Nascar and Racing Robby Gordon

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) -- Robby Gordon says he's glad Joey Logano is OK after their run-ins at Watkins Glen International.

Both Cup regulars raced in Saturday's Nationwide race and had two run-ins late in the 82-lap event.

Gordon blew his right front tire after slamming Logano in the rear entering the first turn of the 2.45-mile track to bring out a caution. Gordon said Logano had knocked him sideways only moments earlier.

"I ran him down towards the inside wall on the front straight,'' Gordon said in an e-mail. "I tried to do a crossover move in turn 1 to get back by him. However, I misjudged a little, resulting in both of us getting flat tires.''

The NASCAR on FOX television crew tried to play it off as an accident, but Sprint Cup driver Robby Gordon was having none of it.

"I'm really looking forward to having a new driver in the [No.] 55 next year," said Gordon during his post-wreck interview, mad after Michael Waltrip bumped him into the Phoenix International Raceway turn three wall Saturday night in the Subway Fresh Fit 500.

No, Gordon doesn't have insider infomation about Waltrip's 2010 plans, but rather he was just citing comments that the driver/owner made at the beginning of the season.

NASCAR made a mockery of the Budweiser Shootout format back in August thanks to a conflict of sponsorship, and this week, an attempt to improve the race took another step back.

The August changes to the annual season-opening non-points race made eligibility requirements revolve around the previous season's manufacturer standings with the top six team from each car make earning a spot in the dash for cash. According to NASCAR, it was an attempt to give more exposure to the four car companies that compete in the Sprint Cup Series.

The result left Tony Stewart and other notable drivers ineligible for the Feb. 7 race and on Friday, NASCAR changed that.

Preparing the track, praying against the rain, and organizing an event expected to host over 20,000 spectators were all on the plate for Tony Stewart on Wednesday at his Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

And oh yeah, he was racing, too.

The responsibilities must not have weighed on Stewart too hard as he took home his second win the Old Spice Prelude to the Dream on a muddy night in west-central Ohio. The high-banked dirt track charity all-star race again featured some of NASCAR's biggest names and is rapidly gaining traction as one of the best events to get a ticket to in all of racing.

With qualifying and all on-track activities canceled at Auto Club Speedway on Friday, Robby Gordon got plenty of face time with the NASCAR media concerning his penalty stemming from Daytona.

In review, Gordon switched from Ford to Dodge a week before practice began, built the cars, went to Daytona, failed inspection because of parts that were sent to him from Dodge in error, and was fined $100,000, docked 100 owner and driver points, and his crew chief was suspended for six weeks.

Gordon, naturally is appealing.

One of his sponsors, Jim Beam, is taking a swing at the situation by trying to start a petition for Robby in his effort.

Representatives from Jim Beam, which sponsors Gordon's No. 7 car, will canvas the Auto Club Speedway grandstands on Saturday gathering signatures for a petition demanding NASCAR reverse its "unfair" decision to dock Gordon 100 points. Crew chief Frank Kerr also was fined $100,000, suspended for the next six Sprint Cup Series events until April 9 and placed on probation until Dec. 31.

Along with the petition, "Rally for Robby" T-shirts are being made for Gordon fans to wear during this weekend's Cup events, said Sofia Lombardo, spokesperson for Jim Beam.

Also, Thomas Flocco, president and CEO of Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc., has sent a letter addressed to NASCAR president Mike Helton, as well as other top officials, voicing the company's frustrations.

It's good to see that Robby has some support in this issue, because you do feel bad for the guy. It wouldn't be right for Gordon to lose sponsorship or race opportunities because of a part sent to him in error.

That though, is my opinion, and not NASCAR's. His car was out of spec for a NASCAR race car, and he was penalized, says the sanctioning body.

I see both sides, but come on, it truly was an honest mistake. What say you?

NASCAR dropped the hammer Wednesday on Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Craftsman Truck Series teams who came down on the wrong side of the rule book during Daytona Speedweeks.

In all, crew chief suspensions totaled 40 weeks and over $220,000 was earmarked for the NASCAR Foundation by way of monetary penalties.

Hit the hardest of those was Robby Gordon, who's team made the mistake of installing the wrong noses on its Dodges prior to coming to Daytona.

Gordon's self-owned team switched to Dodge just one week before, and when his team was the sent the Dodge noses from the manufacturer, they were incorrect. Instead of having the current nose pieces, Gordon's team was sent a prototype that has yet to be approved for competition in NASCAR.

NASCAR officials caught it during inspection, and Gordon's team changed out the nose prior to qualifying practice, and also had to change out the noses on the rest of its fleet at the shop.

Robby was penalized 100 owner and driver points, $100,000, and his crew chief was suspended for six weeks.

A little bit harsh?

Robby certainly thought so, and plans to appeal:

Check out all of the NASCAR Fanhouse Daytona Speedweeks Coverage.

Casey Mears can now add his name to the list as a candidate for penalties either this week or next from NASCAR due to rules infractions.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver competing in his first race Saturday night as driver of the No. 5 Kelloggs Chevrolet formerly piloted by Kyle Busch finished a strong sixth in the Budweiser Shootout. After his car went through inspection though, the mood changed a little bit for the team.

NASCAR found the No. 5 Chevy to be one-eighth of an inch too low in the rear, adding him to the tentative penalty box now filled by Mears, Kurt Busch & Tony Stewart (bumping and punching during Friday night's Shootout practice), and Robby Gordon (came to Daytona with the wrong Dodge nose on the car).

Mears' new teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the event.

Crew chief Alan Gustafson seemed quite perplexed by the finding.

"I don't think our adjustments were unreasonable, so I'm real surprised," Gustafson said. "It's the first time we ran the car here. We're trying to learn it and figure out what's going to happen. ... We'll collect all the pieces together and figure out what went on."

I don't know that you can really fault Mears' team here, nor would it be appropriate to lump this lapse in with last year's Hendrick penalties and the laundry list of bad deeds committed by Jimmie Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus.

Could one-eighth of an inch make a difference? Possibly. Should it really matter to a driver who finished sixth in a non-points race? I don't think so.

One of the world's most grueling race events faced a challenge too steep to beat.

The Dakar Rally, held annually in Africa, was canceled just a day before it was set to begin due to fears stemming from recent terrorist attacks and threats in the west African country of Mauritania. Details of recent events include:

France, where the race organizers are based, had urged the rally to avoid Mauritania after the four family members were killed in an attack blamed on a terror cell that uses the Mauritanian desert as a hideout.

Officials say the cell is linked to the Algeria-based al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa, which has claimed responsibility for a series of deadly attacks, including the Dec. 11 twin suicide bombings at U.N. offices and a government building in Algiers, which killed at least 37 people.

Normally, terrorism and politics don't find their way to the pages of the Fanhouse, but without a doubt, the cancellation of Dakar is a big, big deal for international racing and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Robby Gordon.

Apparently, the foreign minister of Mauritania is none too pleased with the decision -- the event brings a ton of coverage and money to the country -- and thinks organizers got cold feet too easily.

NASCAR announced today that if If Robby Gordon messes up again, he's outta here.

On top of a $35,000 fine and probation, Gordon was threatened with indefinite suspension from NASCAR if, for the remainder of 2007, "there is another action by 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."

I think they forgot "tampering with the outcome of a race," but I suppose that falls under detrimental actions like just about everything else under the sun.

All things considered, Gordon seems to have matured. In 2005, when Michael Waltrip wrecked him under caution, Gordon went after him with his helmet. This week, after Marcos Ambrose got him under caution, Gordon offered him his first Nextel Cup ride this weekend at The Glen.

The infamous "helmet incident"

It's a little too late for do-overs at the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, but what if ...?

What if Marcos Ambrose hadn't spun Robby Gordon out under caution? What if NASCAR wouldn't have told Gordon to lineup at the head of the field, then said 2nd, then said, nah, go back further.

What if ESPN had actually captured the entire incident on camera so there was no disputing his position when the caution was thrown?

What if NASCAR had red-flagged the race and watched that footage to determine the right course of action? What if they did?

What if ESPN hadn't shown the viewers just enough to see that the caution flag was displayed when Ambrose plowed into Gordon, spinning him out, presumably to the 13th position. What if Gordon had maintained pace? What if NASCAR had disciplined Ambrose for agressive driving under caution? What if NASCAR had penalized both drivers for not observing the caution?

What if NASCAR was consistent when applying rules to all drivers who are spun out during a caution? or any rule for that matter?