Infineon Raceway is one of the premier road racing venues in the country, and one of the few on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series circuit. The facility first opened in 1968 and serves as the gateway to the beautiful and scenic Sonoma Valley, which serves as one of the top wine-producing regions in the world.
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Robby Gordon wins NASCAR road raceBy MIKE HARRIS, AP Motorsports Writer
June 22, 2003
SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Robby Gordon earned his second Winston Cup victory, but earned some strong criticism for racing back to the yellow under caution on his way to the win on Sunday.
Gordon did nearly everything right in winning the Dodge/Save Mart 350.
He led 81 of the 110 laps on Infineon Raceway's 1.949-mile, 11-turn road course and outraced four-time series champion Jeff Gordon, no relation, over the last 25 laps to earn his first NASCAR win on a road course.
But while Robby celebrated, the runner-up criticized him for his pass of teammate Kevin Harvick under a yellow flag that NASCAR said was perfectly legal.
``Really, that's what won him the race,'' Jeff Gordon said. ``You just don't do that. You don't pass a guy under caution. He did everything right today, except that. What he did can be done, but there's not going to be too many guys going to have too much respect for him.''
A NASCAR spokesman said it was made clear in the pre-race drivers' meeting that racing back to the finish line under a waving yellow would be allowed.
``Do you think I really care what Jeff Gordon says?'' Robby said. ``He's won enough races. I guess he just doesn't like it when someone comes in and rains on his parade a little bit. Kevin Harvick may be mad at me, but it is what it is. I don't see what Jeff Gordon has to do with this.''
Harvick, Robby Gordon's Richard Childress Racing teammate, wound up third. The teammates stayed on strategy and pitted under green on lap 66 and briefly fell well back into the field. Harvick beat Gordon back onto the track even though Gordon smoked his tires trying to get out ahead.
Harvick stayed in front of Gordon until rookie Christian Fittipaldi hit a tire barrier and brought out a yellow on lap 71. Gordon took advantage of the situation to pass Harvick as they raced back to the flagstand to take the caution.
``Jeff Gordon sat in the same drivers' meeting as I did and I asked the question three times during the meeting to have the rule clarified,'' Robby said. ``If Jeff was so mad at me, why didn't he spin me out?''
Jeff Gordon said Robby broke a gentleman's agreement not to pass for position under yellow.
``On a waving caution in a corner you can pass if you happen to be making a move on a guy, but that's not what happened because he about did it the caution before that,'' Jeff Gordon said. ``In that situation, we kind of maintain our position because you don't know what's on the track.
``Robby became an animal when that caution came out. That's just unheard of. It doesn't surprise me, but that just doesn't happen in our sport.''
Harvick heard what Jeff Gordon said, but his only comment on the pass was, ``It was good hard racing except for that chicken move under yellow.''
Controversy aside, the victory Sunday was particularly satisfying for Robby Gordon, a former Indy-car star who has had two NASCAR road races slip through his fingers in the past.
Two years ago on this same course, Gordon dominated only to see Tony Stewart slip past when Gordon wasted time trying to keep Harvick a lap down.
Later that year at Watkins Glen -- the only other road course on the 36-race schedule -- Gordon was again the best car but lost an almost certain victory when the in-car camera battery exploded and started a fire.
``I don't think there was any luck here today,'' Gordon said. ``We had a plan and we stuck to it all day. We stopped when we wanted to stop and the strategy just worked out perfect.''
Jeff Gordon never led but pressured the leader after passing Rusty Wallace for second place on lap 86.
``We had the fastest car at the end,'' the runner-up said. ``Robby wasn't very good, compared to us, but he was good in the right places, the places where you can pass,'' Gordon said. ``This is a tough place to pass.''
Jeff Gordon, who moved past Dale Earnhardt Jr. to take second place in the standings, didn't want to take a chance on wrecking.
``We've got a points battle on the line here,'' he said. ``I thought, `If I get a really clean shot, we'll take it.' I ran all over him hoping he'd make a mistake, but he didn't.''
Bill Elliott was fourth, followed by Ryan Newman. Wallace slipped back to eighth.
During the early stages of the race, Ron Fellows and Boris Said, road racing specialists hired just for this race, appeared to be fast enough to challenge Robby Gordon and Harvick.
Fellows slipped past both Gordon and Harvick under breaking on the hairpin 11th turn on lap 57. Both he and Said, who started from the pole, lost their shot at the win when they got caught out by pit strategy and wound up having to pit at the wrong time. Neither was in contention again, but Said finished sixth and Fellows seventh.
Matt Kenseth finished 14th and his series lead was cut to 174 points over Jeff Gordon. Earnhardt, who came in 185 points back, finished 11th and slipped to third, two points behind Gordon.
Updated on Sunday, Jun 22, 2003 9:17 pm EDT
By Mark Aumann, Turner Sports Interactive June 22, 2003
9:21 PM EDT (0121 GMT)
SONOMA, Calif. -- In Jeff Gordon's opinion, Robby Gordon's move that ultimately won Sunday's Dodge/SaveMart 350 violated the spirit of NASCAR's "gentleman's agreement."
Robby Gordon, basking in the glory of his second NASCAR Winston Cup victory, refused to let sour grapes ruin his celebration.
In the pre-race driver's meeting, Robby Gordon specifically asked several times about NASCAR's rules concerning local and full-course cautions, and was told by NASCAR President Mike Helton said today's rules would be no different than it had ever been.
But when Robby Gordon roared past teammate Kevin Harvick to gain a position before taking the yellow flag on lap 72, it left runner-up Jeff Gordon fuming about his lack of protocol.
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| Robby Gordon: "I guess he doesn't like it when somebody comes in and rains on his parade." Credit: Autostock |
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"If Robby was as fast under green as he was under caution that one time, he'd win a lot of these things," Jeff Gordon said. "Anybody who races back under caution like that, I don't know where his mind is at. He did a great job. He won the race fair and square, except for that move right there."
Robby defended his actions, which at the time, left him fifth when the leaders pitted. He then moved around Johnny Benson for good on lap 80.
"Jeff Gordon sat in the same driver's meeting as I did," Robby Gordon said. "And I asked the question three times and disrupted the driver's meeting because I wanted to make sure I understood exactly what they were saying.
"They said, under waving yellow you could race back to the line until you take the yellow. After you take the yellow at the start-finish line.
"I can't help it if I understood exactly what the rules were and took advantage of it. Racing here at Sonoma, it's very hard to pass. I knew if we could get track position, we'd be very hard to beat."
Jeff Gordon wasn't impressed with Robby Gordon's interpretation of the rule.
"That's the thing here. There are no rules," Jeff Gordon said. "It has nothing to do with a rulebook, or black and white. What he did can be done and it is. He's sitting in Victory Lane and won the race. Give him that.
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| Robby Gordon leads Jeff Gordon out of Turn 11. Credit: Autostock |
"But I'll tell you what, there's not going to be too many guys who are going to have much respect for him." It doesn't matter who it is, you don't do that.
"What this does is set a precedent. We don't race back to the caution for safety reasons. The thing to do is maintain your position. That's the gentleman's agreement."
Robby Gordon was unrepentant.
"Do you really think I care about what Jeff Gordon says about it?" Robby Gordon asked. "I don't know why he's so sore. I guess he doesn't like it when somebody comes in and rains on his parade."
Ironically, Robby Gordon bumped Jeff Gordon out of the way to win the 2001 New Hampshire 300, his only other Winston Cup win until Sunday.