NASCAR mulling suspension for Gordon

[Jonesi]

http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2007/07/30/scene_daily195.html

This will come as a surprise to no one who saw the Busch race.

I started a new thread since it goes beyond the Busch race and may apply to tomorrow's race at Pocono and future races.

(In a lighter vein: Now, we know what you have to do to get a Nascar Rulebook ;-)

[Chris Herr]

"NASCAR ruled Gordon was 13th for the restart because he was spun after being bumped by Ambrose after the caution came out."

While I would agree with suspending Robby, NASCAR is at fault for having ambiguous caution procedures. At the very least Ambrose should have been penalized for passing under the caution. The question begs, where did the corner worker get his prompting to wave the flag. There was no incident at or after the corner. Perhaps he took it upon himself to wave the flag. Reminds me of the 'ol SCCA days.

[harvick#1]

this was about the same type of incident in 02 with Harvick at Martinsville when he got parked. Nascar has to punish Robby for his actions in this race and suspend him at least one Cup race to show that this will never be tolerated

[call_me_andrew]

At the very least Ambrose should have been penalized for passing under the caution.

Why should Ambrose be penalized? He was ahead when the caution came out.

[RaceFanStan]

FYI :
During a road course race the track has corner workers with yellow flags standing by.
If something happens in a corner, the corner worker is to wave his yellow flag.
That is to let the oncoming cars there is a local caution in THAT corner.
A corner worker waving a yellow flag can NOT be used to determine if the full course caution was out or not.
The corner worker can only addresss the area he has sight of.

Robby went over the line & no doubt he will be punished. :s
I will admit I enjoyed watching Robby come unglued & lose control.
It's human nature to sometimes lose it, right or wrong people can't accuse Robby of being a NASCAR robot. http://www.motorsportforum.com/forums/images/icons/tongue-anim.gif

[Jonesi]

In a century of motorsports I don't think anyone has ever won an on track arguement with the race officials. A.J.Foyt didn't, Earnhardt didn't , yet some keep trying.

[Jonesi]

FYI :
During a road course race the track has corner workers with yellow flags standing by.
If something happens in a corner, the corner worker is to wave his yellow flag.
That is to let the oncoming cars there is a local caution in THAT corner.
A corner worker waving a yellow flag can NOT be used to determine if the full course caution was out or not.
The corner worker can only addresss the area he has sight of.

Robby went over the line & no doubt he will be punished. :s
I will admit I enjoyed watching Robby come unglued & lose control.
It's human nature to sometimes lose it, right or wrong people can't accuse Robby of being a NASCAR robot. http://www.motorsportforum.com/forums/images/icons/tongue-anim.gif

I half expected to see a scene from Days of Thunder replayed by Robby. (Getting back to the front of the pack just to crash Ambrose.)

[call_me_andrew]

Are you kidding? Where were you when NASCAR was still handicapping factory silhouettes?

"Fords have too much downforce!"
"Chevy's don't have enough drag!"
"Buicks have too much drag!"

*sigh* Those were the days.

[call_me_andrew]

I half expected to see a scene from Days of Thunder replayed by Robby. (Getting back to the front of the pack just to crash Ambrose.)

Did that also include poor editing, over acting, and a sexy, young doctor who doesn't look old enough to be a neurosurgeon?

[Jonesi]

Are you kidding? Where were you when NASCAR was still handicapping factory silhouettes?
"Fords have too much downforce!"
"Chevy's don't have enough drag!"
"Buicks have too much drag!"
*sigh* Those were the days.

That's backroom politics, Nascar will discus & make a deal. Nascar, SCCA, USAC, FIA, IMSA, etc. none will let a driver win an ontrack dissagreement!

[Jonesi]

Did that also include poor editing, over acting, and a sexy, young doctor who doesn't look old enough to be a neurosurgeon?

No, just the part where he wants new tires to go crash the winner on his victory lap.

[Namerow]

To posters 2 & 5, the flag marshal you see waving the flag at Station/Corner #4 in the "Ambrose bumping Gordon" incident is doing so under order from race control who has just seconds before called for a full course yellow. When it is decided by race control to go to a full course yellow, a call is sent out to every post on the land line communication system as such: "attention all corners, full course yellow - full course yellow". When a full course yellow is called, every marshalling station around the track will take out the yellow flag out at the same time, regardless of cars going by or not.

In normal circumstances, you are both right in thinking a flagging post will wave a yellow immediately for an incident happening in the track section following their location.

Back to our incident here, the FCY had been called, hence the waving flag at Station/Corner 4 and it is even highly likely that Gordon passed Ambrose under a yellow flag going by Station/Corner 3.

[Galveston dunes]

Mulling! What the heck are they mulling over. He intentionally waited for 15 minutes to run into Ambrose and put him out of contention. He should have waited and let NASCAR make the call on review.He should IMO never race again. His lack of judgment ,if not better sense,after the time span he had to think clearly and then disregaurd NASCAR and stay out like he won something only shows his stingy arrogant selfishness and is a threat to any one on the track or near him.IMO

[call_me_andrew]

To posters 2 & 5, the flag marshal you see waving the flag at Station/Corner #4 in the "Ambrose bumping Gordon" incident is doing so under order from race control who has just seconds before called for a full course yellow. When it is decided by race control to go to a full course yellow, a call is sent out to every post on the land line communication system as such: "attention all corners, full course yellow - full course yellow". When a full course yellow is called, every marshalling station around the track will take out the yellow flag out at the same time, regardless of cars going by or not.

In normal circumstances, you are both right in thinking a flagging post will wave a yellow immediately for an incident happening in the track section following their location.


FYI :
During a road course race the track has corner workers with yellow flags standing by.
If something happens in a corner, the corner worker is to wave his yellow flag.
That is to let the oncoming cars there is a local caution in THAT corner.
A corner worker waving a yellow flag can NOT be used to determine if the full course caution was out or not.
The corner worker can only addresss the area he has sight of.

I'd like to point out where both of you are wrong. NASCAR indicates local cautions with a SOLID BLUE flag now. Yellow indicates a full course caution.

Of course NASCAR's passing flag is still blue with a yellow stripe and only shown at the starter's stand, and the FIA passing flag is still solid LIGHT blue shown at any station.

[Old3Fan]

I guess we all were watching a different race. I saw RG make the pass cleanly on the right of Ambrose for 1st. Next you see Ambros following RG and the yellow flag is waving, this is from the rear. Next you see from in front Ambrose punting RB off the track with the yellow flag waving in the background. RG will probably lose the battle with Nascar and be fined and lose points BUT he was legally in 1st when the yellow came out and then punted. Ambrose gets what he deserves. he punted RG and got punted back. He, Ambrose should be fined also but he won't be.

[mercury8]

I guess we all were watching a different race. I saw RG make the pass cleanly on the right of Ambrose for 1st. Next you see Ambros following RG and the yellow flag is waving, this is from the rear. Next you see from in front Ambrose punting RB off the track with the yellow flag waving in the background. RG will probably lose the battle with Nascar and be fined and lose points BUT he was legally in 1st when the yellow came out and then punted. Ambrose gets what he deserves. he punted RG and got punted back. He, Ambrose should be fined also but he won't be.Regardless of what initially happened you are advocating drivers blantly disregarding directions from Nascar officials.So the next time someone gets punted off they can just drive past a whole heap of cars and punt the leader up the rear,try and run them off the road all while the safety car has the field under controlled circumstances.Than to disobey a directive from his own crew and Nascar officials so as he can blatantly punt a car off because he is sooking than continually circulate while being shown a black flag.Yeah that all sounds like reasonable behaviour doesn't it. :rotflmao: Great for the credibility of Nascar.

[jeffmr2]

What about harvick punting pruett intentionally off the track,that seems to have passed by without any comment from nascar and i suppose ultimatly was the cause of all that happened.
Dont you just love controversial race finishes lol!!!

[El Sween]

About time. I used to think Gordon was the business when he was in ChampCar but that was a long time ago and he has just become a petulant man-child and I am sick of him and his predictable attitude to those he competes with.

[harvick#1]

What about harvick punting pruett intentionally off the track,that seems to have passed by without any comment from nascar and i suppose ultimatly was the cause of all that happened.
Dont you just love controversial race finishes lol!!!

for the last time, Pruett put Harvick in the grass, he had every reason to punish Pruett. Pruett jot what he deserved as those final laps he was too busy blocking Fellows and Harvick instead of racing, he got what he deserved

[tstran17_88]

This just in...Robby has been parked for today's race. Just heard it on Race Day.

[tstran17_88]

for the last time, Pruett put Harvick in the grass, he had every reason to punish Pruett. Pruett jot what he deserved as those final laps he was too busy blocking Fellows and Harvick instead of racing, he got what he deservedI'd just call it hard racing....nobody deserved to get punted or punished.

[tstran17_88]

UPDATE 4: NASCAR has parked Robby Gordon and he will not be allowed to compete in Sunday's race. Furthermore, Gordon is not being allowed into the garage at Pocono. Additional penalties and/or fines are expected to be announced on Tuesday.(8-5-2007)

http://www.jayski.com/cupnews.htm#news8

[dwboogityfan]

What a mess the finish was yesterday. As much as I like Robby I am not surprised to see NASCAR park him.
However, I also think NASCAR are to blame in this instance. An unclear rulebook is one thing (IMO Robby should have been restarting 1st or 2nd) but why did they throw the green with Robby still in second on the track? We all knew that Robby would spin Ambrose out on the first turn - if Robby was to have started 13th in line then NASCAR should have made sure he was 13th in line before throwing the green.
Its a shame for Robby as he deserved to win the race yesterday until Ambrose spun him out and he has been running well in Cup recently.

[Galveston dunes]

My question now is why was no penaty assessed to ambrose. I don't think he intentionally bumped Rubby but he was under cation when they mmade contact so some penalty of some kind should [imo] be assessed to Ambrose as well.

[Old3Fan]

Great for the credibility of Nascar.

They have no credibility. They change the rules almost every week to suit the results they want. I agree RG should not have done what he did when he didn't go back to 18th or whenever on the restart. However, Nascar screwed him by not allowing him to be in first place where he should have been on that restart. Like I said, Nascar does what they want and you have no appeal what so ever. IMHO Ambrose should have gotten a penalty also for punting RG after the full course yellow was thrown.

[Namerow]

I'd like to point out where both of you are wrong. NASCAR indicates local cautions with a SOLID BLUE flag now. Yellow indicates a full course caution.

Of course NASCAR's passing flag is still blue with a yellow stripe and only shown at the starter's stand, and the FIA passing flag is still solid LIGHT blue shown at any station.

You're right on the blue for a local incident. Forgot about that silly choice of a flag color by Nascar. But I mainly wanted to stress the fact that our marshals here don't throw out yellow flags for nothing, which others seem to imply. A FCY is called by race control, flags come out, that's it.

[Sparky1329]

for the last time, Pruett put Harvick in the grass, he had every reason to punish Pruett. Pruett jot what he deserved as those final laps he was too busy blocking Fellows and Harvick instead of racing, he got what he deserved

Oh, so it was okay for Harvick to "punish" Pruett but you take issue with Robby "punishing" Marcos?

I don't think Marcos intentionally spun Robby and either does Robby according to this mornings interview on Race Day. While some people think that Robby would've had a better argument had he not spun Marcos with 3 laps to go I think that Robby was hosed no matter what he did. Drivers have no argument when it comes to NASCAR's chitty calls. Here are Robby's exact words:


Ambrose hit Gordon as the caution came out and spun Gordon on the course's back section. NASCAR and Gordon did not agree where Gordon should be placed for the final restart as the field circled for several laps under caution, when Gordon said he received several conflicting messages about where to line up while he remained beside Ambrose, indicating he was questioning his position.

"What it does is, in a caution it creates a scenario that's a bit confusing and I think it will need to be solidified or need to be a re-written," Gordon said. "I don't know if it even needs to be a rule [because] they have the timing marks, and the field is supposed to be frozen. At the last timing mark I was either first or I was second, and I would have been cool with that decision.

"I wasn't cool with being put all the way behind the 33 [Ron Fellows]. Riding around under caution they said I was first and then a lap later they said I was second. On the lap coming to the green they said I was behind the 33 and that's the part I just didn't understand. With the black flag, the old rule was you had three laps to obey, so I was going to ride out the last two laps and talk about it after the race."


"I didn't lose control of that car -- not when my rear tires were off the ground. I didn't put a wheel wrong all day long. Everything I did was spot-on to what I intended to do with that racecar, so I had control all the way through the race.

"I felt that a call was made that unless I stayed where I was, I wasn't going to be able to appeal the case unless I stayed in my place. I would have been fine if NASCAR had come back on and said, 'All right, you weren't leading when the caution came out but we'll put you back in second -- but if you touch [Ambrose] on the way by we'll disallow your win.' Instead they told me to go to 13th -- they were trying to separate us as far as they could. And that wasn't right."

http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/08/05/rgordon.reaction.penalty/index.html

[mercury8]

Gordon may have had a better chance at getting a resolution if he had not spat the dummy and rammed Ambrose while he was behind safety car and followed directions from his crew chief and Nascar officials.All issues aside do you really think that the kind of behaviour he displayed yesterday was going to help his cause.Blatant disrespect of officials,his crew,the other competitors as well as the fans wins no favours.I can acknowledge that he was annoyed at the decision to drop him back to 13th but he had already passed the other cars to catch up to the 59 car to retaliate so he cannot blame anyone but himself for the mess he has ended up in.Hopefully he is handed a lenghty stint on the sidelines to send a clear and very strong message to any others that this kind of behaviour will not be excepted before any other driver decides that they are a law unto themselves.That was a very sad day for Nascar and was broadcast around the world for all to see.No wonder some people have the opinon that Nascar is a redneck sport.

[The Phantom]

Controversy aside, now NASCAR has seen what Ambrose can do on a road course - bring on Watkins Glen... :p


Now lads, lets kiss and make up...

http://www.bammedia.com.au/images/gallery_466/gordonmarcostexas06-th.jpg

[MD24]

http://www.robbygordon.com/cms/publish/article_911.shtml

Long Pond, PA (August 5, 2007) – 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.

[Sparky1329]

http://www.robbygordon.com/cms/publish/article_911.shtml

Long Pond, PA (August 5, 2007) – 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.

Integrity. Imagine that. IMHO Robby left Montreal with more integrity intact than NASCAR did.

Gas on!

[LTalbot]

This fan must agree with Sparky. Watching it all unfold, I know Robby would be Robby and let his emotions take over. IMHO the only thing he did wrong was to spin out Ambrose on the restart when he likely could have passed him cleanly. Interesting to see Ambrose had no issues with it in his interview after the race. Guess he figured he had it coming. Either way, NASCAR was wrong!

[blakebeatty]

They have no credibility. They change the rules almost every week to suit the results they want. I agree RG should not have done what he did when he didn't go back to 18th or whenever on the restart. However, Nascar screwed him by not allowing him to be in first place where he should have been on that restart. Like I said, Nascar does what they want and you have no appeal what so ever. IMHO Ambrose should have gotten a penalty also for punting RG after the full course yellow was thrown.

Come on #3! This is not a question of rules! Said rules have not been changed, altered, or debated. The rule states that you must maintain the speed of the pace car. Robby was not doing this. Robbie agreed to this rule when he flipped his ignition switch at the start of the race.

Did you (OR ANYONE ELSE) not notice that the two of them were still racing??? Robbie passed Ambrose under caution. They could have been penalized with a black flag for disregarding the yellow flag.

This was a racing incident between two drivers who should not, at the time, have been racing.

... and then Robbie stuck his head up his own ass

[Sparky1329]

Come on #3! This is not a question of rules! Said rules have not been changed, altered, or debated. The rule states that you must maintain the speed of the pace car. Robby was not doing this. Robbie agreed to this rule when he flipped his ignition switch at the start of the race.

Did you (OR ANYONE ELSE) not notice that the two of them were still racing??? Robbie passed Ambrose under caution. They could have been penalized with a black flag for disregarding the yellow flag.

This was a racing incident between two drivers who should not, at the time, have been racing.

... and then Robbie stuck his head up his own ass

So by NASCAR's "rules" such as they are a driver who is in 5th spot can knock out the four guys in front of him under caution. Those four have to blend back in wherever they get themselves going and the 5th spot driver can get himself a win. Maybe somebody will try that at the Glen this week.

[Rollo]

My question now is why was no penaty assessed to ambrose. I don't think he intentionally bumped Rubby but he was under cation when they mmade contact so some penalty of some kind should [imo] be assessed to Ambrose as well.

Ambrose was effectively penalised by being deliberately driven into. There is a difference in intent here. When Ambrose ran into Gordon this was an accident. Gordon pre-meditated and deliberately ran into the side of another car.

Deliberately using a car as a weapon should result in immediate expulsion from the series. It happened to Schumacher when he pulled the same stunt on Villeneuve in 1997 and should have happened when Senna did it to Prost in 1990.

Using a car as a weapon such as Robbie Gordon did on the weekend proves that he is unfit to hold a licence and therefore should have it revoked.

[blakebeatty]

So by NASCAR's "rules" such as they are a driver who is in 5th spot can knock out the four guys in front of him under caution. Those four have to blend back in wherever they get themselves going and the 5th spot driver can get himself a win. Maybe somebody will try that at the Glen this week.

Spark, NASCAR's rule is not as you described it, NASCAR's rule is "A car must maintain the cautious pace during a caution period."

It is as simple as the rule is inadequate to describe the situation that occurred this weekend. The rule is not broken down to describe why a driver cannot maintain the cautious pace. To have replaced Robbie into second would have been making up a rule on the fly.

I would wager that the rule will be amended for next week, or for the near future. Which way do you guys want it? I think they followed their rule book to the letter.

[Sparky1329]

Spark, NASCAR's rule is not as you described it, NASCAR's rule is "A car must maintain the cautious pace during a caution period."

It is as simple as the rule is inadequate to describe the situation that occurred this weekend. The rule is not broken down to describe why a driver cannot maintain the cautious pace. To have replaced Robbie into second would have been making up a rule on the fly.

I would wager that the rule will be amended for next week, or for the near future. Which way do you guys want it? I think they followed their rule book to the letter.

No fans really know what NASCAR's rules are but Dave Despain made my point on INC tonight and asked the panel that very question. Apparently he's convinced that's what NASCAR's call translates to. Bottom line is NASCAR can rule what they want when they want because it's their game. They will find a justification for it or ignore the questions.

[Aussie12]

...Did you (OR ANYONE ELSE) not notice that the two of them were still racing??? Robbie passed Ambrose under caution. ... and then Robbie stuck his head up his own ass

IMHO, I respectfully beg to differ. I've watched, re-watched and even got most of my relatives to watch the incident too. The yellow flag APPEARS to have come out when Robby was half a car length in front of Ambrose - making the #55 the leader of the race. I think Ambrose "punted" Robby because once the #55 got completely in front, he heard that the caution had come out and slowed slightly. Perhaps the news of the caution didn't reach Marcos as quickly as it did Robby. The #55 slowed giving the #59 nowhere to go but into the back of him.

Yes folks, I believe that this was actually a RACING INCIDENT, particularly because the caution had been called for a similar incident only seconds earlier. Robby intentionally punting Marcos under race conditions was wrong and he should get the customary slap on the hand, but I think he’s right when he said NASCAR made some wrong calls as well. Let’s face it, Robby knows his rules: anyone remember when he broke the “gentleman’s agreement” and won at Sonoma years ago? ;) :p

I like both Robby and Marcos. I have no bias... I'm just calling it like I saw it, and saw it, and saw it...

As for blue flags and “local cautions” that appear in other series… it just confuses matters even more. Keeps NASCAR road races as they are. Whether you liked it or hated it, it certainly wasn't dull! :D

[Haulin'AssAndTurnin Left]

Robby hole i was first when the caution came out is just crap. to continue to be scored you have to maintain caution spend he didnt for whatever reason end of. Ambrose spinning him out was just racing. i just dont think ambrose had checked up for the caution where Gordon had already started slowed.

[blakebeatty]

No fans really know what NASCAR's rules are but Dave Despain made my point on INC tonight and asked the panel that very question. Apparently he's convinced that's what NASCAR's call translates to. Bottom line is NASCAR can rule what they want when they want because it's their game. They will find a justification for it or ignore the questions.

Yeah, I suppose that is exactly why the rule book is not made public.

[Sparky1329]

IMHO, I respectfully beg to differ. I've watched, re-watched and even got most of my relatives to watch the incident too. The yellow flag APPEARS to have come out when Robby was half a car length in front of Ambrose - making the #55 the leader of the race. I think Ambrose "punted" Robby because once the #55 got completely in front, he heard that the caution had come out and slowed slightly. Perhaps the news of the caution didn't reach Marcos as quickly as it did Robby. The #55 slowed giving the #59 nowhere to go but into the back of him.

Yes folks, I believe that this was actually a RACING INCIDENT, particularly because the caution had been called for a similar incident only seconds earlier. Robby intentionally punting Marcos under race conditions was wrong and he should get the customary slap on the hand, but I think he’s right when he said NASCAR made some wrong calls as well. Let’s face it, Robby knows his rules: anyone remember when he broke the “gentleman’s agreement” and won at Sonoma years ago? ;) :p

I like both Robby and Marcos. I have no bias... I'm just calling it like I saw it, and saw it, and saw it...

As for blue flags and “local cautions” that appear in other series… it just confuses matters even more. Keeps NASCAR road races as they are. Whether you liked it or hated it, it certainly wasn't dull! :D

Robby said the he slowed because his spotter or CC told him the yellow was out. Marcos obviously didn't get the message. I'm sure he was focused on what he was doing and wasn't prepared for Robby to let off. NASCAR could've made a no-harm, no-foul call at that point and returned the first two to their positions at the previous scoring loop like they normally do.

[blakebeatty]

I digress Spark, though I still that that the black and white, per-the-rule-book-as-we-know-it thing to do was exactly what NASACAR did, I think that the APPROPRIATE thing to do would have been to replace Robbie into second.

It certainly would have avoided the sh*tstorm that they have created. The appropriate man would have won the race (by that I mean Marcos).

[Mark in Oshawa]

Well, first off, Before I say anything, I was up north and taping the whole race and avoiding all media until I watched the tape, so I am wading in late. what is worse, the damn tape died on me about 20 laps from the finish, so I am just going by what is said here to piece together what happened.

Here is my take. One, Marcos Ambrose is one hell of a road race driver in a stock car. As is Pruett and Ron Fellows and Boris Said. Robby Gordon is too, but what makes Robby different from the others is a respect for authority. From what I have read here and elsewhere, Robby got punted by Ambrose and maybe he shouldn't. No matter what the rules say, what Robby did next puts him in the wrong. Full stop. Running over Ambrose after, ignoring instructions from the NASCAR officials to move back to where he was is just utter stupidity.

This of course is behaviour that doesn't surprise me. Robby is the same guy who once had a temper tantrum behind the wheel of a Walker Racing Lola at Road America in a CART race, and drove the car flat out in 3rd gear trying to blow the motor up because he disagreed with the call from the pits on some matter. This is the same guy who showed up at Mosport racing for Jack Roush years ago in IMSA who ignored anyone who tried to steer him in any way. This is an extremely likeable guy at times, and an utter jerk at other times. What he did in Montreal is NOTHING new.

When he is pissed, he acts like a jerk. Remember the "agreement" he had with Harvick at Infineon? Robby ignores rules because they are for the other people. This wont be the last time he does something brain dead, it wont be the last. I think if NASCAR was smart, they would take him out for Watkins Glen as well as the fact they banned him from Pocono. Robby lives to race, so taking the owner points away really wouldn't hurt much. He wont make the chase, and he is going to qualfly his way in to most races, top 35 in owners points or not. So hit him where his ego gets stroked, take him OUT of the race car.

Now on NASCAR's involvement. First off, by not having a published rule book, it allows them to make up stuff on the fly. It has worked well for them all along, and it wont change now. I don't see anyone on this board giving up watching NASCAR so it CANT be that big an issue. I think they are too arbitrary and wrong headed in some of their calls, and their over use of cautions is very much stagemanaging races, but they get away with it. I cannot comment on the exact circumstances of Montreal, because like I said, I didn't get to see it (and I am pissed about THAT believe me). I do know that NASCAR reaps what they sow, and if the corner worker put out a local yellow, he did it likely based on what he was told to do by race control. When corner workers work for NASCAR, they are told just about everything has to come from higher up, short of what type of toilet paper to use, so spare criticism of the poor guy on the corner with the flag.....

[Jonesi]

Per NascarNow & Nascar PR
Robby fined $35,000 and probation til the end of the year. Was told any repeat would draw indifinite suspension.

[Sparky1329]

I'd never deny that Robby has a short fuse. I have a short fuse too. Most people don't take kindly to being scr*wed either. That's what Robby believed was happening to him. Apparently quite a few people agreed with him including people who don't even like him. His reaction was over the top and he admitted that.

He has taken his lumps and will probably take a lot more. I'm sure his entries for this weekend's races will be scrutinized with a fine-tooth comb in tech inspection. He might be called in for a sit-down with NASCAR officials on Friday just to have him promise them one more time that he understands the black flag rule. If he's leading either race it wouldn't surprise me to see a "jumped the restart" call made on him. Maybe a "speeding on pit road" penalty will be exacted for good measure. Nobody wins a battle with NASCAR but NASCAR.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I'd never deny that Robby has a short fuse. I have a short fuse too. Most people don't take kindly to being scr*wed either. That's what Robby believed was happening to him. Apparently quite a few people agreed with him including people who don't even like him. His reaction was over the top and he admitted that.

He has taken his lumps and will probably take a lot more. I'm sure his entries for this weekend's races will be scrutinized with a fine-tooth comb in tech inspection. He might be called in for a sit-down with NASCAR officials on Friday just to have him promise them one more time that he understands the black flag rule. If he's leading either race it wouldn't surprise me to see a "jumped the restart" call made on him. Maybe a "speeding on pit road" penalty will be exacted for good measure. Nobody wins a battle with NASCAR but NASCAR.

Sparky, you are right. No one wins with NASCAR, but by being the unmitigated SUCK that he behaved like in Montreal, he made his life far more miserable than it was. One only has to look at how Mark Martin has taken unjust penalties in the past (Roush twice had points taken away from quasi-illegal parts) on Martin's car. Mark may have complained but it was done in a dignified way and it didn't stop him from being the class guy he is on and off the track. Robby always acts like he is the first guy in the world to have any "injustice" done to him, and he is very quick to ignore the fact if he wasn't a butthead, he wouldn't have drawn the ire of the NASCAR officials in the first place.

He got screwed over by NASCAR in Montreal, but he then acted like such a jerk that no one really cares. He made it all about Robby, and of course, that suits his ego, but it didn't help his cause, and it detracts from the fact that NASCAR made some bad decisions. By making it personal, NASCAR can just drop the issue....