Green Flag 8.09.07: Speaking French with Robby Gordon
Posted by Jim Carson on 08.10.2007
Because it takes more than a four-letter word on ESPN or a wreck with your brother at Charlotte to make you NASCAR's bad boy.
Kurt Busch dominated at Pocono, moving past Junior to edge into the 12th spot in the points. Why is everyone so concerned about the number 12, when everyone with any sense of integrity about motorsports knows that it's a 36-race season and we're only through 21. It's not like the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series has been destroyed from within with some 10-race playoff garbage.
Besides, a topic that's much more interesting concerns who wasn't in the Pennsylvania 500.
TWO ROBBYS DON'T QUITE MAKE A RIGHT
By now you've probably seen why Robby Gordon was the talk of NASCAR last week. In case you didn't, or don't care about the NASCAR Busch Series at all (that number is certainly growing because of all the Cup invaders), here's what went down at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Quebec.
In the late laps of NAPA Pieces d'Auto 200 (Tony Stewart knows more French than I do), Robby probably had the fastest car on the track, or one of two. He came from fifth to second in a couple of laps, then had only Marcos Ambrose in front of him. Ambrose, born in Tasmania, is in his first full season of Busch competition and was having the race of his life.
With five laps left, fifth-place Happy Harvick punted Scott Pruett (at least it wasn't your teammate this time, Mr. Hitomyfamilyathome) who was forced into Ron Fellows (in a Harvick-owned car) and both Fellows and Pruett spun. The caution came out, and the yellow lights were on before Robby tapped Ambrose and found a way past him for the lead. When the caution comes out, the field is frozen, so Robby should have been sent back to second place for the final restart and two-lap sprint. But then, before the field came around to the frontstretch to get caught by the pace car, Ambrose punted Robby and sent him spinning. Eleven cars passed the sideways #55 car before Robby got his engine fired again and got going. Regardless of that extracurricular activity from the foreigner, NASCAR thought about it for a little while and then ordered Robby to 13th for the green-white-checkered.
Robby didn't go, instead staying in second despite NASCAR's heeds and pleads on the one-to-go lap. NASCAR didn't feel like waiting any more, so they turned 'em loose. Then Robby bumped Ambrose and turned him around, and kept going ahead of actual new leader Harvick. Harvick didn't catch Robby, but he knew he didn't have to. Harvick took the checkered flag and came around to the frontstretch for his customery burnout and smoke session, and was joined by Robby; Harvick beat him in the burnout department too.
Before the end of the night, NASCAR's hammer came down on Robby for the general misconduct and the ubiquitous "actions detrimental to stock car racing" and suspended him for the next day's Cup race at the world's largest paved triangle. Robby's friend and occasional NASCAR driver P.J. Jones, who practiced Robby's Cup car while he was in Montreal, took over driving duties and finished a blistering 37th.
Robby issued this statement through his website and his PR staff: "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."
NASCAR handed out more penalties, namely a $35,000 fine and probation for the rest of 2007, but thankfully allowing Robby to race this weekend at Watkins Glen, which since it's a road course Robby's always a threat to either win or do something strange to fall out of contention. That's not the end of it: Robby offered to field a second car for Ambrose in the Glen's Cup race, with help from Ambrose's Busch sponsor Kingsford.
I'm a bit of a fan of Robby's in Cup, mainly because he's on a single-car team and the only such operation in the top 35 in Cup owner points, and because sometimes he gets a bad rap as the bad boy. Throughout this series of incidents in Montreal, Robby did nothing wrong UNTIL he punted Ambrose after the final restart (I certainly didn't mind Robby joining in the post-race burnout). That went beyond the bounds of protesting and into the realm of stupidity, making it difficult for fans like me to support him. And in addition, it allowed a Cup invader to win another stand-alone Busch race, which is a bad enough occurence. The gesture toward Ambrose at Watkins Glen provides some closure to the mess, but it should have never come that far. And Fruit of the Loom used to sponsor Robby's Busch efforts; some would say that backing would still be appropriate because they think he's an asshole.
And there have been NO penalties levied against Ambrose for punting Robby under caution, which is wrong. I don't know if he's allowed to spin people under caution back in his days in the Australian V-8 Supercar Series or whatever he did in the Southern Hemisphere, but it's not something you do in NASCAR.
At least Ambrose's car didn't leave the pavement.
DARIO SPEEDWAGON PLAYS AIR GUITAR
The IRL race at Michigan (probably the last, as MIS looks to come off the 2008 schedule) was delayed by rain, so most likely you didn't see it because ESPN2's commitment to tennis forced the race to be farmed out to ESPN Classic. Nobody gets Classic, which is a shame because the network regularly shows reruns of American Gladiators. But surely you've seen this clip on the sports and news shows, probably as much as you've seen Robby.
Dario Franchitti and Dan Wheldon were battling for the lead at Michigan, continuing a very good race. Then it took a turn for the worst. Dario and Dan sideswiped each other (if anything, MAYBE Dario came down on Wheldon a tad), leading to a moment of wheel-to-wheel contact which is the most unpredictable and sometimes-distastrous thing that can happen in pointy-car racing. This time there was no disaster, but it sure looked like it. Dario's car flipped up and into the air, turned upside down and floated that way in mid-air for a couple of seconds before landing that way, aka on the driver's HEAD. Wheldon, Tomas Scheckter and Little Anthony all were collected in the accident, but everyone was silent for several minutes until safety crews gently flipped Dario's car over and he climbed out as if nothing had happened.
Dario has his name and likeness on the Borg-Warner Trophy for what he accomplished at the Brickyard back in May. He's still leading the IRL points (nearest competitor Scott Dixon didn't have a good day at Michigan either). He has taken some turns in sports car racing, in the American Le Mans Series also driving for Andretti-Green, and he admits that he loves it. If he hangs on to the IRL points lead through the last four races (starting this Saturday at Kentucky), he could call his pointy-car career complete (he tied for the CART points title in 1999, losing on a victories tiebreaker to Juan Pablo Montoya) and tell Michael Andretti that he's going to the probably-safer sports cars. Ashley Judd could certainly brighten up the mood of the paddock in ALMS events; she'd be way more knowledgable about the sport than the ladies that hang around the Playboy-sponsored team in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.
Maybe that's what Dario was thinking about when he was flying through the air backwards with his eyes closed.
I PROMISED Y'ALL SOME DRAG RACING
Before last weekend's open date on the schedule, the NHRA teams went through the most grueling portion of the season, and possibly ever. NHRA gently plans its pro-category schedule each year so that there is only one time where there are back-to-back-to-back races; that's on the annual summer western swing to Bandimere Speedway near Denver, Pacific Raceway near Seattle, and the facility formerly known as Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma CA.
But there was a glitch this year, when the new pavement at Bristol Dragway wasn't ready for the scheduled event in late April. NHRA rescheduled Bristol for the first weekend in July, after two in a row at Englishtown NJ and Norwalk OH. That meant six national event weekends in a row, for the first time ever in the series.
So there's your most critical stretch of the season, "countdown" or no "countdown." Yes, in case you haven't heard, NHRA is going to "chase" bullshit this season. Actually, it's worse for the drag racers, because their top contenders' points will be reset with six races to go and then again for the final two, so it's practically GUARANTEED that there will be a fake champion in there somewhere, along the lines of Kurt Busch. Anyway, you can keep track of the four pro classes' PROPER points each week right here with the Green Flag.
Anyway, back to the Englishtown-Norwalk-Bristol-Denver-Seattle-Sonoma march, where most teams didn't go near their shops (many NHRA shops are based in Indianapolis). Here are the points earned in each class for just those six races. In parentheses are each driver's current ranking in the points, and where he or she ranked before the buzzin' half-dozen:
---FUNNY CAR
_1. John Force, 480 (7/17)
_2. Jack Beckman, 434 (5/10)
_3. Tony Pedregon, 341 (4/6)
_4. Tommy Johnson Jr., 326 (11/12)
_5. Mike Ashley, 324 (3/5)
_6. Robert Hight, 309 (2/2)
_7. Cruz Pedregon, 281 (10/11)
_8. Ron Capps, 278 (1/1)
_9. Del Worsham, 274 (9/8)
10. Kenny Bernstein, 255 (14/16)
11. Jeff Arend, 249 (13/9)
12. Tony Bartone, 235 (16/17)
13. Jim Head, 231 (8/4)
14. Tim Wilkerson, 214 (15/15)
15. Gary Scelzi, 210 (6/3)
---PRO STOCK
_1. Allen Johnson, 476 (4/5)
_2. Dave Connolly, 471 (3/3)
_3. Jeg Coughlin, 426 (2/2)
_4. Greg Anderson, 417 (1/1)
_5. Kurt Johnson, 302 (6/6)
_6. Larry Morgan, 294 (8/10)
_7. Jason Line, 284 (5/4)
_8. Warren Johnson, 271 (7/8)
_9. Jim Yates, 272 (11/12)
10. Richie Stevens, 269 (10/9)
11. Kenny Koretsky, 229 (13/13)
12. Max Naylor, 214 (14/14)
13. V. Gaines, 212 (9/7)
14. Greg Stanfield, 208 (12/11)
15. Justin Humphreys, 187 (17/15)
---PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE (not quite as taxing on them because the bikes didn't compete at Bristol or Seattle)
_1. Matt Smith, 383 (1/1)
_2. Andrew Hines, 307 (3/4)
_3. Angelle Sampey, 284 (2/2)
_4. Chip Ellis, 243 (5/5)
_5. Craig Treble, 233 (6/7)
_6. Eddie Krawiec, 229 (10/12)
_7. Steve Johnson, 227 (7/10)
_8. Peggy Llewellyn, 191 (8/9)
_9. Antron Brown, 191 (11/11)
10. Karen Stoffer, 173 (4/3)
So each class has had winners and losers over the endurance period. Notice the absence of Ashley Force, who has only two round wins and two DNQs in the six races and basically fell off the map. It's OK; her dad has picked things up quite nicely.
UNSUNG RACER OF THE WEEK
Last weekend was the eighth and final event in the World of Outlaws sprint car series' SuperClean Summer of Money, with all races on a one- or two-day tape delay on ESPN2 (that is awesome TV coverage for any dirt track racing). Donny Schatz, the 2006 WoO champion, wound up with the points title and the bonus money; he also won the highest-paying race during that stretch, earning $50,000 in the annual Kings Royal July 14 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg OH.
But in the SuperClean finale at Beaver Dam WI, a Washington-born driver named Jason Solwold made the most of the last ESPN2 event by capturing his first career World of Outlaws win. Most impressive was probably the way Solwold avoided two huge pileups in the first few laps of the feature race.
The remaining handful of WoO races that will get TV coverage this year (except one) will be on a couple of weeks' tape-delay on the Speed Channel. But that one exception is this weekend, when Speed will have LIVE coverage of the Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa. That one is the race that all of sprint car racing revolves around, and it's Saturday night from about 9 p.m. to midnight Eastern.
If you only watch one race this weekend, it ought to be the Knoxville Nationals, no matter what Robby Gordon does.
