Hey there, big, burly NASCAR fans. Take a deep breath. No, he’s not.
That report you might have seen on Facebook claiming Jeff Gordon is in a "homosexual relationship" with Stephen Rhodes is not true.
Instead, it's a hoax from a fake sports news site. This, according to our sister website, Syracuse.com.
Empire Sports claimed Gordon had "confirmed" he is dating Rhodes, an openly gay race car driver, and that NASCAR fans were outraged at the news, Syracuse.com reported.
The outrage may be accurate, however, as the article quickly generated 1.5 million page views and 1,400 comments from readers, many of whom fell for it, Syracuse.com said.
Not so a SB Nation writer, who points out, "Gordon is married to a woman and has two children, and it took me about 10 seconds to realize it's a spoof."
Background according to Syracuse.com: The parody article gives hints it's all an elaborate joke, claiming the "new couple has sparked a firestorm in the southern states where the rednecks tend to live."
There's also a quote from an alleged Gordon fan named Billy-Bob Benson, who supposedly told the publication "there ain't no room for that queer crap in NASCAR."
Even Empire Sports, whose logo appears to be borrowed from ESPN's, admits it's a satirical news site: "Sometimes we report on news that has yet to happen. Sometimes we report things we just WISH would happen."
So what do you think of this false report about Jeff Gordon.
Should it be flagged?
Or is all’s fair in love and NASCAR?
Tell us.
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