Gordon: Busch could be next villain

Gordon believes that if Busch handles the current situation in the right way he could turn it all to his benefit.

He says his aggressive style, talent and personality can only help the Gibb's driver to stand out, even if not as the crowd's favorite but probably as the anti-Earnhardt.

"He certainly could be (the villain) if he handles it correctly," said Gordon. "I don't think anybody sets out to be a villain. I think that nobody wants boos. But what you do want to do is stand out.

"And you want to do it by winning races, being competitive out there, and sometimes you might ruffle some feathers along the way.

The four-time Sprint Cup Series champion, who had Busch as teammate at Hendrick Motorsports until last year, says the 23-year-old certainly has the right attributes to follow into the footsteps of some of the greatest drivers in the history of the series, who had a love and hate relationship with the fans.

"He definitely has that personality that could be the villain. In a different way than, you know, certainly not a Dale Earnhardt Sr.-type of way," he added.

"I think that he's young, and, you know, sometimes he says things that don't always go over well, and sometimes on the racetrack, his aggressiveness, you know, can get him in trouble. But those same things allow him to have great success."

Gordon has also faced being unpopular with the fans in the past. Last year fans threw beer cans at his car following his victory at Talladega in April, a week after he had equaled Dale Earnhardt's number of victories at Phoenix.