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Three Sides To Every Story

Okay, there's NASCAR's side of why Robby Gordon is suspended for today's Pocono Cup race:


Once the caution came out on Lap 72 the field was frozen.  Once the field is frozen, all cars must maintain cautious pace in order to be scored.

At the time that the field was frozen, the 59 [Marcos Ambrose] was in the lead.  [Robby Gordon] did not maintain cautious pace and by NASCAR rule, cars not maintaining cautious pace are scored only when they blend back into the continuous line.  [Gordon], based on our scoring, was ordered to blend back in behind [Ron Fellows] in front of [Mike Wallace].

The tower ordered [Gordon] multiple times to get into position.  The directive was acknowledged by [Gordon's] crew chief and the crew chief also communicated the order to [Gordon].  The driver ignored NASCAR's directive.

He was warned that he would be black-flagged if he did not comply.  Once [Gordon] crossed the start/finish line he was posted per the NASCAR rule book and at that time the directive to display the black flag was given.

After contact with [Ambrose] on Lap 73, NASCAR took emergency action per the rule book Section12-2, thus parking [Gordon], which was also ignored.  The black flag with the white cross was displayed to [Gordon] when [he] crossed the start/finish line on Lap 74.  [Gordon] finished the race in the 18th position.

Now, Gordon's view of things as expressed on his Web site:


I want to start by expressing my regrets to the sponsors, fans, and all competitors for any part I played in the miscommunication, confusion and uncertainty surrounding the finish in this weekend's Busch race in Montreal.  Immediately following the last caution when I was spun out by the 59 car, at first I was told that I was scored in first place and I should be in that position.  Later, I was told that I was in second place and I assumed that position, which was fine.  Moments before the green flag dropped, I was told that I was scored in 13th position.

Obviously I objected, and I stated that I would complete the race under protest.  I believed that my protest would be a foregone conclusion if I moved to position 13.  I was confident that most people who watched the race or see the replay would agree that I should have been scored in first or second.  I also wanted to make sure that the race played out the way it should if the officials ultimately agreed with me after seeing the tape and granted my protest.  Therefore, I decided to preserve the status quo by holding the second position and racing from that position to the end of the race.  My belief was that it would be no harm no foul if my protest was denied because I would then be disqualified in the race regardless.  On the other hand, if I moved to position 13 and my protest was granted, then the race results would be affected.  In order to preserve the integrity of my protest, I decided to stay in second position.

It was not my purpose to disrespect the authority of NASCAR or the officials.  I do respect their authority to run the race and make the calls, and I understand the significance of the black flag.  I strongly disagree with the calls that affected me at the end of the race.  Being spun under the yellow and not being allowed to resume my position prior to the spin put me in a position to react as I did.  Nonetheless, I accept NASCAR's decision and I intend to move forward under the rules.

And then there's the third side...

Was Gordon wrong to act the way he did?  Yes.  Was he wrong to react the way he did?  No.  He has a case.  That said, it doesn't justify his actions.  Again that said, there's no discernible justification for Marcos Ambrose spinning Gordon under caution.  Or the Kevin Harvick vs. Scott Pruett dust-up which took out several innocent bystanders.

Did you ever think a Busch race at a road course would generate this much heat?

Ah well.  We now have Pocono.  That should cool most everyone off.

NOTE: Check out Bram's most excellent take on things.




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Gordon's Side ...
I feel that Gordon's actions were somewhat justified.  I wouldn't even have had a problem with him if he stayed in 2nd as part of a protest and raced everyone clean until the end of the race and then let everything fall into place, but he didn't, he deliberatly took out Ambrose the very first chance he got as part of his 'protest' and that is where Robby loses my support.

If anyone says that Ambrose took him out deliberatly that is a hard one to say, Robby may have seen the yellow flag and let up like he says but I don't know if Ambrose saw the the flag - they were coming out of a corner and Robby was in front of Ambrose so it would have been hard to see the flag waving off to the side of the track.

by 4ever3 on Aug 5, 2007 9:02 PM EDT   0 recs

Good point...
... a clean pass of Ambrose by Gordon would have soothed at least some of NASCAR's ruffled feathers.

by Diecast Dude on Aug 5, 2007 10:18 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

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