ATLANTA - Given the choice of being ungentlemanly or winning a race, Robby Gordon picked winning. After all, manners are better used at the dinner table, not the racetrack.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
|
Have a thought?
Go to the Forums or Chat.
|
|
|
Racing's newest flashpoint is the "gentlemen's agreement" not to race back to the flag stand once the caution light is displayed.
Gordon saw nothing wrong with his pass of Kevin Harvick with 39 laps remaining in last Sunday's race at the Infineon Raceway as the two raced back to the line to take the yellow flag and fall under written rules for driving under caution.
More important, NASCAR saw nothing wrong, either.
That meant little to some of Gordon's fellow competitors after the race. Jeff Gordon called the pass "crap." Harvick called it "chicken."
The gentleman's agreement has come under fire several times this year. Jeff Gordon passed race leader Matt Kenseth at Texas in March to stop Kenseth from allowing his Roush Racing teammates Jeff Burton and Kurt Busch from getting back on the lead lap. At Dover earlier this month, race leader Ryan Newman came under fire from defending series champion Tony Stewart because he wouldn't allow Stewart to make a pass to get back on the lead lap.
So why was Sunday's race any different?
According to NASCAR president Mike Helton, it wasn't.
"There is no gentlemen's agreement, we figured that out a couple races ago," Helton said during the drivers' meeting before the race. "Guys, this is not a new gig. This is the same deal we've done before. In the event we feel like you got one unfairly, we will react. In the meantime, it's up to you guys to work it out up there. If you're going to be obnoxious about it, we'll get in the middle of it. Nine out of 10 times we'll let you guys have it."
Winston Cup Series competition director John Darby also defended Robby Gordon's pass: "The only cars technically under caution are the ones who have driven under the caution flag. If a big group is beyond the start-finish line and the caution flag comes out, they're still officially under green until they get back to that start-finish line. At that point, the drivers have a choice of either easing up, everybody getting in line or, in many situations, racing back."
Even Jeff Gordon couldn't argue that point. "What he did can be done," he said. He's sitting in Victory Lane, and he won the race. Give him that."
That didn't stop him or Harvick from tearing into the winner.
"There's an unspoken code we all follow as race drivers," Harvick said Monday.
"You race hard under green, but you have mutual respect for each other. Robby didn't show that respect. I enjoy racing hard and beating and banging, and I wouldn't have accepted it if he had raced me hard for the win under the green flag."
Robby Gordon and Harvick are teammates at Richard Childress Racing. It's clear the car owner will be busy in the next couple weeks.
"This isn't about anyone breaking a NASCAR rule," Harvick said, "because it was made clear in the drivers' meeting that you could pass under yellow. But it was a cheap move on Robby's part. This isn't about the 29 team (Harvick) or the 31 team (Robby Gordon), and it's not about RCR. It's about me and Robby. This dates back a few years, and he's shown how he wants to race me. I promise I'm going to race him like he wants it from now on - teammates or not."
Most drivers don't blame Robby Gordon for making a pass that helped him win the race. They say it only signals a need for NASCAR to resolve the problem.
"I understand the gentleman's agreement is in place, but I wonder if it hasn't outlived itself," said Ken Schrader. "Do we really need something like that or is it time to take it one step further? Every other rule we have is in black and white in the rule book, so why not this one? Lay it out and we'll abide by it."
Kyle Petty has a bigger problem with lead cars slowing down. "If you're going to give people their laps back, why race?" Petty asked. The whole point of what we do is putting as much distance between you and the car behind you as possible. Why would you give it all back because a caution comes out?"
Because it's the gentlemanly thing to do?
