Gordon: There’s a clear line, and caution helps define it

Gordon: There’s a clear line, and caution helps define it

 

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

 

(November 11, 2011)

 

AVONDALE, Ariz.—In the aftermath of penalties to Kyle Busch for wrecking Ron Hornaday Jr. in the Nov. 4 Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon took issue with one particular piece of conventional wisdom.

 

“This is the thing that I disagree with—and I guess it’s for debate: ‘There’s no clear line,’ ” Gordon said Friday at Phoenix International Raceway. “Yes there is—you just saw it (at Texas). You just saw, that was the clear line, and there is a clear line.

 

“When you know that you didn’t do the right thing, then you know there are consequences. I think NASCAR—when the caution is out, that’s one. The next one is when you’re on a mile-and-a-half racetrack running 190 mph.”

 

If the line is clear, enforcement isn’t always consistent, depending on the circumstances. Gordon thought Carl Edwards crossed the line in wrecking Brad Keselowski at Atlanta in 2010, but NASCAR’s response wasn’t as harsh then as it was for Busch.

 

NASCAR parked Edwards for the rest of the race. Busch was parked for the rest of the weekend, including the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races, and fined $50,000. Edwards got off with a three-race probation.

 

“I think that for that incident (Edwards and Keselowski)—I don’t know why it was handled (the way it was), but in my opinion, that was a clear line,” Gordon said. “To me that is clearly something that I know if I do that, there’s going to be a penalty. There was a penalty—it’s just wasn’t very severe.”

 

That Busch wrecked Hornaday under yellow was, to Gordon, one of the most serious aspects of the incident.

 

“To me, the caution flag being out is a huge part of crossing the line,” Gordon said. “There’s plenty of times when guys deliberately wreck one another—it happens all the time. But a lot of times when that happens, it’s a judgment call. It’s not a judgment call when the caution comes out.”