Gordon, Rudd criticize track conditions at RIR

RICHMOND, Va. -- Many drivers in the Pontiac Excitement 400 field were displeased with a sealer put down on the Richmond International Raceway surface following the running of the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 last fall.

Ricky Rudd led 90 laps before crashing.

The sealer, which is used to add grip to the surface, is put down on the surface after every race season, according to track spokesman Keith Green.

For some reason, whether it was the rain doused the track throughout the weekend, or that the race was run in daylight for the first time in four years, or Goodyear's harder race tire, or poor application of the sealer, the drivers say it made for terrible racing conditions.

"They did a horrible job," said four-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon. "I don't know if they put too much or we just didn't get racing on it, but it was awful."

Ricky Rudd conferred.

Jeff Gordon goes around Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the way to a seventh-place finish.

"They took a great racetrack and screwed it up," Rudd said. "There was something about the sealer process they did that they didn't do right."

Gordon added that Richmond is a phenomenal facility -- one rarely mentioned in a negative light. Nonetheless, he was adamant that the sealer was the major cause of Sunday's record 14 cautions.

"This place typically has an outside groove, and inside groove, it's real wide and real racy, but with what they did to the sealer this time, and I don't know exactly what they did wrong, but it really messed up the track and it wasn't the type of track we're used to seeing.

"I hope they rethink it next time."