Jeff Gordon Will Always be a Rainbow Warrior at Heart

It started at Atlanta in 1993. It ended at Atlanta seven years later in 2000. We're talking about one of the most historic runs in the modern era of NASCAR.

Jeff Gordon's Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup Series) debut was with a sponsor by the name of Dupont. The highly anticipated debut came to an end after 164 laps, but Gordon continued to use the colors that would eventually make him one of the most recognized faces that the sport has to offer. Gordon and his Hendrick Motorsports crew led by Ray Evernham, became known as the "rainbow warriors" in the mid-late 1990's and Gordon is still recognized because of that to this day.

Winning 52 races in the span of seven years in this era of NASCAR is incredible. Yet, as impossible as it sounds, Gordon proved everyone wrong. He flat out dominated the series with his rainbow scheme and became an instant fan favorite. However, the scheme went away at the beginning of the 2001 season and was replaced by flames. The No. 24 car still looked good, but it wasn't the same.

Ironically enough, once the rainbow warriors went away, so did Gordon's success. Gordon won three championships with the rainbow adorning his hood. The only time he won a championship with the flames was in its debut year of 2001. Since then, he's won only 39 races. Yeah, only. It seems like plenty, but it's been 12 long years for Gordon. He's gone from a champion to a first class driver chasing a championship wondering if and when he'll ever win another one.

Now that Dupont no longer exists, Cromax Pro will adorn the No. 24 car on a part-time basis in 2013 and fans are questioning the scheme choice. It's the exact same scheme that Dupont had since 2009 and just doesn't seem right for many fans. Maybe it's time to bring back the rainbow scheme, even if it's just for a race or two as a throwback type of deal.

Joseph Wolkin can be followed on Twitter at @JosephNASCAR and can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].

It's all a part of a conspiracy

Race car drivers are very superstitious. Though flames may look great on a race car, for some reason drivers and flames just don't get along. Scratching Gordon's first two full-time season statistics where he crashed a bunch, from 1995-2000, Gordon DNF only 21 times. From 2001-2006, he DNF 30 times. From 2007-last weekend, he's DNF 20 times. It's pretty consistent and his numbers haven't really been effected by it, but Gordon's success nor luck has been the same since he switched paint schemes.

Dupont isn't around anymore, so why not put a twist into it

Now that Dupont will no longer be sponsoring the car, it would be the logical thing to do to bring back the rainbow on Jeff Gordon's hood. Though the logo would be different, it would still look better than a car that doesn't look too great. At least when they changed it to red, yellow and black, it wasn't as awkward looking as the new Cromax Pro car does.

A return of the rainbow warriors will be a great marketing strategy

Marketing has always been a key part of Hendrick Motorsports' success. It's unlikely that Hendrick realized how big of a marketing strategy he would have to make in the future with all of the sales he had from Gordon's memorabilia. However, bringing back a rainbow car could bring in plenty of money to the team and expand their operations even more than it already is.

Gordon was a lot more competitive with a rainbow on his car than flames

Jeff Gordon won more than half of his career victories in the rainbow warriors scheme. In just seven years, he broke records left and right in his No. 24 Chevrolet that he made famous. Ever since the team switched over to flames, his luck hasn't been the same, especially in the past few seasons. Maybe bringing the rainbows back will bring back some much needed momentum.

The fans want to see a return of the rainbow warriors

Every single NASCAR fan knows that Jeff Gordon used to drive the rainbow scheme. It's remembered by fans that weren't even alive back then. With the new Generation Six car, it would be a great way to start out fresh and show that it's the fans that run this sport. The fans have been asking to see a return of the scheme for a while now and it's time to do so.