NASCAR giving Gordon a real test

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - You can't keep a good racer down.

But if NASCAR has a whipping boy, it would be Robby Gordon. He was clearly jobbed at Montreal, but the pettiness of NASCAR testing its obedience lesson on him at Watkins Glen on Sunday was just vindictive.

With 14 laps remaining in the Centurion Boats at the Glen, NASCAR forced Jeff Gordon to line up in the ninth position behind Greg Biffle.

A little background: The No. 16 (Biffle) hadn't moved from 19th position from Lap 50 to Lap 60 while the No. 7 (Jeff Gordon) jumped from 27th to 12th in the same period. Through the next four laps, as cars pitted in front of Jeff Gordon and Biffle, they moved to eighth and ninth, respectively, in the running order.

When second-place Jeremy Mayfield pitted on the following lap, Kurt Busch moved into second behind leader Jeff Gordon. On Lap 64, third-place Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s engine failed. During that same lap, Caution 5 was called for debris following an altercation between Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman. Busch, who entered the race seven points ahead of the sidelined Earnhardt, pitted for fuel, was slapped with a "speeding" penalty and was forced to restart 30th on Lap 67.

By then, Jeff Gordon had climbed to eighth. One lap later, Kyle Petty's engine failed and Caution 6 flew for oil on the track. Jeff Gordon remained eighth throughout the multi-car crash that prompted Caution 7 (which lasted from Laps 74 to 77 and included a 26-minute red-flag period on Lap 76) and led to a shoving match between Kevin Harvick and Juan Pablo Montoya.

During the red-flag delay, one of Jeff Gordon's crewmen commented over the radio: NASCAR's got a couple of new bad boys to worry about.

But Jeff Gordon prognosticated, "I'm sure I'll be on the 'A' list for a while."

Jeff Gordon didn't know how right he was. Shock was the first emotion expressed on Jeff Gordon's channel when NASCAR tested the team with the directive to cede the No. 7's eighth-place position to Biffle. Then silence.

"I just want to know if that's a new rule," Jeff Gordon asked his crew. "Unbelievable. Are you sure they don't want to put someone else in front of me?"

Certainly, the sanctioning body was testing Jeff Gordon's willingness to comply Sunday afternoon — after he had repeatedly ignored NASCAR's black flags and instructions to fall back to 13th position late in the Aug. 4 Busch race at Montreal.

According to Kerry Tharp, NASCAR director of public relations, "On Lap 72, the 7 is ahead of the 16, they go down into Turn 1 and the caution comes out. The field is frozen and the 7 has lost a spot to the 16. While he may have been riding ahead of the 16 during the caution, he was placed in his proper postion (behind the 16) before they resumed to green flag racing."

But neither Jeff Gordon nor timing and scoring in the media center picked up on the change.

On Aug. 5, Jeff Gordon was parked at Pocono, then fined $35,000 and placed on probation with "the stipulation that if, during the remaining NASCAR events in 2007, there is another action by Jeff Gordon that is deemed by NASCAR officials as detrimental to stock car racing or to NASCAR, or is disruptive to the orderly conduct of an event, he will be suspended indefinitely from NASCAR."

Screwing with Jeff Gordon on a road course is asking for trouble. But Jeff Gordon opted for the high road — chicanes and all. He collected himself, reminded the team, "It's their sandbox and we just played in it," then issued the warning: the 16 better be prepared to move over.

Crew chief Gene Nead replied, "Take no prisoners!"

And Jeff Gordon did just that. Despite a bad pit stop exacerbated by engine, ignition and brake issues, Jeff Gordon easily overtook Biffle and his Roush-Fenway teammate, Matt Kenseth, in short order.

By Lap 80, Jeff Gordon had moved up to sixth as the eighth and final caution flag waved after P.J. Jones spun in the inner loop. With eight circuits remaining in the race, Jeff Gordon lined up behind Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson.

After the crew advised Jeff Gordon of his position, the driver asked, "They won't make anyone go in front of me?"

Nead answered, "No, but they'd like you to pass the 48 (Johnson), 99 (Edwards) and 11 (Hamlin) before the day's over."

With a challenge from behind by Ron Fellows on Lap 85, who was powered by a Joe Gibbs Racing engine, Jeff Gordon relinquished the sixth position. But he remained patient, working diligently with the equipment he had. As the No. 24 (Jeff Gordon) spun out with two laps to go, Robby Gordon regained the sixth position. On the final lap, Edwards pushed a bit too hard and slid into the gravel in Turn 10, opening the door for Jeff Gordon to finish a season-high fifth.

"It didn't take long to pass them. I told the guys we would get two or three on the first lap — and that's exactly what we did," Jeff Gordon said. "Unfortunately, I used up my brakes trying to get there. I'm not sure what that call was about. Maybe they went all the way back to the start-finish line, but I don't get it.

"My car bobbled and misfired and a couple of 'em made a jump on me, but I passed them all right back in Turn 1. I don't think (Biffle) was ever in front of me, but what are you going to do? Time and again they pull this stuff, what do you want me to do?"

Just keep your helmet held high and race.

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