Gordon / Kenseth incident...opinions ?

[racing#s]

It appears Gordon is starting to get a little more aggressive over the years. I'm surprised NASCAR let him get away with this one, with no discipline whatsoever. From what I understand he's already on probation. It certainly appeared to be a textbook stuffing.

[allhailunc]

And here everyone thought that poor decisions by officials only happened on the small time level :rolleyes: this has been going on for a while now and Mr Helton even was emphatic at the drivers meeting about the inclusion of penalties/fines for infractions & monkey business on the track. Well, as someone so aptly put it; that one, like many, many othera, must be written in pencil. :disgusted

[hollywoodmic]

My own opinion, I didn't think it was that bad. Looked to me like Kenseth couldn't get going, and Gordon could. If Casey Mears wasn't out there, I think you may have seen the same winner.........just no wreck. I think Kenseth was so pissed at Kurt Busch at Bristol and that's why he just RAN OVER Gordon. I think if this was Dale Jr. everyone would be saying, "he had no where else to go, but into him." That is not a knock on Jr. the fans just love everything he does, and Gordon is not so well liked. Again this is only my opinion. I think, great job by the 24 bunch the last 3 races.

[Rich Mergl]

I`m with Hollywoodmic all the way. Kenseth slowed down for what ever reason ,and got himself runover.

[Ace]

The 17 was PASSING the lapped car of the 42. TNT showed the fastest laps out of the top cars that lap and the 24 was 2 miles per hr faster than the 17 that lap. It's a multi groove track, 1.5 mile. 6 laps to go, looked like payback to me for Bristol. Then Gordon has the nerve to say that "he was blocking me". He never had a chance to block him. :disgusted

[Jones44]

Was Kenseth waving his hand to let Gordon know that he was going to suddenly slow down? If not, then it's his own fault (even if he didn't intend to slow down)....

[hollywoodmic]

Ace, I have a ton of respect for your opinion, but were you watching the same race?? He blocked him on the initial re-start that's how Kenseth got that 15 car length lead, after breaking Gordon's momentum. The first time Gordon got to him even the announcers said, " that was some block by Kenseth." Last night on Inside Nextel Cup they all said how Kenseth was blocking him all over the racetrack. I would have to say he blocked Gordon at least 3 times..............how many laps would the 81 Charger car get chopped without giving the driver a push, and at that point it would definatley be justified. All race car drivers ever want is a groove, especially when they are fast and Kenseth wasn't looking to give one up. If Kenseth didn't block him the first 2 times we wouldn't even be mentioning Casey Mears, and Kenseth would have finished 2nd.

Steve Halpin

[Charlie's Angel]

It didn't look like a stuffing like racing#'s said. He barely tapped him. It didn't look like any payback either. I agree with Steve.. if it had been Jr. then there would be no talk about it at all. With Gordon you either love him or hate him. Doesn't seem to be any in between.

I for one am happy with the 24 win. But that's just me.

[allhailunc]

All race car drivers ever want is a groove, especially when they are fast and Kenseth wasn't looking to give one up.

Steve Halpin
Hollywood- I think this part of your post says it all. Kenseth wasn't about to give up not only the lead, but whatever groove he had. All he needed was a little "prompting" and there went that said groove. These two have got to be sat down, read the riot act, and if it happens again, even ever so slightly-then Mr Helton has got to show that he can back up what he said on National TV in the drivers meeting, and stop handing out these candy *** 50pts/25000 dollar fines. Maybe a week or two of watching might calm them down. Seemed to work for Chad Knaus

[Ace]

I thought the race was at Chicago a multi groove track, not a SINGLE groove :confused: . Heck Dale Jr was even riding the Harry Gant line and passing cars. I could care less who won this race.

hollywoodmic next time your at Riverhead, stop by the 81. The 1st round is on me and we can continue our discussion about the race. :cool:

[hollywoodmic]

Unc, they'll never do it, to a "Jeff Gordon" or a "Matt Kenseth". A Chad Knaus, why not, look how terrible Jimmy Johnson did with out him. They will not take the driver out of the car, or at least a real high profile driver. Look at Tony Stewart, or Kevin Harvick when they were looking to fight with everyone. To much coorporate dollars at stake. Just think about it on a small scale, if you sponsored a car and the racetrack, and felt like your driver should not have been suspended would you still spend money at the track?? Probably not. Perfect example, say the roles were reversed on Sunday, would Mike Helton sit down Matt Kenseth driving the USG Sheetrock #17 for dumping Jeff Gordon in the USG Sheetrock 400. I don't think so. I'm not saying that it's right, but it wouldn't happen.I agree with your sentiment,something should be done but NASCAR will not upset their "coorporate partners" Go to their website and see who they are you'd be suprised. That's why suspending a crew chief is much different than a driver, crew chief can work all week, use cell phones, computers and what not. The team still carried out Chad's orders. If you suspend a driver, big difference. As for "the groove" I didn't mean to "give one up" just choose one and Kenseth hadn't done that, he blocked Gordon 3 times. Again I ask you you are a fan, if Jr. did this to Gordon it wouldn't bother you so much, would it? As Charlie's Angel said you either love Gordon or hate him, I am a fan. In my opinion I don't disagree with his choice or with NASCAR's call.


Ace you got it, but normally by the time I get to you guys I'm way passed the 1st round.

[RACENUT]

As Jimmy Spencer Stated, What Goes Around Comes Around. Kenseth Started All This By Dumping Gordon At Bristol. I'm Sure If That Didn't Happen, Gordon Would Have Backed Off And Not Hit Kenseth.

[Teds Race Tours]

Let me preface this with Jeff Gordon has been one of my least favorite(OK, Most Hated) Drivers for about 10 years now. I don't think Jeff did anything wrong. Matt truly appears to slow down. I'm not sure if he didn't get on the gas as soon, or if he was just more cautious with the lapped car to the outside. Either way, if you get on the gas later than what may you have in previous laps, you can't really blame the other driver if he accidentily gets into you. You can't expect the guy behind you to realize you aren't getting on the gas as soon when the Cup norm is to run about 6 inches off the rear bumper. This ends my humble opinion, and probably the last nice thing I'll ever say about Gordo.

[Mortgage Guy]

I agree with Ted, I can't believe I am saying that because nobody hates Gordon more then me, but I blame Kenseth, to me it almost looked like he knew he couldn't hold him off and said he will have to drive through me to win this and just parked it between himself and Mears so Gordon had no where to go but into him. I can tell you this, I can't wait to see who wins round 3.

[Crazy Horse]

I love seeing "Matt the brat" get smacked around. It's always the other guys fault. Not a big Gordon fan but, he ran him down with a much faster car. It would've been very :cool: if his car was black.... being BAD is good.. sometimes. :-B :cool:

[44Magnum]

Anyone who says that Gordon didn't mean to dump Matt Kenseth wasn't paying attention. The first clue that it was deliberate is that Gordon said he "hated" that it happened. Any time a driver uses the word "hated" in that context, you can take it to the bank that he did it on purpose!

The second clue is that Gordon warned Tony Stewart that he's next.

I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty conclusive to me.

As for anyone comparing the incident at Chicago to the one at Bristol, that's comparing apples to oranges. Matt got into Jeff at a short track (not unlike Jeff himself has done to others like Rusty Wallace), while Jeff dumped Matt on a high-speed track, which is a heck of a lot more dangerous.

You don't have to take my word for that; just recall the reactions of just about every other driver who was interviewed last weekend. Even Kyle Busch, who is no stranger to tradin' paint, called Jeff's action deliberate and dangerous.

The notable exception, of course, was Jimmy Johnson, who was able to hold on to first place, thanks to Jeff. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if protecting Johnson's point lead didn't have a lot to do with Jeff taking Matt out.

What's more, virtually every other driver expects Matt to pay Jeff back, because they know it was deliberate. Although I don't like that kind of crap, because people can get hurt (or worse), I hope Matt does dish out some payback. If anyone has it coming, Jeff Gordon does. He loves to dish it out, but he whines like a baby when he's on the other end.

And I hope Matt gets Jeff when it will do him the most harm in the points, like maybe at Richmond. :applause: Maybe if Jeff ends up on the outside looking in at the dopey Chase again this year he'll get the message loud and clear. :p