Last Lap: The Gordon vs. Gordon soap opera

I can hear it now:

"Welcome to Daytona International Speedway for tonight's Pepsi 400. Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives..."

	Marty Smith

By now you've all read and formed an opinion on the soap opera script surrounding Robby Gordon's perfectly legal -- and equally disrespectful -- pass of Kevin Harvick under caution at Sonoma, and the verbal lashing courtesy of Jeff Gordon that ensued.

But before we get to your feedback on the matter, I'd first like to describe precisely the events that lead up to Gordon's decision as I saw them:

Were it not for a tip from a buddy that NASCAR might announce an addition to the rulebook, I wouldn't have attended the Winston Cup Series driver's meeting Sunday morning at Infineon Raceway.

Be it racing rules or breath mints, I am fortunate to have friends willing to drop hints.

So there I stood, clinging to the back wall of a small room in the garage area, watching intently as Robby Gordon strolled into the cramped space and shared a chuckle with Harvick and crew chief Todd Berrier just before seating himself in the row ahead of them.

After a few minutes, Winston Cup managing event director David Hoots began the customary rundown of procedural intricacies at that particular track: pit road speed, the specific times of driver introductions, the invocation, National Anthem, when to remove the generators from the cars and when the gates open at the following week's event, who is to receive the previous week's contingency awards, the number of laps/miles of the pending event and number of pace laps to be run.

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And then there's caution-period conduct, which has become the hottest competition-related topic in the garage.

As Hoots went over this, Gordon's face screamed perplexity. He asked and questioned and asked again the proper procedure under the yellow flag at the 11-turn road course.

To clear things up a bit, Mike Helton stepped up to the microphone and explained that passing under a local caution is fine, and that under a full-course caution drivers should honor the "gentlemen's agreement" not to race back to the caution flag.

Though racing back to the start/finish line when the caution waves is not illegal, it is considered unethical. Helton said "there is no gentleman's agreement" and "this is not a new gig, this is the same deal we've done before."

Still seemingly confused, Gordon said he'd never heard the rules interpreted that way before, to which Helton quickly shot back, "Well, you're getting up to speed now."

He was at speed in Turn 11 on lap 71, when he passed teammate Harvick under the full-course caution - a decision that ultimately landed Gordon a second career Winston Cup victory.

Harvick, who wound up finishing third, called the move "chicken" following the race -- a reserved comment from the oft-vocal driver. (Much more on that later.) But runner-up Jeff Gordon took up the slack for him, and then some.

"I'll comment for him," Jeff Gordon said. "That's a bunch of crap, right there. Anybody who races back under caution like that, I don't know where his mind is. What he did, especially to his teammate, is absolutely ridiculous."

	Robby Gordon

One Gordon says he won fair and square, get over it. The other says no one will respect the victory. Which Gordon do you agree with and why?

There's two distinct ways to look at this. On one hand you have a 34-year old driver whose chances at victory are few and far between and would and should do most anything possible to hoist the trophy.

On the other, you have a driver flying the bird to loyalty among teammates.

That's my problem, here. How Robby Gordon passed doesn't bother me in the least. It's whom he passed. If it were any driver other than Harvick or Steve Park, pass them each and every one. Every time. Caution flag be damned.

But it was Harvick. That's the issue, in my mind. Hence, I'm siding with Jeff Gordon on this one.

Under green it's different. There is no loyalty under green. This was under caution, past a teammate who said he had his hand out the window informing Gordon he was slowing to take the yellow.

Robby Gordon had the best car on the racetrack Sunday, and there were 40 laps left. Sure, passing at Sonoma is hard , but with patience, Robby Gordon would have eventually passed Harvick.

Jeff Gordon passed several cars in the late stages. Rest assured, Robby would have, too.

dicktrickle: Apparently the only thing most of you have raced is on Nintendo. There have always been "unwritten" rules of racing.

These rules are enforced by the drivers, oftentimes more so than the "official rules." Passing under caution is one of them.

What was said in the drivers meeting was that under a "local" yellow you could race back. Under a full course caution, the gentleman's agreement applies.

The drivers will enforce this rule. Robby will get spun out, one of them racing deals. Happens every day. (Jeff) Gordon was the only driver who voiced his opinion.

Ol' Dick's obviously been around a while. You can bet this will come back to bite Robby Gordon at some point before the year is over.

If Jimmy Spencer doesn't forget, Harvick is a human palm pilot.

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This guy takes the "screw me once, shame on you; screw me twice, shame on me" adage straight to heart.

And this is just the latest installment in a volatile history between these two drivers.

Richard Childress will likely sit these boys and down and try to work it out.

Won't happen.

Robby Gordon may never get a lap back again in races where Harvick is the leader.

31beats24: Who gives a $@*# about what any of the fans say? I don't care who you support; the facts are the facts.

	Jeff Gordon

Where to begin with this guy? I had to cut out the parts of his response that included Jeff Gordon's divorce, his fans and potential sponsors.

Two good points were made, here: First, that racing back to the yellow is perfectly legal and that many folks - including competitors - side with Robby on this matter.

Wins aren't easy to come by in today's Winston Cup Series, so take them any way you can get them. I'd accept that wholeheartedly if it were A. Anyone but a teammate or B. under green flag conditions.

Nascargirl24: Robby Gordon is one driver who is always in some kind of controversy. His reputation as a rough racer still continues.

The "gentleman's agreement" is a courtesy agreement, plus safety. That's a main reason why they don't race back to the caution, safety.

I don't find it acceptable that Robby Gordon passed Kevin Harvick on the way to the flag.

Jeff Gordon has done it before, and I don't agree with anyone who does it. And this coming from a Jeff Gordon fan.

These two drivers have gotten into it before, remember Loudon. They seem to have something out for one another, a chip on their shoulders. And Jeff Gordon spoke his mind about this incident, and I agree with him.

To me, this particular instance doesn't have as much to do with safety as it does loyalty. Robby Gordon's pass of Harvick occurred right in front of the spotter stand, so potential disaster would likely be averted, though I do agree with Shawna Robinson that racing hell-bent back to the yellow is quite dangerous.

829fan: If what Mike Helton said at the driver's meeting is true, you race back to the yelloe flag and Robby is correct.

A "gentleman's agreement" may exist but it is not set in stone. This is a race, which means the first one to the finish line wins.

Given that there are not many places to pass, Robby did what he could to put himself in position to win.

If Harvick would have cut a tire going to the yellow and had to slow down, would that mean that Robby should slow down as well to honor the gentlemen's agreement? No, he or anyone else would have went right by and taken the lead.

What really is odd is that the only driver who should be saying something is Kevin Harvick, yet we have not heard a word.

Harvick is one of my favorite drivers (along with Junior) but I saw nothing wrong. They were racing like they should be doing. Instead, all we hear is Jeff Gordon (not to mention all of his fans) crying about it.

Jeff had the last 10 laps to do something to win the race, but he could not do it. If Jeff would have passed Robby and won the race, they would all have kept their mouths shut.

But since Jeff didn't get it done., out come the crying towels. Like it or not, Robby made a move that he needed to help him win.

It was his decision. And he will have to live with the consequences. He may find himself in the lead going to a yellow flag and someone may pass him and take that lead away. If it happens, he has to live with it.

He may find himself in the lead going to the yellow flag and end up in the wall, too.

Good point: that if Jeff was able to pass Robby, I wouldn't be writing this right now. Bad point: that if Harvick had a tire going down it would be comparable. That's Absurd. Comparing a hobbled car to potentially victorious one is laughable.

24J: I think Robby is a menace to WC racing. He had no business racing back to the caution with a third of the race left to complete.

What was he thinking? Oh I forgot, he doesn't know how to think at all. Not only did he violate the gentlemen's agreement, he did it to his own teammate.

While the rule says you can race back to the yellow, every driver out there knows that it can be dangerous and unless you are going for you lap back or for the win, you hold your position. Do you really think that Kevin was outrun by Robbie back to the yellow?

Kevin knew the yellow was out and was calmly racing to it, while Robby decided the hell with everyone else, I want the lead, come what may.

His lack of concern for the safety of the other drivers is why he will never be accepted in Winston/Nextel Cup. I say send him to the trailer and let him play with his Playstation where he can't hurt anyone.

I got many similar responses after Jeff Gordon passed Matt Kenseth under caution at Texas in an effort to keep competitors a lap down.

One Winston Cup driver told me Tuesday morning the entire gentleman's agreement fiasco was triggered right then and there. One thing is for sure, an agreement that was once fickle is bordering on non-existent.

gypsy: Well if both were at the drivers meeting and Robby did ask 3 times to have the rule clarified so there could be no question if it came up later, I would have to agree with him. it would seem to me that the one person who should be upset with Robby Gordon would be Kevin Harvick.

For the record, he is. Harvick released this statement Tuesday morning:

	Kevin Harvick

"I chose to reserve my comments yesterday after the race to give myself a cooling down period. I wanted to make sure the reason I was upset wasn't misunderstood or misinterpreted.

"The fact that we finished third doesn't bother me at all. I'm very proud of all my guys on the 29 car. They gave me an awesome car and had great stops all day. I did everything I could to put them where they deserved to be -- in victory lane.

"This isn't about anyone breaking a NASCAR rule, because it was made clear in the driver's meeting that you could pass under yellow. But, it was a cheap move on Robby's part. I had my hand out the window, to let him know I was checking up. Then I saw him coming, and coming fast.

"There's an unspoken code we all follow as race car drivers. You race hard under green, but you also have a mutual respect for each other. Robby didn't show that respect. I enjoy racing hard and beating and banging and I would have accepted it if he had raced me hard for the win under the green flag.

"His (Robby's) post-race comments were an embarrassment. He should care what a four-time Winston Cup champion thinks about him.

"This isn't about the 29 team or the 31 team, and it's not about RCR. It's about me and Robby. This dates back a few years and he's shown how he wants to race me. I promise I'm going to race him like he wants it from now on -- teammates or not."

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives...