Folie à Montréal: Marcos Ambrose vs. Robby Gordon

It’s hard to categorize just what happened Saturday in the waning moments of the Busch Series NAPA Auto Parts 200.

On one hand, it was the height of ugly by Robby Gordon. But on the other hand, it was fantastic drama for a sanctioning body looking to sell its brand across the border in Canada.

Did Robby Gordon get robbed by NASCAR? Maybe.

Did Marcos Ambrose get robbed of what could have been his first Busch Series victory? Possibly.

Think anybody changed the channel on their TV’s after watching the initial duel for the lead between the two? Probably not.

Ambrose and Gordon were battling for the lead when the caution flew on lap 72. Gordon had seemingly passed Ambrose, before Ambrose seemingly intentionally turned him, while the caution flag was waving.

Under caution Gordon ran into the back of Ambrose’s car.

NASCAR said Ambrose was still the leader and instructed Gordon to fall back to 13th in the restart order. Gordon disregarded the directive from NASCAR, remaining second in line on the track for the restart for the green-white-checkered finish.

“You always go back to your position, if you get spun out and Marcos spun me under the caution,” Gordon said. “. . . They originally told me to go back to second place and I went back to second place. Then they said to go back to 13th place or 14th place or something like that.  I was never running 13th or 14th, so I don’t know what to say.”

Just after the green Gordon drove into Amrbose, turning him on the track, before continuing on. At that point NASCAR officials directed Gordon off the track.

“I knew that he was going to try and hit me,” said Ambrose, the only Australian regular in NASCAR’s three national touring divisions. “We were talking whether we should pull over and let him pass, but you know, I’ve got two laps to go and I’m trying to win the race.  If somebody is going to take me out, they’re going to take me out.  If they feel strong enough, they’re going to do it.  I’m not going to go into it.  I’m disappointed; I promised myself that I wouldn’t get mad.  This is an opportunity for me over here.  I’m thankful for what I’ve been given and today is a bad day, but tomorrow we’ll look to next week.  I’m pleased that I’m here and holding my own against some of America’s best.”

Through the mayhem, eventual race winner Kevin Harvick came out with the lead. Gordon continued to race on to the checkered flag despite the fact that he wasn’t being scored by NASCAR.

“I completed the most laps, I was first car to complete them. I won the race,” Gordon said. “You guys can say that I got in the back of him over here, he got in the back of me over there.  It’s just a huge disappointment.  We worked real hard on our road course program and we came here to win the race and that’s what we did.  If they’re going to say we finished two laps, I guess we finished two laps down; they make the rules.”

Spokesperson Ramsey Poston offered NASCAR’s explanation of what took place following the event.

“Once the caution came out on Lap 72 the field was frozen. Once the field is frozen, all cars must maintain cautious pace in order to be scored.,” Poston said. “At the time that the field was frozen, [Ambrose] was in the lead. [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] based on our scoring was ordered to blend back in behind [Ron Fellows and] in front of [Mike Wallace].

“The tower ordered the [Gordon] multiple times to get in to 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.

“He was warned that he would be black flagged if he did not comply. Once [Gordon] crossed the start-finish line he was posted per the NASCAR rule book and at that time the directive to display the black flag was given. 

“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. The black flag with the white cross was displayed to [Gordon] when [he] crossed the start-finish line on lap 74.”

Ambrose was able to come back and finish seventh. Gordon was scored with an 18th place finish.

“When I came over here nobody knew who I was and today we were pulling away from the best road racers in America and were on our way to victory,” Ambrose said. “I’ve got Watkins Glen to look forward to next weekend and we will have a point to prove.”

Asked how hard it was to not be mad Ambrose said: “I’ll be in therapy for about two years I think.”

Shawn Courchesne, 1:14 a.m.

Comments

[RacinFan]

Robby should not be penalized in any way by NASCAR who got this one totally wrong. Ambrose intentionally punted Robby under caution and at the very least, Robby should have restarted second. I guarantee they wouldn't have sent one of their golden boy drivers like Dale Jr., Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson back 10 spots. The fact that Robby stood up for himself and refused to fall in line like all the other NASCAR corporate grunts must really irritate them. Tough guys and hard racers like Dale Sr. made NASCAR what it is today. Unfortunately, Helton and the Frances have forgotten that and have turned NASCAR into a Disneyfied corporate parade series. Don't forget your roots NASCAR. Unfortunately, there is no way NASCAR will swallow their pride and do the right thing here by declaring Robby the winner. It's too bad that NASCAR is so busy kissing corporate butt to run a fair and exciting series anymore. After 25 years of being a fan, NASCAR is very close to losing my support.

[Bill]

NASCAR is so lame it's no suprise they are blind, every week is more like a soap opera. It was obvious that Gordon won and was turned during the caution (the flag was visable in the same camera view as the contact). I guess it was just not as they had pre-scripted it.

[DC]

Gordon is dog. Nothing but a cheat! showed a total disreguard for the rules and safety of others. To take Ambrose out like that was foolish.

[Cliff Pannell]

If the stewards do not either fine, ban ,deduct series points or all of the previous for blatantly ignoring directions and intentionally ramming Ambrose off the track (I don't think the average 5 year old would behave so childishly!) they are showing themselves to be toothless tigers with no respect nor authority.

That was an advert for lunacy.

[JT]

That explanation by Na$crap about "cautious pace" is precisely cr@p and exactly what they will use to stick it to Robby Gordon, the real winner of this race. They should be ashamed- The camera angle clearly, clearly, clearly showed Ambrose spinning RG out with the yellow flag waving in the foreground and there is no good reason to score the 55 back to 13th or 14th- 2nd would have been arguable, but RG would have taken it, and did take it.

Shame on Na$crap.

[Mike Cantwell]

Hi. Being down here in Australia, Brisbane, QLD, I followed Marcus Ambrose his whole V8 Supercar career. He was very fast on the road and a clean, hard racer. He also won two championships in a row, set numerous lap records and broke many other records which stood for decades (i.e. most wins in a row etc).

Today I watched him leading and thought, "Great, he is going to get a win!" Then the last few cautions came out, and the rest we know.

Was Robby Gordon wrong in paying back Ambrose? Was Ambrose wrong in spinning Gordon? There is fault both ways. Ambrose got in too hot and did not back off and got well under Gordon’s car. Maybe he was over zealous, maybe not. But was Mr Gordon wrong in disobeying NASCAR? Fair enough, he felt very strongly about being turned around, but does that give him the right to rob another competitor from a possible maiden victory? Does that give him the right, after being ordered to move back by NASCAR officials, and then get a Black Flag, to do what he did and take out Ambrose in direct defiance to those officials?

What he did was un-sportsmanlike. Also, Gordon has only had 5 Busch races. Ambrose has run all 23. Ambrose is 8th in standings, Gordon 53rd. What the hell was he trying to prove? Ambrose is only 277 points from a third place in the Championship. Gordon is 2968 points down. Gordon was totally selfish this time. Totally wrong. Totally a bone head. If this was a fight for the championship lead with 3 rounds to go, I could understand. But this man needs his butt kicked untill his nose bleeds by NASCAR. He needs to be made an example of. He needs to read about what makes a champion. He needs to read what it is to be a good sport.

[Ken]

Well, just don't you know when you kinda root for the little guy, and you think he might have grown up. Nope, Robby Gordon is still a Nascar misfit. Granted he has driving talent, not the biggest of budgets to compete against the three and four car teams. But for the most part, gets the job done. No, I am sure no one changed the channel for that finish. Let's see just what repercusions Robby will face for his lastest stunt. Made for damn good TV, I say.

[Stephen]

I have never been a Robby Gordon fan and have always viewed him as a wreckless hot-head. This time however, I find myself siding with Robby. If this had been Jeff Gordon, who is my favorite driver, he would have been placed in the lead or in second place at worst. There have been many races where this type thing has happened and it is becoming clear that if the affected driver is a Jeff or a Jr., all stops will be pulled to make a good call on the rules. The video clearly shows the caution being waved when Robby was spun, case closed. He should have been frozen in the lead and sent back there since he was spun under caution. Because it was Robby, because he went charging back up to where he knew he belonged and because when he got there he gave Ambrose a 'tap' saying 'dumping me under caution wasn't cool', NASCAR decided to invoke the rule that Robby was not maintaining caution speed. Imagine now that during every race, when a caution is thrown, the 2nd place driver spins the leader out knowing that it will take him 15 positions at least to get going again. Doesn't sound quite right does it. Neither does NASCAR's ruling.

[Hayden Crafter]

I live in Adelaide, Australia and have followed Ambrose through his amazing V8 Supercar championships. This season of NASCAR was/is the first I have ever watched. I understand what a racing incident is and that SOMETIMES they are an accident. Robby was one of my favourite drivers in NASCAR because he also does off-road racing and I am a big fan of that, but that does not give him the right to dis-obey NASCAR rules and orders just because he is a crowd favourite, the stunt he pulled in Montreal was the worst unsportsman like stunt I have ever seen. I am actually more annoyed at NASCAR itself, how can they restart a race when a car that has been black-flagged is still on the track, they knew, heck everybody knew what Robby was going to do. Fair enough if it was another driver who DELIBERATELY spun Ambrose I would have accepted it as a racing incident but for a driver who has been black-flagged to do it and then nothing is done about it. What a load of $h!t NASCAR. I am furious

[kelly]

For those of you from overseas who are not familiar with Robby Gordon, what you saw him do to Ambrose pretty much sums the guy up. He is a talented driver who ruined his NASCAR career by being overly aggressive, wrecking other drivers with no remorse, and generally being a complete horse's
a**. I was disappointed to see him confirm, once again, what we all know to be true about the guy.

[Johnny]

For what it's worth, none of the other drivers in NASCAR can stand Robby Gordon because he wrecks everybody. He's been suspended from the Cup race today in Pocono for refusing to yield to the black flag, and for spinning Ambrose after being black-flagged.

[haliward@yahoo.com]

nascar is wrong. RG should be the winner of yesterdays race.You could clearly see the caution flag already out when MA spun him out.I think nascar should rethink there ruling and let RG race today.Why does Nascar always have to be right??? Fair is Fair Wrigh is wright... Iagree with you Rg you go man......

[SallyB]

It seems to me that Nascar could have prevented much of the confusion. They restarted the race with Robby in 2nd place behind Ambrose. If he was ignoring their directives, they should have red flagged the race, then done whatever they needed to fix the problem. By restarting the race the way they did, they knew exactly what was going to happen, and did nothing useful to prevent it.

[pete]

2 weeks ago the stafford officials made the complete opposite call when leader Rick Lanagan spun in the limited feature (supposedly) after the caution came out. He went on to win the event. I was under the impression everyone worked under the same rulebook...

Again, it is lack of consistency and nascar's "rule for every occasion" that comes back to bite them. I have to agree with some of the posters above that if it was someone other than R.Gordon, the call probably would have been made differently.

that said, Robby certainly didnt do himself any favors by spinning Ambrose and acting the way he did in the post-race interviews.

[Chuck]

Busch is "Bush".... Try this: A yellow flag waves, Gordon is passed and punted under waving yellow flag, so reward Ambrose and put Gordon back to 12th? Or this: Gordon passes Ambrose, Ambrose spins Gordon, causes caution, so reward Ambrose and put him 1st and Gordon 12th. Or how about this; Ambrose spins Gordon so "go back to previous scoring loop where Gordon is 1st or 2nd" but put him 12th? C'mon.
NASCAR is "Bush" (sucks!).

R Gordon should have gone back to 12th or ? even though NASCAR has their head up their ***. Then he wouldn't have put himself in the position he is in.

[LateModel]

Gordon got screwed. His move past the 59 was wild but successful and most importantly, the green flag was out at the time meaning that pretty much any contact is acceptable. The 59 tuned the 55 UNDER CAUTION at which time no contact is allowed and therefore the 59 should have been black flagged and the 55 put back in the lead. ESPN just followed NASCAR orders in the content of their broadcast. Gordon is a talented driver but his lack of self control will be his downfall. Ambrose is just a so-so driver on any track but a road course.

[randy carlisle]

NASCAR cost Ambrose the race. If they had made Gordon comply with the rules, even to red flag if necessary, Ambrose could have possibly won.

[Alex]

NASCAR's road races are exciting in their own right. But basically this incompetent sanctioning body made more interesting because they are completely incapable of officiating a proper road race.

[Travis]

I am done with CRAPCAR. I have watched for 30 years and been to over 200 races. I will NEVER watch another of their events again.

kevin "d!(&head harvick should have been blackflagged. He caused the wreck by t-boning the 41 car and then he wrecked the 88. But CRAPCAR will never do anything to a Childress driver. They let dale the idiot senior run any and everybody over and now they are letting his replacement do the same stuff.

Then Robby is leading and is spun under caution and the idiots decide that he should be sent to the back. He lost his temper, but anyone would have under the circumstances. What a bunch of idiotic morons CRAPCAR has making decisions. First the stupid 10 car championship race, then the extend it to 12 cause the darling prince doesnt make it. Brian France is killing CRAPCAR.

[Cincinnati Mike]

Dosn't matter if RG is right or wrong. What needs fixed is the Monolopy of NASCAR. It needs fixed for the sport to survive, to much power in the few corrupts. RG / Busch race is just another fine example of Why it needs fixed.
Hope the KMS speedway suit breaks it up.

[Tommy]

Today's banishment was a career achievement award for Robby Gordon.

In his 15 years of off and on involvement in Nascar, Gordon has done absolutely nothing to earn the respect of his fellow competitors both on and off the track. Over the years, he has embarrassed himself in numerous garage incidents with fellow owners, engine builders and drivers. Not to mention the countless times he's unneccesarily bashed in opponents fenders, in order to cut down their tires. Their crime....trying to pass him cleanly.

His behavior yesterday was embarrassing to himself and the sport and shows him to be what he has always been...a sore loser with a real big chip on his shoulder.

[KYBlue]

NASCAR owes Marcos Ambrose an apology. They cost him his first win in the Busch Series. Robby Gordon showed once again he is the biggest jerk in racing. Marcos Ambrose does not normally turn people. We did not see what led up to Marcos turning Robby, but I guarantee Robby had done something first. When NASCAR waived the green flag and Robby was still in 2nd, they sealed Ambrose's fate. They should have red flagged the race and Helton, himself, should have walked out to Gordon's car and pulled Robby out. Then restart the race. And I'm a Harvick fan!!

[Craig]

To all of you that think Robbie was done wrong, why don't you slow down and think a bit. If you look at the track map of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve you will see that the esses that Robbie was claiming he was "wronged" on was quite a ways from the hairpin that the original crash was on, when that original crash happened is when the caution was displayed, so it was Robbie who actually passed Ambrose under the caution.

Then, when he had his "off track excursion" that was I think a good payback as a result of this pass under yellow. He sat there until about ten cars passed. So he was then in 12th place.

He didn't maintain the caution speed, as NASCAR stated, he was sitting on the side of the track. If you pull into the pits or stop on the track during a caution, you don't get your place back.

you can't just base you opinion on the camara views, because then you don't see it all. Yes the caution was out when he spun around, but it was also out when he punted and passed Ambrose in the first place, Ambrose held it on the track and Robbie couldn't.

[Warren]

"2 weeks ago the stafford officials made the complete opposite call when leader Rick Lanagan spun in the limited feature (supposedly) after the caution came out. He went on to win the event."

The 29 spun from the lead off of 2 and kept going, the caution came out for the wreck in 1. Since the yellow wasn't for him, he gets the lead back. If the other wreck didn't happen, he'd be 15th and it would have stayed green. That's how it goes, Stafford is scored differently then races where every lap counts. Not counting cautions means back to the last completed lap, the 29 lead the lap.

[AP]

Robby was wronged. For those of you that think that Robby is unliked in the garage are fooling yourselves by listening to the medias portrail of him. I have worked in the industry longer than Robby has been racing in it and I can tell you from first hand accounts and many of them that he is one the most respected for driver talent, one of the most respected for the way he treates his fan and most one of the most respected because he does things like he did in Montreal, standing up for himself, sticking it to NASCAR and not being a poster boy like the Corporation of NASCAR resquests.
Get your head out of the media people and look at the driver himself and what he stands for. He is about the only driver who is willing to due it his way, works the hardest out of any other driver by far!!!!!
Make your own opinions, keep the media out of it.