R. Gordon not happy with penalty, but moving on (cont'd)

"I wasn't cool with being put all the way behind the 33 [Ron Fellows]. Riding around under caution they said I was first and then a lap later they said I was second. On the lap coming to the green they said I was behind the 33 and that's the part I just didn't understand. With the black flag, the old rule was you had three laps to obey, so I was going to ride out the last two laps and talk about it after the race."

A NASCAR spokesman said the reason Gordon was told to line up behind Fellows was because he did not maintain his speed under caution.

"At the time that the field was frozen, the 59 [Marcos Ambrose] was in the lead," said Ramsey Poston, NASCAR's managing director of corporate communications. "[Robby Gordon] did not maintain cautious pace and by NASCAR rule, cars not maintaining cautious pace are scored only when they blend back into the continuous line.

Gordon parked

Following the antics from the Montreal Busch race, NASCAR parked Robby Gordon for the Cup race at Pocono.

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• Ambrose, Gordon speechless

"The tower ordered [Gordon] multiple times to get into position. The directive was acknowledged by [Gordon's] crew chief and the crew chief also communicated the order to [Gordon]. The driver ignored NASCAR's directive."

When the race was restarted, Gordon again hit Ambrose in Turn 2, this time spinning the Tasmanian's car.

"After contact with [Ambrose] on Lap 73, NASCAR took emergency action per the rule book Section 12-2, thus parking [Gordon], which was also ignored," Poston said.

Gordon remained in front of the field until the end of the race, but was first black-flagged, then given the black flag with the white cross, which means his car was no longer being scored.

"I've had a bunch of drivers come up and say, 'That one was wrong,' or whatever," Gordon said. "I've got to be honest, I probably did some of the wrong things after the race but I got put in a position to do the wrong things. If I feel what was a judgment call was a bad judgment call I felt I had the right to express that. The caution had come out and I had slowed to abide by the caution when I got hit from behind and Marcos spun me.

"I didn't lose control of that car -- not when my rear tires were off the ground. I didn't put a wheel wrong all day long. Everything I did was spot-on to what I intended to do with that racecar, so I had control all the way through the race.

"I felt that a call was made that unless I stayed where I was, I wasn't going to be able to appeal the case unless I stayed in my place. I would have been fine if NASCAR had come back on and said, 'All right, you weren't leading when the caution came out but we'll put you back in second -- but if you touch [Ambrose] on the way by we'll disallow your win.' Instead they told me to go to 13th -- they were trying to separate us as far as they could. And that wasn't right."

On Sunday Gordon said he planned to be at Watkins Glen with his No. 7 Ford Cup car and No. 55 Busch car, "provided that I understand what the black flag means and that when [NASCAR] says go to 13th, that means go to 13th.

"But I think all that could have been prevented."

Gordon left no question about his understanding and the maintenance of a good demeanor when he was asked if he'd request a clarification of the caution flag lineup procedure in next weekend's drivers' meetings at The Glen.

"I don't think I'm going to step up and ask for a clarification, no," Gordon said, laughing. "I'm going to hide in the back corner [of the meeting] and just do the best job that we can on the racetrack."

At that moment, fellow driver Tony Stewart came by on his way to pre-race driver introductions and paused to tell a reporter that was speaking to Gordon, "Excuse me, but I'll be handling all media interview requests for Mr. Gordon from now on."

The laughter among the group provided the perfect backdrop to Gordon's low-key demeanor despite the controversy.

"I did you a favor by taking some of the heat off you," Gordon told Stewart, who laughed as he walked away.

"Thanks, man," Stewart said. "Keep your head up."