The Winston brings out the tempers

CONCORD, N.C. -- While red-hot Ryan Newman was driving into Victory Lane after his win in The Winston at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Saturday night, at least four other drivers were just hot under the collar.

Sterling Marlin and Ward Burton were the first to experience a rise in blood pressure when they got together on the 16th lap of the first 40-lap segment. It occurred when Marlin said he was motioning that he was headed to pit road, but Burton said he didn’t see the signal.

The end result was Marlin’s car spinning into the wall, a wreck which collected three other cars while Burton was able to continue.

“I couldn't tell if Sterling was trying to block me or if Sterling had a problem, but I pulled down low and he tried to block my line,” Burton said. “You cannot block in Winston Cup Racing. I don't give a damn who you are.

“Some of my guys told me he was having a problem. If he didn't have a problem, he was trying to block me. I was already there. I already had the momentum going. You just can't block. I was already making a move down low. I was racing him. “You can't signal a guy unless I'm behind him and have got position to see his signal. I'm a little bit ticked off.”

Marlin wasn’t exactly doing handsprings, either.

“I guess Ward (Burton) wanted to win more than we did,” Marlin said. “He just ran right into the back of us and turned us into the fence. It was a good car. We were going to bring it back next week.

“I don't know what Ward's problem was. I guess you'll have to ask him. We were minding our own business down the back straightaway and he just got against us and turned us head on into the fence. It was pretty uncalled for.

“We were a little loose on the start and then all of a sudden it started getting tight. We were going to pit. I had my hand out waving and I was still in the gas and Ward hit us in the rear."

During the second segment, Elliott Sadler's car spun and went into the Turn 2 wall. He was knocked out of the race, but didn’t suffer any injuries, except perhaps to his throwing arm.

After the car slid down the track, Sadler climbed from the wreckage and stood on the apron with helmet in hand. As the remaining field passed by under caution, Sadler began to point at the car of Ryan Newman, then hurled his helmet at what he believed to be the instigator of his accident.

“We don’t have the money and stuff to be tearing cars up like that,” Sadler said. “What made me mad was the way (Newman) pushed me all the way down the front straightaway, run me high and finally put me in the wall.

“I know it’s The Winston, but it’s 30 laps. Man, you can’t win it on the first one. Sorry, I apologize to my sponsors. But this is The Winston and I wanted to win.”

Another driver who wanted to win and looked like he might have had a fair shot at doing just that was Robby Gordon. During the final 20-lap segment, Gordon was running third.

Just as he went to make a move on Tony Stewart, the two cars touched. Right behind Gordon was a hard-charging Kurt Busch.

Busch got into the back of Gordon, which sent Gordon spinning down the backstretch. However, Gordon didn’t hit the wall and was able to pit and get four new tires.

“I’m sure there are some people who are mad and upset,” Gordon said. “But I’m a little upset with Kurt. But it’s racing you know.

“Tony got a little sideways, I checked up and (Busch) ran me over -- it’s pretty simple. I had a lot of fun and it was fun to be in The Winston.

“I was just a little disappointed with our finish. When I spun down the backstretch, we broke some side supports.”

After Gordon left pit road with new tires, he pulled alongside Busch under caution and seemed to lurk near his car for a few moments. Gordon also felt Stewart was slowing his progress when he was trying to make a pass.

“Yeah, Tony was holding me up for awhile,” Gordon said. “When I pulled alongside Busch under caution I was just telling him he was No. 1.”