A lot of talk this week following the Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta has been regarding Robby Gordon and the possibility that he purposely caused a caution.
The speculation that Robby Gordon purposely tossed a roll bar padding on to the racetrack so he could benefit from a caution has been the talk of the week following the Atlanta race.
NBC showed video footage of some kind of debris hitting the racetrack and it apparently came from the 7 car driven by Robby Gordon. But even though he is the lead suspect after viewing the video, NASCAR conceded that it was inconclusive.
And poor Robby Gordon. After a rare top ten finish, he was being interviewed by NBC, and not because of his tenth place finish.
"I definitely did not throw anything out of the window," is Gordon's story and he is sticking to it.
The reason that so much is being made out of this whole ordeal is the because it may have had an impact on where championship contender Jeff Burton finished. Burton was running near the top ten when a tire went down forcing him to make a green flag pit stop.
It likely would have been his final pit stop of the day, and if the race would have remained under green, all of the leaders would have had to stop for tires and fuel. Once everything would have cycled back around, Burton would have probably been running somewhere around 7th or 8th.
He finished 13th, which isn't really a devastating blow, but every point lost is crucial.
Burton was not shy in expressing his displeasure regarding the caution by manipulation.
"NASCAR should stop every car on pit road and check for roll bar pads and whoever threw theirs out should be fined 185 points and $100,000 because it was a huge impact on the race. "
Even though the NBC video footage was inconclusive, NASCAR is still investigating Robby Gordon and the possibility that he purposely forced a caution.
If Robby Gordon is guilty, then this would mark the third time in three seasons that he has done something bizarre during the Chase for the Championship.
In 2004, Gordon purposely dumped Greg Biffle at New Hampshire, causing a pileup that collected championship contenders Tony Stewart and Jeremy Mayfield.
In 2005, Gordon was wrecked by Michael Waltrip, and proceeded to back his damaged vehicle into Waltrip's right in front of the packed field. He then jumped out of his car and vehemently tossed his helmet at Waltrip's car, right in front of championship contender Tony Stewart.
And to top it all off, Gordon referred to Waltrip as a piece of feces on national TV.
I have always admired Robby Gordon. I think he is a driver that could have been in the same class as Stewart or Jeff Gordon. However, he doesn't seem to deal well while working for someone else as he always ends up self-employed.
But if Gordon did purposely cause a caution, there must be repercussions.
