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Skill won race, not cheating
June 23, 2003
By LOWELL COHN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
SONOMA
You rarely see Jeff Gordon act like a spoiled baby. It's unusual for him to throw a hissy fit, and moan and whine so loudly you want to toss him a pacifier. But that's exactly what he needed after Sunday's Dodge/Save Mart 350 -- the biggest pacifier in the known world.
By now, you've probably heard what happened. Robby Gordon, who won the race, passed his teammate Kevin Harvick during a caution flag on Lap 71. Jeff Gordon, who came in second, was deeply offended by the move, even though Harvick and Robby Gordon are teammates, even though what happened between teammates is none of Jeff Gordon's business, even though the maneuver did not give Robby Gordon the lead.
How do we know Jeff was offended? Simple. He couldn't shut his mouth during the post-race press conference. He kept saying he wanted to change the subject from Robby Gordon and the infamous yellow-flag pass, but he kept returning to it. So get a load of what he said. He called what Robby did "a bunch of crap." He said it was "ridiculous." And that was merely the polite stuff.
He sarcastically said Robby drove better during yellows than greens, and he also said, "Robby became an animal as soon as that caution came out." At one point, he said what Robby did "doesn't surprise me." When someone asked why, Jeff replied, "I'll keep those comments to myself." He was obviously making a reference to Robby's character, which he doesn't seem to like.
Finally, Jeff came up with the clincher. "Really," he said, "that's what won (Robby) the race." In other words, according to Jeff, Robby is a cheater who wouldn't have won without bending the rules.
That's a pretty serious accusation. It's about the worst thing you can say about a NASCAR driver. So let's be clear about this. In a pre-race drivers' meeting, Robby asked if drivers could pass on yellow flags. Three times, officials told him yes, provided they had not yet passed the start-finish line.
"Jeff Gordon sat in the same drivers' meeting as I did," Robby said later. "They said under a waving yellow flag you can race back to the line. I can't help it that I understood exactly what the rules are and took advantage of it."
You also should understand no official penalized Robby or scolded him or told him to stand in the corner. As far as NASCAR is concerned, he won fair and square. But it's more than that. Robby led for 81 of 110 laps, so he hardly won by a fluke. The controversial act occurred with 39 laps to go. That gave Jeff enough opportunity to catch Robby and pass him and win the race and be a hero.
But Jeff couldn't pass him. For 18 laps he followed Robby, hung on Robby's rear bumper like an evil shadow. Robby didn't crack. He had the skill and the nerve to hold off Jeff's challenge -- the challenge of maybe the most opportunistic driver on the circuit. He won the race because of a great finish, not because of cheating.
After Jeff was done bellyaching, Robby came to the interview room. He was in a great mood -- heck, it was only his second NASCAR victory. But the subject quickly changed from victory to cheating, and then Robby got hot. When reporters told him what Jeff had said, he shot back, "Do you really think I care what Jeff Gordon says? I don't know why he's so sore. Let's not talk bull**** here. He's won so many races, I guess he doesn't like it when someone comes and rains on his parade."
In other words, Jeff is so spoiled, he expects to win. Thinks it's his divine right.
Then came the key moment. Someone reminded Robby of something Jeff had said, that if someone passed him on a yellow, "We'd have a little discussion somewhere." Robby's face reddened. "He's not big enough to have a discussion with me," Robby said.
It had something to do with kicking the other guy's butt. Who could be offended by the sentiment?
Contact Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at 521-5486 or [email protected].
June 23, 2003
By LOWELL COHN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
SONOMA
You rarely see Jeff Gordon act like a spoiled baby. It's unusual for him to throw a hissy fit, and moan and whine so loudly you want to toss him a pacifier. But that's exactly what he needed after Sunday's Dodge/Save Mart 350 -- the biggest pacifier in the known world.
By now, you've probably heard what happened. Robby Gordon, who won the race, passed his teammate Kevin Harvick during a caution flag on Lap 71. Jeff Gordon, who came in second, was deeply offended by the move, even though Harvick and Robby Gordon are teammates, even though what happened between teammates is none of Jeff Gordon's business, even though the maneuver did not give Robby Gordon the lead.
How do we know Jeff was offended? Simple. He couldn't shut his mouth during the post-race press conference. He kept saying he wanted to change the subject from Robby Gordon and the infamous yellow-flag pass, but he kept returning to it. So get a load of what he said. He called what Robby did "a bunch of crap." He said it was "ridiculous." And that was merely the polite stuff.
He sarcastically said Robby drove better during yellows than greens, and he also said, "Robby became an animal as soon as that caution came out." At one point, he said what Robby did "doesn't surprise me." When someone asked why, Jeff replied, "I'll keep those comments to myself." He was obviously making a reference to Robby's character, which he doesn't seem to like.
Finally, Jeff came up with the clincher. "Really," he said, "that's what won (Robby) the race." In other words, according to Jeff, Robby is a cheater who wouldn't have won without bending the rules.
That's a pretty serious accusation. It's about the worst thing you can say about a NASCAR driver. So let's be clear about this. In a pre-race drivers' meeting, Robby asked if drivers could pass on yellow flags. Three times, officials told him yes, provided they had not yet passed the start-finish line.
"Jeff Gordon sat in the same drivers' meeting as I did," Robby said later. "They said under a waving yellow flag you can race back to the line. I can't help it that I understood exactly what the rules are and took advantage of it."
You also should understand no official penalized Robby or scolded him or told him to stand in the corner. As far as NASCAR is concerned, he won fair and square. But it's more than that. Robby led for 81 of 110 laps, so he hardly won by a fluke. The controversial act occurred with 39 laps to go. That gave Jeff enough opportunity to catch Robby and pass him and win the race and be a hero.
But Jeff couldn't pass him. For 18 laps he followed Robby, hung on Robby's rear bumper like an evil shadow. Robby didn't crack. He had the skill and the nerve to hold off Jeff's challenge -- the challenge of maybe the most opportunistic driver on the circuit. He won the race because of a great finish, not because of cheating.
After Jeff was done bellyaching, Robby came to the interview room. He was in a great mood -- heck, it was only his second NASCAR victory. But the subject quickly changed from victory to cheating, and then Robby got hot. When reporters told him what Jeff had said, he shot back, "Do you really think I care what Jeff Gordon says? I don't know why he's so sore. Let's not talk bull**** here. He's won so many races, I guess he doesn't like it when someone comes and rains on his parade."
In other words, Jeff is so spoiled, he expects to win. Thinks it's his divine right.
Then came the key moment. Someone reminded Robby of something Jeff had said, that if someone passed him on a yellow, "We'd have a little discussion somewhere." Robby's face reddened. "He's not big enough to have a discussion with me," Robby said.
It had something to do with kicking the other guy's butt. Who could be offended by the sentiment?
Contact Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at 521-5486 or [email protected].
had to say. after listening to it I had to replay it because I thought I didn't hear him correctly, but I did. 
Jeff just couldn't get close enough to "RUB" him. Altho i'm not a fan of Robby, he did run a good race.
