Confusing finish leaves drivers, fans speechless

MONTREAL -- Busch Series drivers were on their best behavior for almost 70 laps Saturday, minding their manners in a fine display of classic road-course racing in cultured Montreal. "After you, Monsieur!" "Oh no, be my guest!"

But it was only a matter of time -- just about the time the sun started going low in the sky over downtown Montreal -- before it turned out something resembling a Saturday night short-track race as all H-E-double-hockey sticks broke out over the last five laps of the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Harvick slips by

Kevin Harvick benefitted from the Robby Gordon/Marcos Ambrose tangle and won the Montreal Busch race.

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A huge pileup. Two different leaders get spun out. Confusion over the running order. The driver running first on the track gets the black flag instead of the black-and-white one.

And no fewer than three cars begin doing celebratory donuts -- the winner, the runner-up and the guy who thought he won -- prompting one Busch Series official to comment, "Did you ever see so many damn burnouts at one time?"

Confusion totale!

While Kevin Harvick was celebrating an unexpected victory, Robby Gordon was on his way to the Busch Series hauler and a chat with NASCAR's top-level management.

When he finally exited the hauler, Gordon was holding a NASCAR rule book but it was obvious by the look on his face that he didn't like what he heard -- and didn't agree with the rules interpretation that was offered.

"They said 'here's the rule book,'" Gordon said. "I play by their rules. I guess this was one of those [except in rare instances]."

The whole thing went to heck in a handbasket on the Lap 72 restart. While Marcos Ambrose and Gordon were racing for the lead, Harvick bumped Scott Pruett in Turn 2. That resulted in a huge pileup and the yellow flag flew at both the start/finish line and in each of the track's corners.

But while that was going on, Gordon had passed Ambrose, only to go spinning when the two made contact in the chicane. Gordon's car sat sideways on the track while several other cars went past.

Gordon's point was as follows: When the yellow came out, he was either leading the race or in the process of getting hit from behind by Ambrose -- and should have been placed there when the race was restarted.

"[The rule is] always go back to your position if you get spun out and Marcos spun me under the caution," Gordon said. "They told me originally go back to second place. I went back to second place.

"Halfway around the last lap, they said go back to 13th place, 14th place, something like that. Except I was never running 13th or 14th." (Continued)