Gordon might be innocent, but shouldn't be surprised

For Robby Gordon, it's been a tough few months. First he saw his $4.5 million investment in the Dakar Rally go under when the historic endurance race cancelled its 2008 edition because of terrorist threats in Africa. And now, on the heels of an eighth-place finish in last week's Daytona 500, he's been docked 100 points and had his crew chief fined and suspended for an unapproved front bumper cover found in initial inspection at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 8.

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For a driver trying to find sponsorship and stay inside the top 35 in owner points, it's a crushing blow. The circumstances surrounding the infraction seem somewhat innocent -- Gordon, who had switched from Ford to Dodge and aligned with Gillett Evernham Motorsports only days earlier, was allegedly supplied with a nose that had not yet been approved by NASCAR, and rolled through inspection with the part on his No. 7 car. It's all part of a somewhat confusing situation stemming from Dodge's 11th-hour change from the Avenger to the Charger, and the appropriate pieces involved.

Ultimately the error was discovered, and every lap Gordon made on the racetrack at Daytona, he did so with the appropriate nose on the front of his car. He wasn't using an illegal accelerant inside his fuel system, as Michael Waltrip's team did last year. He wasn't busted for fiddling with the wing brackets on the rear of the new car after it had already been on the racetrack, as Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s former team was last season. Compared with those infractions, Gordon's seems the technical inspection equivalent of jaywalking.

Didn't matter. Wednesday, he paid the price: 100 points, $100,000 and a six-week suspension for crew chief Frank Kerr. Was it excessive? Maybe. But it was also right in line with every other penalty NASCAR has issued involving the new car. And in that light, despite some mitigating circumstances, it shouldn't have come as a surprise.

When it comes to the vehicle formerly known as the Car of Tomorrow, NASCAR's position is clear: zero tolerance. When Dale Jr.'s team was busted for finagling with wing brackets last year at Darlington, it was 100 points, $100,000 and six weeks. When the Hendrick Motorsports teams of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon were caught last year at Sonoma with non-compliant fenders, they each received 100 points, $100,000 and six weeks. Now comes Robby Gordon, the victim of an apparent parts screw-up he allegedly had nothing to do with, and he's hit with 100 points, $100,000 and six weeks.

NASCAR has made it clear from the very beginning -- with the new car, there is no wiggle room, regardless of the intent or the situation. "The inspection process and NASCAR's reaction to Car of Tomorrow violations are going to be more severe," series spokesman Ramsey Poston said after the Hendrick infractions were uncovered last June, in words that still apply today. "We're going to keep this car in check."

A campaign is under way declaring Robby Gordon's innocence for what NASCAR said was an illegal part used on his car during Speedweeks.

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And they are. Robby Gordon has every right to feel wronged, every reason to file an appeal he may well win. But he shouldn't be surprised that he's being hit so hard; that is NASCAR's natural reaction to anything found out of whack with the new car. Year after year, the sanctioning body is hammered by competitors, reporters and fans alike for the somewhat capricious nature of its rulings. People want consistency. They want a black-and-white cause and effect. Well, in this case, they've got it, and they're still not happy.

Why? Because NASCAR appears to be picking on the little guy, a stubborn independent with sponsorship issues, a driver recently out $4.5 million because the folks who run Dakar caved to terrorists, a single-car team owner trying to compete with the juggernauts who rule the sport. Because, well, Robby didn't mean to do it, compared to those Hendrick guys who are such cheaters. Just ignore the facts that crew chiefs Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte were manipulating areas they thought were open to manipulation at Sonoma, that their cars hadn't been on the racetrack either, and that when the hammer fell, they were every bit as shocked then as Gordon is now.

And besides, in NASCAR's eyes, intent is a non-issue. Was he trying to cheat, massage the gray areas, or gain an edge? Or did he just make a mistake, miss with a calculation, or grab the wrong part? Does not matter. Inspectors are not there to read minds. Their job is to find anything out of the ordinary, regardless of how or why it got there. When the car rolls through the inspection bay, it's either legal or it's not. The pieces are either approved or they're not. Mistakes made before, excuses to come later -- in the inspector's mind, they are immaterial. All that matters is the now.

That's not to say this system is without flaws. Zero-tolerance stances, like the one NASCAR takes with the new car, are inherently unfair because they do not take into account the weight of the offense. Every infraction, regardless of how potentially injurious it might be, is handled the same way. These are the kind of practices that lead to kids being suspended or expelled because mom packed a plastic butter knife in their lunch box, and the school has a zero-tolerance policy against any kind of weapon on campus. It comes across as petty and reactionary, and in many cases it is. But you know what? Ultimately, mom should have known better.

Gordon is caught in the same situation. Yes, he's apparently paying the price for someone else's mistake, and has every right to be furious. He's now 40th in owner points because some dude pulled the wrong part off the shelf. That's where his fury should be directed, and not at NASCAR, which is only doing here what it's done every other time infractions have been discovered on the new car. In that light, no one should have been surprised.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.