCAR today with 312 Cup Series wins to its credit. Notably, Ricky Rudd competed under their banner in 1990. That year, he drove the No. 5 Chevrolet Lumina, winning the Bud at Watkins Glen, eventually finishing seventh on points.