Busch Series incident gets Robby Gordon suspended

LONG POND, Pa. – Robby Gordon was suspended by NASCAR for the Nextel Cup race at Pocono on Sunday because of his misconduct on the race track at the Busch Series race in Canada.\nGordon refused to forfeit his position on the track when ordered to by NASCAR late in Saturday’s race. Officials said Gordon intentionally knocked Marcos Ambrose out of the race, then refused to pull off the track as ordered.\n“It certainly is way over the line when it comes to conduct on the track and doing what is expected of the driver to keep the event orderly,” said NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp.\nP.J. Jones will drive the No. 7 Ford for the Pennsylvania 500 and will start at the rear of the field. Gordon had qualified the car 30th and was 27th in the points standings.\nJones is making his second start this season and the 24th of his career. He has one top-five finish back in 2002.\nTharp said NASCAR will determine Gordon’s status for the race at Watkins Glen this week. Tharp didn’t rule out NASCAR would hand down additional disciplinary action against Gordon.\nTharp quoted the rule book when making his announcement, stating that NASCAR may take emergency action against any driver who “constitutes a threat to the orderly conduct of the event.”\n“The way he performed and his actions on the track, in our mind, certainly disrupted the conduct of that event,” he said. “We’re not going to permit that; we’re not going to allow that. It’s way over the line when it comes to conduct on the track.”\nGordon also celebrated as if he had won the event, doing victory burnouts and pumping his fist at the crowd at the same time as winner Kevin Harvick.\nGordon did cross the finish line first, though the results showed he finished 18th based on the number of laps he completed when he was disqualified. Gordon also refused to acknowledge the black flag that NASCAR waved at him every time he crossed the line over the final few laps.\n“I did the most laps; I was the first car to complete them. I won the race,” Gordon said. “We came here to win the race, and that’s what we did.”\nGordon was summoned to meet with NASCAR officials after he climbed out of his car.\nNASCAR suspended Harvick from a Cup race in 2002 because of an altercation during a truck series race. Jimmy Spencer was suspended one race for punching driver Kurt Busch after a 2003 race at Michigan.