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Posted on 10/25/2006 5:37:48 PM PDT by glock rocks
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Please pray on this day, and every day, for our Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm's way around the world in defense of our liberty, and for the families awaiting their safe return.
Seeing is believing? Nope, 'video was inconclusive' and Robby Gordon gets no penalty
By JIM UTTER
The Charlotte Observer
HAMPTON, Ga. - NBC video replays of Sunday’s Bass Pro Shops 500 clearly show a large piece of roll bar padding coming from Robby Gordon's car, which forced NASCAR to call a caution on Lap 291.
NASCAR officials, however, called the video “inconclusive,” and did not penalize Gordon.
Gordon was the recipient of the “free pass” on that caution for being the first car not on the lead lap. He ended up finishing 10th, tying his second-best finish of the season.
“The video was inconclusive. If he did it, he did it,” said NASCAR spokesman Herb Branham. “But looking at the video it was inconclusive to the point we could not react to it.”
In a post-race interview with NBC, Gordon said, “I definitely did not throw anything out the window.”
http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/thatsracin//15881384.htm
Dale Jr. Quotes: “That was like old times racing Matt (Kenseth) there. He's a good friend and I love racing with him like that. We don't get to do it as much now as we did in the Busch Series, but it was fun out there to race hard with him.”
On the decision not to pit with 20 laps to go, while running third: “I was thinking 'surely we're not gonna pit,' so I pulled way up the track trying to be like 'yo! Everybody! No! Up here! Don't pit!' (laughing) And they just went on (to pit lane) and I wasn't in any position to go to pit road. I would have tore the left front off the car if I'd have pulled off the track at that angle. So, I was sitting there going 'Wellll… I guess I'm gonna have to do this by myself.' I wished I had fresh tires. I wanted to get tires if the leaders got tires. It was a long race and the duration of the race might have affected my decision-making there. I obviously wasn't as good as Jimmie (Johnson) and Tony (Stewart) and I didn't think I'd be able to hold 'em off. I hadn't anticipated holding them off - I wanted to finish fourth or better.”
Best Radio Chatter:
The Bud car was very quick on each restart throughout the race, but was especially impressive when restarting in second place behind Tony Stewart on lap 178. Dale Jr. passed Stewart and then pulled away easily on the first green-flag lap after the restart.
Dale Jr. (excited): “It'll GO on the restarts!
Tony Eury Jr. (crew chief): “Yeah, that was a FAST lap!”
Dale Jr.: “I'll back it off a bit. I just wanted to show you what it could do.”
Eury Jr: “You were one second quicker than the third-place car.”
Dale Jr.: “I can do it flat out for about five laps, but it really hurts the right front tire. I'll back off.”
Eury Jr.: “10-4. Run that pace and you'll be just fine.”
The event sponsor - for no apparent reason - flew their hot air balloon directly over the front stretch during the race, which proved to be a huge distraction for the drivers.
Dale Jr. (on lap 232, during green flag action): “Someone get that hot air balloon outta here! It's annoying!”
Today's Stats
Started: 6th
Finished: 3rd
Led: 95 laps (most laps the team has led in any race this year.)
Points: 4th place (gained two positions, -84 points behind leader)
Best Pit Stop: Stop 6 of 6 / lap 293 / 12.67 seconds / 4 tires and fuel
Chase for the Cup -- Unofficial Points
(Race seven of 10)
1.) Matt Kenseth 6008 pts.
2.) Jimmie Johnson -26 pts.
3.) Denny Hamlin -65
4.) Dale Earnhardt Jr. -84
4.) Jeff Burton -84
6.) Kevin Harvick -121
7.) Jeff Gordon -146
8.) Mark Martin -201
9.) Kasey Kahne -210
10.) Kyle Busch -249
'I was going to do what everyone else did, but I just made a decision not to,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “They were doing everything – swapping and juking and carrying on coming to pit road. I kind of got left out there. It looked like a game of ‘duck duck goose.’
AND NASCAR's John Darby, the Nextel Cup tour director, said his inspectors would go through the various team haulers checking race cars for missing roll-bar padding: "It was a very large piece of something black and round, and we don't know what it is when everybody is running at 190 mph. Now trying to prove whose it was is another story. But we'll be going through every car as they load them. But that's not to say it might not have been just under somebody's seat."(Winston Salem Journal)(10-30-2006)
UPDATE 3: Penske Racing officials announced Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway that three-time IndyCar Series champion Sam Hornish Jr. will attempt to qualify for two NASCAR Busch Series races this season. Hornish will pilot the #39 Mobil 1 Dodge at the Nov. 11 Phoenix and Nov. 18 Homestead events. Penske Racing will expand its Busch Series effort in 2007, splitting duties between Hornish and fellow Penske drivers #12-Ryan Newman and #2-Kurt Busch. Hornish has tested the Busch car twice already, at Kentucky and Iowa.(AMS Pit Notes)(10-28-2006)
Montoya may run remaining 2006 Busch races UPDATE cleared to run Homestead Cup race: Juan Pablo Montoya most likely will run the remaining three Busch Series races this year, team owner Chip Ganassi confirmed Sunday morning. Ganassi was pleased with Montoya's debut, an 11th-place finish at Memphis Motorsports Park. Whether Montoya, who will run a full season in the #42 Texaco Dodge for Ganassi next year, will make his Cup debut this season remains to be seen, Ganassi said.(SceneDaily.com)(10-29-2006)
UPDATE: NASCAR's John Darby, who watched Montoya in the Memphis race with keen interest, said that Montoya could run in the Nextel Cup season finale at Homestead, too, if Ganassi and Montoya both feel comfortable with that.(Winston Salem Journal)(10-30-2006)
http://www.jayski.com/cupnews.htm
Sure couldn't hurt with my record there!
That would sure blow the inspection wouldn't it?
Maybe have an extra piece that's a different color, possibly one with someone else's number????
The possibilities are endless!!!
That was the one. My boy fell out when Jr said, "duck duck goose."
R. Gordon lucky, Burton not-so after debris yellow
Gordon denies throwing padding out window to get late free pass
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
October 29, 2006
08:44 PM EST (01:44 GMT)
HAMPTON, Ga. -- It was just a tiny piece of debris, but it played a major role in deciding two drivers' outcomes in the Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
On Lap 290, a small piece of debris emerged from around the No. 7 Chevrolet of Robby Gordon, who was the first car a lap down. The resulting caution put Gordon back on the lead lap, and he rallied to finish 10th.
Gordon denied that he threw debris out the window to create the caution. The piece was suspected to be foam rubber padding commonly used to cover roll bars.
"I definitely didn't throw anything out the window, so I don't know," Gordon told NBC after the race. "It looked like it came out the back of the car actually."
NASCAR reviewed the tape of the incident and said it was inconclusive.
Jeff Burton, who finished 13th, disagreed.
He said that drivers occasionally throw roll-bar padding onto the track to create needed cautions, and he called on NASCAR to investigate.
"We were going to be OK and they threw the caution for a piece of roll-bar padding," Burton said. "They ought to stop every car on pit road, and they ought to check every car."
Burton had just completed a pit stop seven laps prior to the caution and was seeking a stretch of green-flag racing to stay on pit cycle with everyone else. That didn't happen when the caution flew.
"Whoever threw the roll bar padding out, they ought to fine them 185 points and fine them 100 grand, because it is a huge impact on the race and it is ridiculous and it happens too often. They need to figure out who did it and penalize them."
During a Busch race at Texas Motor Speedway in April, Reed Sorenson allegedly threw a piece of roll-bar padding out the window in an attempt to create a caution.
NASCAR gave Sorenson a black flag for the incident, but he did not face additional NASCAR sanctions, which are usually distributed during the middle of the week.
The rubber/foam roll-bar padding is seen between the top of the "7" and the "J".
Thanks for the info. I thought the camera caught someone with pine tar on their gloves.
Thnx for the article & pic.
Burton was correct to ask Nascar to look to find which car and roll bar the missing foam came from...
In short, NASCAR knows and is doing nothing about it.
No debris cautions for anything smaller than an engine block.
At least, so far. However, NASCAR's credibility is at stake here & a decision on this particular caution could/should have consequences (potential point standing revisions).
He was not a happy camper, audio was not for public broadcast.
I love my Roadrunner package.
As everyone has posted again .....Nascar has decided the video is inconclusive. However, during his interview it was obvious to me he was lying....you just had to see his eyes.
There is no way to fix it for Burton sadly. Taking points away from Crash is useless, monetary penalties would have an effect maybe. Even if they checked the car, the piece would not necessarily come from the car itself. Pretty soon Nascar will have to body search some of the drivers. :) I will apply for that job!
Endless is right. See my post above, I decided the drivers need to be searched before the race. :)
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