Jeff Gordon's $100,000 fine is way over-the-top

NASCAR usually hands down penalties for infractions on Tuesday but was quick and decisive this week after that post-Sprint Cup race drama at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday in which the pit crews of Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon engaged in fisticuffs.

Gordon triggered the brawling by delivering a little “payback” to Bowyer and crashing them both out of the race. Gordon then went to the garage area where words were exchanged with members of Bowyer’s crew and the fight was on.

Gordon is just a little guy and was hustled away from the scrum by other team members. Bowyer heard about the fight and went running from his car to join in although, when he arrived on the scene, he didn't seem all that anxious to trade any punches.

(An aside: everybody has been talking about how full of energy Bowyer was to go running several hundred yards at full speed. I say bosh to that: he’s a young professional athlete in peak condition and his sprint was no big deal. The person I was astounded by was the camerman who chased after Bowyer the whole way and managed to keep the driver in the centre of his camera's frame. That was impressive. Even if it was a camera on a golf cart, it was terrific TV. But I digress. . .)

I wrote in Sunday night's blog entry that I didn’t consider this to be any big deal and I would be surprised if NASCAR punished either of the drivers. Others disagreed and there were calls everywhere for Gordon’s head.

It turns out I misread the situation - although I don't agree at all with what NASCAR has done.

On Monday, NASCAR fined Gordon $100,000 for intentionally wrecking Bowyer. He was docked 25 points and put on probation till the end of the year. It also penalized his boss, Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick, 25 owner points and put his crew chief, Alan Gustafson, on probation until Dec. 31. Bowyer's crew chief Brian Pattie was fined $25,000 and put on probation.

Now, it was no secret that Gordon was “laying in wait” for Bowyer to come around and Bowyer had been warned about this by his own crew. So why did he try to pass Gordon low and on the inside between turns 3 and 4 when he knew precisely what would happen - that Gordon would turn into him and try to wreck him?

On the other hand, I still don’t know what got Gordon so riled up in the first place. Their little collision several laps earlier looked to me to be just one of them racin’ deals.

Although $100,000 is small change to a multi-millionaire like Gordon, it was still an over-the-top penalty and NASCAR's inconsistency in this area is going to backfire on it one of these days.

One moment, NASCAR says "have at it, boys." Then, when somebody "has at it," it goes crazy and fines a guy $100,000 for something that happens all the time in every race. Repeat: all the time in every race. Nobody got hurt and it's too bad that Joey Logano got caught up in the wreck but that's something that happens all the time in every race too.

I don't believe for a second that Jeff Gordon tried to do anything other than to knock Clint Bowyer out of the race on Sunday. He did not do what Carl Edwards did two years ago to Brad Keselowski when he deliberately sent him flying through the air at 190 miles an hour. Edwards then drove the wrong way along pit road after he was black-flagged. For those much more serious transgressions, he received probation for three races. No suspension, no financial penalty, no nothing and yet, in my mind, his actions were much more dangerous and severe than anything Jeff Gordon did on Sunday.

Meantime, SPEED Channel is making hay while the sun shines with this one, promising "never-before-aired footage" from “inside the brawl” that it plans to broadcast Thursday night at 7 p.m. as part of a one-hour special about Michael Waltrip’s racing team.

Now, I’m one of those people who likes tradin’ paint and rubbin’ and racin’ and all those things that make stock car racing great but who draws the line at fighting. I like hockey, too, but I don’t see any reason why they still allow fighting in that sport either.

I have a friend who disagrees with me. His name is Bob Winegar and he’s a pretty good writer. He sent me this note early Monday morning. I publish it here as part of my never-ending quest to present all sides of a story, whether I agree with it or not.

Wrote Bob:

The NASCAR race in Phoenix yesterday had everything the sport has been begging for ever since Cale Yarborough-Bobby Allison or the antics of the Intimidator, Dale Earnhardt Sr.

The tall foreheads who run racing, whether it be NASCAR, F1 or IndyCar, seem to think that shiny cars, faster speeds, longer tracks or articulate drivers who give long-winded, plausible excuses for poor performance are the answer to enlightened entertainment, but the fans spoke yesterday, responding in cheers that haven't been heard around ovals for years, when Clint Bowyer took off like Usain Bolt, sprinting through the pits looking for Jeff Gordon in order to physically suggest that he stop wrecking him.

Stock car racing is not an intellectual pursuit, even though Mr. Bland Jimmie Johnson -  he with the high IQ and low anger profile - may think otherwise. It's blue collar, derived from guys who were plumbers or construction workers or delivery guys who got together once a week to put the pedal to the metal and get the frustration of working for The Man out of their system - and if somebody's nose had to be altered in the pits in order to make a point, such as was often the case at the CNE or Flamboro Speedways in the early 60s, then so be it. Which was one of the reasons why attendance figures of 15,000 at the CNE and 6,000 at Flamboro were the norm.

Now many oval tracks are on life support. No fighting, few wrecks and nice, polite drivers who say, "After you, Alphonse."

And no attendance.

So it's hats off to baser instincts, who gave us - the mere fan - something to cheer about yesterday. Like the old days. And to the starter who, like they used to do at Pinecrest Speedway, "let 'em all go" even though poor Danica got it in the rear!

Thanks, Jeff and Clint, for reminding us that it's not the shiny car but the hammerhead behind the wheel who's made stock car racing the great sport it is!

Comments

[I luv chicken]

Norris, once again, you've hit the nail on the head.This was great Monday morning water cooler stuff. Normal reaction around here is that we either watched the race, or not.
This week, there were extended discussions about who did what to whom, the great camera work, who was at fault ( either you love Jeff Gordon, or hate him), what the penalties would be, NASCAR's apparent disregard for the safety of drivers(Patrick's spin and no caution flag).
This is exactly what's been missing in the COT era of sterile NASCAR racing.

[Adam]

NASCAR has been inconsistent with dishing out penalties.
Gordon deserves this penalty because of the collateral damage he has caused (Logano, Armirola).
What is over the top is Keselovski fined 25,000 dollars for keeping a cellphone(!) in the race car.
This is supposed to be SPRINT Cup and promo to the series title sponsor!!! Hallo!!..
Now: weigh $25,000 for the cellphone and $100,000 for intentionally wrecking and involving four cars, endangering lives! This is madness from NASCAR!
How about not throwing the yellow after Patrick dumping oil all over the corner?! Pemberton says they did not see it!! Really professional...:-(

[Another Norm]

Sorry, have to agree to disagree on this one. Over the top? I'd say Kes being dinged 25,000 for a cell phone qualifies. 100,000 for intentionally taking out a championship contender after ignoring a black flag, collecting innocent bystanders, and almost collecting the current points leader (coincidentally in a battle with his teammate driving a car the he has ownership in)? Chump change for Rick and Jeff. Jeffy was under the spell of the red mist. Already ticked off at Boyer, then wrecking himself while unsuccessfully trying to wreck Clint, his clouded judgement put others at risk and may have effected the championship. I've been watching this sport for a long time and while he is a lock to be a Hall of Famer, Jeff is not the choirboy that he pretends to be. He's wrecked plenty of others on the way to victory lane throughout his career and usually started his victory lane speach with "I didn't mean to get into him like that" or "I really hate that I ruined their day". (rant over) In retrospect, it now appears that it's Kyle that got screwed (and I'm no Kyle fan). NA$CAR set the standard by suspending Kyle, but their ever flexible interpretation/enforcemet of their own rules stikes again. We all knew nothing of consequence would happen to Jeff/Rick and company. Maybe that's why there is nobody in the stands.
Cheers,
Another Norm.

[Jones]

I'm not sure why it's a mystery as to Bowyer turning under Gordon's car - he knew if he tried to go round the outside Jeff would punt him into the wall. Turns out Jeff was able to do it anyway.

I thought what Jeff did was stupid, and also unfairly took out Logano and the 43 car(?). Totally deserved a fine, and perhaps even a suspension to put the message across to the other even more hotheaded drivers. Watching two pit crews brawl with each other was entertaining to begin with, but quickly becomes pretty embarassing to witness. I can understand Gordon losing his temper, even if it's a stupid thing to do. But the crew behind the pit wall should be calming things down rather than joining in.

Imagine if the 2 car had been involved, what with the 24 and the 48 more than just team mates (doesn't Jeff own the 48?) - imagine how damaging that conspiracy would have been to the sport.

[Moe Foe]

You are so wrong. The car should NEVER be used as a weapon. What Jeff did is exactly what he complains about all the time. It's one thing to bump a guy to show your displeasure, but to lie in wait, after crashing your own self out, is the equivalent of a football player beat his opponent with his helmet, or a B-baller grabbing a chair to discuss the issue, or a steriod-laced shortstop going into the other dugout with a bat. None of those will be playing soon, and neither should Gordon. He was over the line. Using your car as a weapon is an assault and should never be tolerated.

[Dwayne D]

Right on Moe Foe. We can go on and on about how this is going to effect TV ratings and so on but at the end of the day Gordon used a 3500 pund stock car as a wepon and should parked for a very long time and fined at least 250,000. Norris if someone did this at Oswego what would happen to him? I promise you they would not be racing there again for a very long time.

[Victor fryer]

Thanks Jeff for making my day. I would have too gone after Boyer