Jeff Gordon: ‘I’m going to ruffle some feathers and make some mistakes’

Jeff Gordon: ‘I’m going to ruffle some feathers’

NEW YORK — Good guy Jeff Gordon was on display Tuesday.

An audience at a swanky Manhattan restaurant was told of his charitable endeavors before a smooth-talking Gordon spoke about his family and the need to protect babies’ health.

His squeaky-clean image hasn’t held up so well on the track in recent weeks. Seemingly half the drivers are irked at him for one incident or another.

“I’m going to ruffle some feathers and make some mistakes,” Gordon said.

The four-time champion insisted that when he does err, he’ll admit it and apologize. Gordon had said he was sorry after spinning Martin Truex Jr. at Sonoma on June 20. Truex was running inside the top 10 before Gordon caused him to drop back into traffic, where he was caught in a multi-car accident.

Gordon hasn’t been as contrite after some other dustups he clearly views differently.

He also angered Elliott Sadler, Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle at Sonoma. Last weekend at New Hampshire, he got caught up with Juan Pablo Montoya, who fell back and was plowed by Reed Sorenson. Montoya accused Gordon of not giving him any room.

“I’ve never been buddies or friends with everyone on the track,” Gordon said. “But I also don’t create enemies.”

Gordon said that from double-file restarts to the competition to make the Chase, cars are racing closer and drivers are pushing limits. He suggested he’ll vary his aggressiveness depending on other drivers’ styles, saying “some guys push it further than other guys.” And he’ll drive differently early in a race than late.

“When the race is winding down, there’s less chance to be the nice guy,” he said.

Gordon was fully in nice-guy mode Tuesday at an event sponsored by the March of Dimes and vaccine-maker Sanofi Pasteur, encouraging adults to be vaccinated against whooping cough to prevent the spread of the disease to infants.