I’m a little baffled that Jeff Gordon is “a little baffled”

I’m a NASCAR fan and appreciate Jeff Gordon’s incredible racing record, but I’m a little baffled about Gordon being “a little baffled” at thousands of empty seats for yesterday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Yes, the economy is no doubt weighing down ticket sales, but here’s hoping that Gordon and NASCAR officials are starting to understand that the polished, pre-packaged, sponsor-driven drivers of today do little to entice fans to the sport.

I long for the days of the bad boys — Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Cale Yarborough. These guys were racers, not drivers.

Memo to Mike Helton and Jeff Gordon: Revive the NASCAR experience, gentlemen, and you won’t have trouble selling tickets, no matter the economy.