NSCS: Robin Pemberton says NASCAR to review post-race fight, possible penalties coming

Following a heated battle late in the race at Texas Motor Speedway, a fight broke out on pit road between Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski and their respective crews.

The race would go beyond it’s extended distance, bringing forth a green-white-checkered with Gordon leading ahead of Johnson, Jamie McMurray and Kyle Busch.Gordon, as the current race leader, would make the choice to go on the outside for the restart, based on how well it worked for him the previous time.  However, it wouldn’t go according to plan as Johnson would get the advantage, taking the lead as the field headed into turn one. Gordon would be stuck on the outside, finding himself alongside Kevin Harvick.

Brad Keselowski would then try to stick his nose between Gordon and Harvick, resulting in contact between Gordon and Keselowski. The result would be a flat tire for Gordon, causing him to drop through the field and spin around to bring out the caution. Gordon expressed his displeasure post-incident, stating, “The f***ing 2 car ran into us.” over the radio. Meanwhile, Keselowski was told by his spotter that Gordon came down into him, in which Keselowski replied, “We were on new tires – got a better run than he did.”

Following the race, Gordon would get out of his car and walk over to Keselowski, confronting him as a pair of crew members held Gordon back. Keselowski would go to leave the main circle, when he was pushed back into the center by Harvick. Harvick commented post-race that he pushed Keselowski back in because “he should fight his own fight”. Gordon would get a hold of Keselowski’s collar and from that point on, the fight would be on among the drivers and teams.

NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said following the incident that NASCAR will review what happened between the pair of drivers, and release possible penalties either late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

“I think it was hard racing,” Pemberton added. “This is a contact sport, and you look at what drivers are trying to do. We had a couple of shots at a green-white-checkered finish and everybody was going for it. Nobody was leaving anything behind that’s for sure.’’

Pemberton says that they recognize the drivers are very emotional, given the fact that the championship is on the line, but “you shouldn’t have to punch somebody”.

“We knew the format was going to put a lot of pressure on people to perform and make aggressive moves and decisions out there on the racetrack. And you could see the result of that after the race,” Pemberton continued. “So we’re going to take our time. We’ve got a lot of film to review and things like that and the important thing is to make the right decision at the end of the day.”

This fight doesn’t mark the first fight of the season, as a set of previous fights have broken out over the course of the year. As the president has been set by the previous fights, if the fight simply consists of “pushing and shoving”, then NASCAR is okay with allowing that – noted by not fining Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin after their scuffle with Keselowski at Charlotte Motor Speedway. They did, however, fine Keselowski $50,000 that weekend for running into his competitors’ cars with his car post-race. However, “punching is not a good thing” – as noted by the fine against Marcos Ambrose when he and Casey Mears got into it at Richmond International Speedway. Pemberton noted that allowing punching brings forth comparisons to hockey, which NASCAR doesn’t like as “we’re not hockey”.

Notably, Keselowski is still on probation as a result of the Charlotte incident, mentioned above. Keselowski drove into Hamlin, Kenseth and Stewart post-race, before Stewart backed his car into Keselowski. Hamlin tried to confront Keselowski post-race, though was restrained by his team. Kenseth, meanwhile, was able to get his arms wrapped around Keselowski between the trailers. NASCAR’s reaction to that incident – $50,000 fine to Keselowski for post-race on-track antics, $25,000 fine to Stewart for his part.

Whether NASCAR does anything, there is no telling whether this will be the end of the story as Gordon stated afterwards that Keselowski will face the consequences for his actions.

“He’s get himself into these positions, and he will face the consequences,” Gordon added. “I will race him the way that he races me…..To him, it’s just a racing incident. To me, that was uncalled for. You don’t do that when you’re racing for a championship. I will get him back.”