Jeff Burton was the most outspoken about last weekend's debris caution that resulted in a fine and loss of points for Robby Gordon. Credit: Autostock

NASCAR black flags intentional cautions

Drivers say Gordon's penalties will act as deterrent

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Terry Labonte jokingly said on Friday he will throw a piece of roll bar padding from his car to bring out a caution during Sunday's Nextel Cup Race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Why not?

	At Atlanta, what came out of Robby Gordon's window was the center of controversy. Credit: Autostock
	DEBRIS CAUTION Robby Gordon denied throwing roll-bar padding out his window to force a caution at Atlanta. But that didn't calm Jeff Burton.  •   Complete story, click here FrustratedJeff Burton was unhappy after his 13th-place finish Debris on track?Robby Gordon defended himself from debris throwing Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

It's the final race of his career and any points penalty can't hurt him.

But such matters aren't a joke to NASCAR, which this past week docked Robby Gordon 50 driver points, 50 owner points and fined him $15,000 for throwing a piece of foam padding from his car last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The move got Gordon back on the lead lap and helped him to a 10th-place finish, and possibly cost championship contenders Jeff Burton and Mark Martin valuable positions.

The penalty sent a message to the rest of the garage that such antics that have been a part of stock car racing's premier series forever won't be tolerated.

"That's a really big number,'' said Burton, who finished 13th. "I think that NASCAR has got everybody's attention.''

Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president for competition, hopes so. That's why the penalty was 25 points more than traditionally given for such an infraction.

"It makes people think when they see it's gone from 25 points to 50, but it follows suit with most of the other penalties we've had this year,'' said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition.

Gordon is appealing the severity of the fine, so Pemberton can't comment on what led NASCAR to react until that process is over. But he'd be surprised if somebody tried it again soon.

So would most drivers.

"It was a good response,'' points leader Matt Kenseth said. "You've got to do something. You can't just have people create cautions whenever they need them.

"We already have a lot of cautions that a lot of times you don't know why you have them, so we certainly don't need more of them.''

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There have been 313 cautions this season, 75 for debris, or 24 percent.

In only six races this season have there been more than three cautions for debris, with 5-of-15 the most in the May race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

The highest percentage for debris cautions this season is 4-of-7 at Las Vegas and California.

There's no way to determine how many of them were intentionally caused by drivers tossing objects onto the track, but there's no question it happens.

"My crew made fun of me one weekend at Pocono,'' said Labonte, unable to remember what year. "When we got through with the race they said there wasn't a piece of roll bar rubber left within reach.

Matt Kenseth agreed with NASCAR's decision to crack down on intentional debris cautions. Credit: Autostock

"We needed a caution flag pretty bad, but they kept rolling into the infield. I think everybody is guilty of doing that at some point or another.''

Dale Earnhardt Jr. agreed.

"I don't know if there is a driver in the garage that hasn't done that,'' he said. "It ain't something you want to condone, so it's a good thing to set an example.''

Cautions such as the one Gordon caused are a dilemma for NASCAR officials who have to decide in a split second whether an object is a harmless piece of foam or a piece of tailpipe.

They rule on the side of caution most of the time.

"It's tough,'' Pemberton said. "You have to remember there are a number of people in here that were here 20 years ago when there weren't any debris cautions when there should have been.

"Now we're better staffed than we've ever been. We've got more things at our disposal to look at debris on the track.''

But even with 30 television cameras and officials staged around the track NASCAR couldn't immediately determine what came from Gordon's car. And it took several days of studying tape to determine if the padding intentionally was thrown.

Burton was most upset, demanding NASCAR investigate because of the track position and points he lost with a 13th-place finish he felt could have been better.

"Robby was only doing what he needed to do for himself,'' Burton said. "He did what worked in the past and I don't blame him. It's just that NASCAR has been much more strict on things like that. ... The rules are only good if they're enforced."