We thought we had the problems behind us from earlier this week at the closed-cock-pit always-turn-left race league's first competition of the year. After what some have taken to call the "Waltrip-ping" incident or "Toyota-gate," NASCAR's first race of the season certainly is showing a talent for the technical violations. The newest driver to be penalized was the rainbow racer himself. That's right — Jeff Gordon's winning car from the second of Thursday's two 150-mile qualifying races was disqualified over what NASCAR inspectors are calling an "unintentional, and actually fairly unsafe...part failure." And despite the "part failure" causing his Chevy to run almost an inch too low to the ground, not only will they not be stripping the man of the victory, he'll also not be losing any points. That's because NASCAR officials think "any advantage...would have been marginal at best...it was unintentional, and actually fairly unsafe." The only penalty Gordon will be receiving will be a move back in the pack to 42nd place. Apparently when Gordon heard, he began cussing up a storm, saying:
"Are you serious? That stinks. I don't know. I'm mad about that right now."
Gordon better be careful — 'cause if he gets any more ticked off, NASCAR's gonna fine his ass for being un-family and stuff. In case you're interested and want to see all of Gordon's hard work in the #24 Rainbow Brite Dupont car, we've got video of the last lap below. Remember to keep your web browsers here throughout the wekeend as we cover the "Super Bowl of racing." And yes, just like the Super Bowl, we're not really cheering for anyone — we're just covering it for the love of the game. Or in this case the hope for a spectacular car crash.
Post - Race Interview With Jeff Gordon [Auto Racing Daily]
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