Associated Press
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. ó 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.”
Not long after the restart, Gordon ran Logano off course into a tire barrier. Gordon said that crash, which ended Logano’s day, happened when Logano tried to block him.
“Apparently, we got in a little grudge match after I cut down his tire,” Logano said after visiting the care center. “It’s a pretty raw deal. You can’t fix stupid, it’s forever. You put that in your memory bank.”
Gordon said it was just a matter of hard racing for the lucky dog position.
“We both had good cars and were just trying to improve our finishing position for the day,” Gordon said. “I felt he would be OK because he was in the section where the outer loop was. Rather than going down the inner loop, he decided to cut across the grass, hitting the tire barrier.
“This is a highly competitive sport, and we are all very passionate when we are on the track,” Gordon said. “Tempers have a tendency to flare, but hopefully in the future we will both race each other cleaner.”
Gordon said he met with NASCAR officials Sunday morning and was told there would be no penalties.