Robby
Gordon Versus NASCAR –Announcing the REAL Winner!
August 9, 2007
Jay Staton – SCR
Well, NASCAR took its
Busch Series to the Historic Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (I am not certain why, but it is paramount that the first word of this
racetrack is always "Historic") this past weekend and gave the Canadians a good old American race.
It was apparently a "Historic"
event as well, for as is customary, it was complete with absurd rulings by the sanctioning body, and childish behavior by
at least one competitor.
This week’s marketing
patsy, er, competitor, was Robby Gordon and the factual story is (quickly) as follows.
On a restart with four
laps to go Robby Gordon muscled his way by Marcos Ambrose. Shortly thereafter, another caution occurred, ironically caused
by eventual declared race winner Kevin Harvick. After the yellow flag was clearly seen waving on National TV, Ambrose made
contact with Robby Gordon, resulting in Gordon waiting on the sidelines while the field passed. Mr. Gordon was slated to start
13th by NASCAR, but instead simply decided to start in the second position, disposed of Ambrose, Gordon went on to lead the
field to the finish, without, of course, being scored. Mr. Gordon was then parked for Sunday’s Cup event, and subsequently
threatened with an "Indefinite Suspension".
NASCAR, of course, believes
that they "had" to black flag Gordon, "had" to park him on Sunday and "had" to issue further sanctions after the fact. In
reality, as is always the case, they had choices.
NASCAR could have stopped
the race when they were debating on whether to start Gordon in first, second, or 13th. It may have looked a little silly at
the time, but not nearly as ridiculous as penalizing a competitor that was sidelined while under caution. In fact, one of
the "rules" is no racing while under yellow. Of course, these are mere details when NASCAR not only writes the rules, but
week in and week out, seems to make decisions based on emotion rather than their own rules, apparently believing that they
are above them.
Regardless of the official
NASCAR position and penalty, even the most casual Molson consuming Formula One fan can figure out that they dropped the ball.
NASCAR as usual retains control, but loses respect in the process by competitors and fans alike. The litmus test is always
the following "Would the outcome have been the same if Dale Earnhardt Jr. was driving that car?" (Earnhardt, by the way, on
Sunday had a questionable single car spin that resulted in a caution that allowed him to change a shock, enabling him to finish
second).
SouthPark
fans (a group in which I am not particularly included) no doubt have learned to believe that somewhere Eric Cartman is in
the tower screaming "You must respect my author-it-TIE!" Seem ridiculous? Although admittedly taken out of context, when discussing
international racing Brian France said, "There’s a tendency for guys like me to pound their chest and say how great
we are, wherever we are."
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In order to gain National,
and just maybe International Credibility, the answer is simple–and not adhered to--week after week: Write the rules,
make them available to the media, and then follow them.
And then there is Robby
Gordon. Gordon is not only a good driver in everything from off road trucks to Indy cars to Cup cars, but he is also savvy
enough to own a one car team, fund it, and remain in the top 35 in the points race. But somehow, Robby has always been an
outsider, had his share of scrapes with both the other drivers and NASCAR, and possesses none of the petulant cuteness that
Tony Stewart has that endears him to fans even though they know he is frequently in the wrong.
More than one situation
has occurred along the way for me to be able to empathize with Robby Gordon, both with being "right", with making bad choices,
and with the same inevitable results.
However, Mr. Gordon is
still playing the Blame Game of "you/it/they/the car/etc. made me mad, and therefore made me do it" - thereby ensuring that
he absolutely will fail again in the future.
As mentioned earlier,
Mr. Gordon is extremely bright, and may have just fooled himself with the clever re-write of the above sentence: "I... still
feel I was put in a position by NASCAR to react the way I did." Translation: "They made me do it".
There is plenty of error
to go around, but perhaps the most absurd thing of all is that both camps absolutely believe that they are not responsible
for their actions, rather it is the other parties fault.
Empathize with either
NASCAR or Mr. Gordon? Recall a similar situation that the other party was equally convinced the "wrong" was your fault? Convinced
there was no other way?
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Perhaps there is something
to be gained from the example set by another competitor at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Saturday...Marcos Ambrose!
Marcos was leading a
black flagged Robby Gordon and correctly assumed that Gordon would spin him out as soon as possible–which he did. NASCAR
then did not throw a caution and remove Gordon from the track and reinstate Ambrose, but rather let the spectacle continue,
relegating Ambrose to a 7th place finish.
Clearly, Ambrose could
have bashed Gordon or even NASCAR, but instead said "I promised myself that I wouldn't get mad."--and he chose to follow through
on that promise.
Hopefully, the events
of this past weekend do not hurt Robby Gordon’s career.
But for sure, the other competitors,
NASCAR, sponsors, fans, and even Robby Gordon (who has offered a Cup ride) -- all now know the name Marcos Ambrose and respect
him as a class act that searched his heart and actually delivered...the Right Choice. Congratulations to the real winner at
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve–Marcos Ambrose!
2006 StockCar Review.
