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ROCKINGHAM, N.C. Kevin Harvick and Robby Gordon
are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.
Last year at Indianapolis, you got the sweet chocolate, as
Gordon helped Harvick with the Brickyard 400 by holding up second-place Jamie
McMurray. Saturday at North Carolina Speedway, you got the bitter kind, as
Gordon bumped Harvick and allowed McMurray to scream past and win the Goody’s
Headache Powder 200 Busch Series race. That wasn’t the first time the two
Richard Childress Racing teammates—at least by name in the Nextel Cup
Series—have gotten together. Remember Infineon Raceway last year? Gordon charged
past Harvick as the two raced to the caution flag, drawing
Harvick’s ire after the race. And remember Infineon three years ago? Gordon was leading when he came up on Harvick’s lapped car, and, well, you could say Harvick didn’t give Gordon much room—or you could say Gordon raced Harvick too hard. Whatever the case, Tony Stewart whipped past both guys to win. Harvick and Gordon weren’t teammates then. And they didn’t really act like it Saturday. “With him being Kevin’s teammate, I didn’t know how that was going to work out,”
McMurray said. “At Indy, Robby blocked me for four or five laps and let Kevin get way out ahead. They’re not always teammates. We know they’ve had their moments. So I was hoping they wouldn’t be teammates.” With 21 laps to go, Harvick held the lead after yellow-flag pit stops. Gordon, who was a lap down and on the inside, raced Harvick into turn 3. But Gordon’s car slipped and got into Harvick’s, sending both up the track. McMurray easily slid past for the lead and drove away to the victory. Harvick couldn’t hang on to second, as Martin Truex Jr. passed him in the closing laps. Harvick, who also drives for RCR in the Busch Series, probably wasn’t going to be able to hold McMurray off, but we’ll never know. “ That wasn’t a pass for the lead,” Harvick said. “That was a lapped-down car sliding up into the leader. You’ll have to ask the guy guiding the steering wheel - or holding on to the steering wheel.” Ouch.
Gordon, driving a car he owns, saw it a little differently. “Unfortunately, that’s the problem when you are teammates on one side, and then you race each other on the other side,” Gordon said. “We didn’t get the lucky dog, so we were in a position that we had to race to get our lap back. “The cars on the outside always take the air off the cars on the inside. I got a little bit loose getting in. When you get loose, unfortunately, you have to steer up the racetrack. I hate that he was there.” Harvick hated it, too, of course. “Robby is what he is,” Harvick said. “I haven’t talked to him. Waste of air.” Harvick brushed aside other questions, referring reporters to Gordon. “You guys go talk to him,” Harvick said. “See what kind of stupid answer you get.” OK, here’s Gordon’s answer:“ He told me I was No. 1,” Gordon said. “But we do that every week, so it doesn’t really matter. Every week he tells me I’m No |
