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KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- It was only appropriate that a race defined by chaos and confusion ended with a heaping helping of both. As the final vestiges of daylight streamed over the grandstand at Kansas Speedway and the Nextel Cup cars at last crossed the finish line, the number 07 flashed to the top of the scoring monitor in Clint Bowyer's pit box. Black-clad crewmen whooped and traded high-fives in a celebration that lasted only until they noticed Greg Biffle's car being pushed toward Victory Lane.
"This is bulls---!" one exclaimed, as something was slammed to the ground. "We won the race!"
And with that erupted the kind of controversy NASCAR can't seem to get away from, another credibility issue for a sport that fights too many battles of that sort already. Greg Biffle was credited with a victory in Sunday's LifeLock 400, a much-needed win for a much-liked competitor trying to return to championship form. But he didn't cross the finish line first. That honor went to Bowyer, who passed Biffle under caution as the No. 16 car appeared to run out of gas. According to scoring monitors, Biffle actually placed fourth -- behind Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, and Casey Mears.
Bowyer's crewmen, remembering the Montreal Busch race where Robby Gordon was pinned deep in the field because he couldn't keep pace with the caution car once Marcos Ambrose spun him, believed their man the winner. So did many other competitors in the Nextel Cup garage. But Biffle was the driver out front when Juan Montoya shredded a tire with two laps remaining, when NASCAR officials determined that the twice-rain-delayed, twice-shortened event wouldn't go to a green-white-checkered finish because of impending darkness, and when the cars came around the final turn.
But then he slowed, he dropped to the bottom of the racetrack, and other cars went on by.
"Everybody was slowing down trying to figure out what he was doing," said Jeff Gordon, who finished fifth. "We were almost at a stop to run his pace, and the pace car was driving away, so we all just starting going by him. So in my opinion, he's not the winner of that race."
Johnson, credited with a third-place finish, agreed. "If you don't maintain pace-car speed, you don't hold your position," he said. "And it was clear to everyone that he couldn't do it. If he could have, he would have stayed on the bumper of the pace car to the finish line. So in my opinion, where he coasted across the finish line relative to the other cars that could maintain pit-road speed is where he should finish."
With point margins so narrowed by the Chase for the Nextel Cup -- only 14 points now separate leaders Johnson, Gordon, and Bowyer -- every position matters. Which is why Richard Childress Racing owner Richard Childress and general manager Mike Dillon were in the NASCAR hauler after the race, arguing their case to series officials even as Biffle's team sprayed celebratory champagne.
"They didn't maintain pace with the pace car," said Gil Martin, Bowyer's crew chief. "We did, the 48 [car of Johnson] did. The 48 should be credited with second place right here. I mean, it's all about the points right now. I know they've got Victory Lane going on and everything, and nobody wants to see this controversy at the end. But I didn't want to see the race restarted after it rained, and I didn't want to see an open pit road when it was wet. I didn't want to see any of that stuff. But the rules are the rules. They've been that way. That's how I understand them. If that's not the case, then they'll come explain to me that that's not the case, and we'll see."
Minutes later, Childress emerged from within the NASCAR truck. "They thought [Biffle] maintained a reasonable speed crossing the finish line.," he said. "It's their call. And Greg had it won if they hadn't run out of gas. They make a call. You've got to live with it."
It was an evening marked by confusion and misinterpretation. The moment Biffle slowed and dropped to the bottom of the racetrack, everyone at Kansas Speedway assumed he had run out of gas. But according to the winner, that wasn't the case. Yes, the tank was low -- but not empty. Because of the track's tri-oval banking, Biffle said, his fuel pickup wasn't getting enough gas. He was trying to save his last few drops. After his first victory since this past November, he wanted to do a burnout.
"I can go start the car up and do some burnouts in the garage over here, do some doughnuts if that will make everybody feel better about it," Biffle said. "I don't know what to say."
But it was Bowyer who received a congratulatory handshake from Gordon after the race. "That's your winner right there," agreed Johnson, motioning to Bowyer, seated next to him in the media interview room. Among the NASCAR press corps, there was exasperation. How could NASCAR reset Robby Gordon so deep in the field at Montreal, and then not penalize Biffle for seemingly the same offense? How could the same rule be applied in two different ways?
Because, as with many things in NASCAR, the rule is flexible. Maintaining pace, evidently, does not mean rolling at the same speed as the 55 mph caution car. It's something for officials up in the tower to decide. And unlike Montreal -- where Robby Gordon was stopped because of contact -- Biffle was still moving. In the eyes of race control, with the field supposedly frozen, that was enough.
"Robby was involved in an accident, so it was about getting back in line and maintaining that line," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. "The 16 wasn't involved in an accident. He was maintaining his pace. That's the end of the story. The caution was out, and he was maintaining his pace. Robby, if you remember, couldn't bleed back in. In this case, the 16 maintained his pace and won the race. When the caution comes out, the field is frozen. There's no passing as long as he maintains that pace, and he did."
That's news to almost everyone in the garage area, who in the wake of Montreal believed the caution car speed to be the standard that had to be met. "This might be one of those things where everybody's just assumed that that's the rule forever," Martin said. "But if it is, there are a lot of people in this garage area who assume that you have to keep pace with the pace car."
Truthfully, that's not a surprise. NASCAR is an entity that has rules piled upon rules, many of them written in language that would stymie a tax attorney. It's a sport where everything, even something that seems cast in bedrock, can be twisted into a judgment call. It's a series where the target doesn't move, it's tossed around like a Frisbee. It's a sport where even the competitors are hazy on the statutes that govern them. It's a strange world where the winner of the race can be the guy who, according to the scoring system, crossed the line fourth.
It all leads to nights like Sunday, when drivers and owners and crew chiefs were all apparently operating under a false sense of beliefs. A sport based on judgment calls fosters that type of environment. And it makes it only a matter of time before the next credibility crisis arises.
Nascar.com
"This is bulls---!" one exclaimed, as something was slammed to the ground. "We won the race!"
And with that erupted the kind of controversy NASCAR can't seem to get away from, another credibility issue for a sport that fights too many battles of that sort already. Greg Biffle was credited with a victory in Sunday's LifeLock 400, a much-needed win for a much-liked competitor trying to return to championship form. But he didn't cross the finish line first. That honor went to Bowyer, who passed Biffle under caution as the No. 16 car appeared to run out of gas. According to scoring monitors, Biffle actually placed fourth -- behind Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, and Casey Mears.
Bowyer's crewmen, remembering the Montreal Busch race where Robby Gordon was pinned deep in the field because he couldn't keep pace with the caution car once Marcos Ambrose spun him, believed their man the winner. So did many other competitors in the Nextel Cup garage. But Biffle was the driver out front when Juan Montoya shredded a tire with two laps remaining, when NASCAR officials determined that the twice-rain-delayed, twice-shortened event wouldn't go to a green-white-checkered finish because of impending darkness, and when the cars came around the final turn.
But then he slowed, he dropped to the bottom of the racetrack, and other cars went on by.
"Everybody was slowing down trying to figure out what he was doing," said Jeff Gordon, who finished fifth. "We were almost at a stop to run his pace, and the pace car was driving away, so we all just starting going by him. So in my opinion, he's not the winner of that race."
Johnson, credited with a third-place finish, agreed. "If you don't maintain pace-car speed, you don't hold your position," he said. "And it was clear to everyone that he couldn't do it. If he could have, he would have stayed on the bumper of the pace car to the finish line. So in my opinion, where he coasted across the finish line relative to the other cars that could maintain pit-road speed is where he should finish."
With point margins so narrowed by the Chase for the Nextel Cup -- only 14 points now separate leaders Johnson, Gordon, and Bowyer -- every position matters. Which is why Richard Childress Racing owner Richard Childress and general manager Mike Dillon were in the NASCAR hauler after the race, arguing their case to series officials even as Biffle's team sprayed celebratory champagne.
"They didn't maintain pace with the pace car," said Gil Martin, Bowyer's crew chief. "We did, the 48 [car of Johnson] did. The 48 should be credited with second place right here. I mean, it's all about the points right now. I know they've got Victory Lane going on and everything, and nobody wants to see this controversy at the end. But I didn't want to see the race restarted after it rained, and I didn't want to see an open pit road when it was wet. I didn't want to see any of that stuff. But the rules are the rules. They've been that way. That's how I understand them. If that's not the case, then they'll come explain to me that that's not the case, and we'll see."
Minutes later, Childress emerged from within the NASCAR truck. "They thought [Biffle] maintained a reasonable speed crossing the finish line.," he said. "It's their call. And Greg had it won if they hadn't run out of gas. They make a call. You've got to live with it."
It was an evening marked by confusion and misinterpretation. The moment Biffle slowed and dropped to the bottom of the racetrack, everyone at Kansas Speedway assumed he had run out of gas. But according to the winner, that wasn't the case. Yes, the tank was low -- but not empty. Because of the track's tri-oval banking, Biffle said, his fuel pickup wasn't getting enough gas. He was trying to save his last few drops. After his first victory since this past November, he wanted to do a burnout.
"I can go start the car up and do some burnouts in the garage over here, do some doughnuts if that will make everybody feel better about it," Biffle said. "I don't know what to say."
But it was Bowyer who received a congratulatory handshake from Gordon after the race. "That's your winner right there," agreed Johnson, motioning to Bowyer, seated next to him in the media interview room. Among the NASCAR press corps, there was exasperation. How could NASCAR reset Robby Gordon so deep in the field at Montreal, and then not penalize Biffle for seemingly the same offense? How could the same rule be applied in two different ways?
Because, as with many things in NASCAR, the rule is flexible. Maintaining pace, evidently, does not mean rolling at the same speed as the 55 mph caution car. It's something for officials up in the tower to decide. And unlike Montreal -- where Robby Gordon was stopped because of contact -- Biffle was still moving. In the eyes of race control, with the field supposedly frozen, that was enough.
"Robby was involved in an accident, so it was about getting back in line and maintaining that line," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. "The 16 wasn't involved in an accident. He was maintaining his pace. That's the end of the story. The caution was out, and he was maintaining his pace. Robby, if you remember, couldn't bleed back in. In this case, the 16 maintained his pace and won the race. When the caution comes out, the field is frozen. There's no passing as long as he maintains that pace, and he did."
That's news to almost everyone in the garage area, who in the wake of Montreal believed the caution car speed to be the standard that had to be met. "This might be one of those things where everybody's just assumed that that's the rule forever," Martin said. "But if it is, there are a lot of people in this garage area who assume that you have to keep pace with the pace car."
Truthfully, that's not a surprise. NASCAR is an entity that has rules piled upon rules, many of them written in language that would stymie a tax attorney. It's a sport where everything, even something that seems cast in bedrock, can be twisted into a judgment call. It's a series where the target doesn't move, it's tossed around like a Frisbee. It's a sport where even the competitors are hazy on the statutes that govern them. It's a strange world where the winner of the race can be the guy who, according to the scoring system, crossed the line fourth.
It all leads to nights like Sunday, when drivers and owners and crew chiefs were all apparently operating under a false sense of beliefs. A sport based on judgment calls fosters that type of environment. And it makes it only a matter of time before the next credibility crisis arises.
Nascar.com
