Sadler: Gordon should’ve been stripped of victory
Quote selected text Published February 16th, 2007 in NASCAR News
Evernham Motorsports driver Elliott Sadler said Friday at Daytona International Speedway that Jeff Gordon should have been stripped of his victory in the second Gatorade Duel qualifying race after Gordon’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet failed postrace inspection.
Gordon’s car was about an inch below minimum height requirements, but NASCAR officials said the car was too low because of a misaligned shock absorber mounting bolt, and they considered the error unintentional.
“I just think if you’re low, you’re low,” Sadler said. “That’s what they have postrace inspection for, and if you fail, you fail. The win should be taken from you.”
Sadler, whose team director, Josh Browne, was suspended for two races after illegal mounting bolts were found on his No. 19 Evernham Motorsports Dodge in prequalifying inspection for the Daytona 500, was “surprised” NASCAR let the victory stand.
“If you don’t pass postrace inspection, you don’t get whatever position you finished in,” Sadler said. “That’s why you have postrace inspection. That’s the purpose of it.”
Sadler found Gordon’s infraction “funny.”
“It’s just funny that they were low on a track that [being] low helps,” Sadler said. “I’m willing to bet any of y’all any kind of money y’all want to bet that they won’t be low at a downforce racetrack where you want to be high. … It’s just weird how it all worked out like that yesterday.”
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- Elliott Sadler joins brother Hermie in car business
- Gordon looks to add 2nd car?
- Alonso Wins His First Monaco Grand Prix
- Gordon set to tie another Earnhardt record
what a joke joke JOKE! Gordon gets sent to the back…and that’s it?? Sadler is exactly right. Gordon cheated like the rest of ‘em and he should be fined and docked points like the rest of ‘em too!
Reminds me of Dale Jr….different set of rules for these guys.
what a fricken JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now I really don’t know if this was intentional, however, Sadler is right. What if this was a real race? Would they really let Gordon’s win stand? No they wouldnt, or shouldnt at least. So why does it stand here?
I am a Jeff Gordon fan, and I totally agree w/ Elliott. NASCAR SUCKS ASS @ handing out penalties. Iff you’re one of the “Golden Boys” like Jeff, Dale, Jimmie, and Tony, you get off w/ the bare minimum. Anyone else is harshly punished. I’d take it a step further. Iff I were the czar of NASCAR, iff you cheat your post-qualifiying inspection, you get barred from competing in the race, even iff you’re one of NASCAR’s favorites.
All that said however, I think it’s funny that Sadler is one to talk. He got caught cheating just like Gordon. Now, isn’t that pot calling the kettle black?
Now wait a minute… Jeff wasn’t at the shop telling the guys “oh yeah, umm.. make that shock do this or do that” He had no way of knowing that the car was too low. No one even knows how low exactly it was so if it was a millimeter, it’s not a HUGE ordeal… if it’s half an inch, it may be… but no one knows but the officials. And Jeff wouldn’t jeopardize his win by messing with the shocks. Jeff is classy unlike some other guys in the garage.
OMG this is bull-crap!! I cannot believe that Jeff only has to start at the back, while Kasey, Matt, Scott, and Elliott had crew chiefs suspended. I totally agree with Elliott. NASCAR has got to stop with this favourites thing and start treating all the drivers equal…same punishments and everything. No ones really knows if it was intentional or not, but its kinda obvious theyre picking favs. They always have, always will.
Katrina needs to learn a little more. So if Micheal, Kasey, and Matt didnt know about their infraction, nothing should have happen to them? Also, how many time do you see Jeff in the garage talking with his crew chief when they are working on the car. If you think that Cal Yarborough didnt know they added two feet of fuel line in his car. THEY ALL KNOW!!!!
THEY SHOULDN’T SUSPEND THE CREW CHEIF. MAKES NO SENSE.
HOWEVER, I THINK THAT THE 1ST TIME THEY GET CAUGHT CHEATING BEFORE THE RACE, YOU STILL LET THEM RACE, FROM THE BACK, TAKE THE 100 POINTS AWAY, DOCK THEM 5 LAPS, AND GIVE THEM NO POINTS FOR THE RACE. THIS WAY, SPONSERS ARE STILL HAPPY, AND THE OTHER DRIVERS ARE ABLE TO POINT AND LAUGH.
PEERS ARE WAY MORE CRUEL.
NOW 2ND TIME, TAKE 200 POINTS, DOCK THEM 10 LAPS, AND NO POINTS FOR THE RACE.
3RD TIME, TAKE 300 POINTS, NO RACE. AND LET THE SPONSERS GET ANGRY WITH THEIR TEAMS.
NOW IF IT’S FOUND AFTER THE RACE.
1ST TIME - NO RACE POINTS, NO MONEY.
2ND TIME - 3 RACE SUSPENSION FOR THE TEAM.
3RD TIME - 10 RACE SUSPENSION FOR THE TEAM.
REAL PENALTIES WILL CUT TO THE QUICK.
Did you all miss the memo that this was unintentional? Have you all forgotten that the height was correct at pre-race inspection? You also must have missed the statement from NASCAR that in no way was this looked upon as cheating. Oh, wait. I forgot - you’re all Gordon-haters and can’t stand the fact that Jeff Gordon is a highly talented NASCAR driver who just so happens to enunciate. So, I completely understand where all of this is coming from. Seems the whining isn’t being done by Jeff this time, huh…. GO TEAM HENDRICK!!!
NO sadler is just mad because Gordon is way better than him and plus he wasnt cheating some broke on the car him and his crew had nothing to do with it.
if the infraction was not intentional, why move gordon to the 42 place ?
Y’all say they are playing favorites. I laugh when I hear that considering that two big names like Kenseth and Kahne got penalized. Really is car was an inch low, some bolts broke on a very rough race track, that doesn’t suprise me. And when dale jr. got car didn’t pass post-race inspection I remember Waltrip and Jr on top of the car after the race. The things with Kahne, Riggs, Sadler, and Kenseth’s car was cheating. Gordons car it could have broke cause it did pass pre race inspection. The whole deal with Waltrip they should have sent his goofy ass back home. His penalty was no severe enough. If an athlete these days gets caught using steriods they get sent home. Steriod is the same thing as that stuff he put it his gas, adds horsepower. He should have been sent home.
I totally agree with Sadler!! He should have been stripped of the victory especially if they are going to be buckling down on things!!
Melissa you are my hero. You hit the nail on the head. All these people are Gordon-basher who love Earnhardt. They are just upset that Earnhardt sucks at driving. He tries to follow in his father’s footstep’s by bump-drafting and other stuff like that. But all he manages to do is wreck the car that he “bump-drafts.” Then he says, “um…..yea, I took the air off his spoiler, and ummmm, he got loose in front of me and ummmmmm, I couldn’t help hitting him if he is spinning if front of me.”
Also back on subject. Read what Jeff Burton says about the penalty. “In this case, I don’t think they deserved a point penalty or a suspension, because it probably was a negligible gain on the racetrack. And if you look at the part, it wasn’t intentional,” Burton said.
“So it probably wasn’t much of a gain. It wasn’t intentional. It’s not like they set out to intentionally cheat, which should be dealt with differently if they did. I went in there very uncomfortable with the penalty, and after looking at the part, I’m very comfortable with the penalty.”
And one other thing TOYOTA WON THE TRUCK RACE. AND ON TOP OF THAT 4 OF THE TOP 5 ARE TOYOTA’S. Who’s come to play now?
I try to think i am very fair about most things. Last year when Chad Knaus was suspended but no points were taken i understood how the rules worked at that time. i didn’t hate them for trying to bend the rules in there favor i just wasn’t sure that it didnt deem the same points deduction as the Hall of Fame team.
Giving this thought and seeing the part explained very clearly on Speed by Jeff Hammond I wonder if it could have been intentional to after 50 laps or so of rough driving and bump drafting if it wasn’t put on right of course it would give. Crew chiefs are pretty smart thats why they are in that position. All teams at one point or another try to explore the grey area. But when somthing so minor can make such a big difference in aero you have to wonder was it intentional or not and even if it wasnt, it wasnt the 19 or the 10’s intention to cheat. They had used the same bolts all last year after all and it was found before they ever tried to qualify, i would think that pre race means if it isnt up to NASCARS standards they have to make it that way before they can attempt to.
So why fine them points when they tried to qualify perfectly legal? It just seems that NASCARS rules of intention differed far to much on the penalties they gave out.
benny ur awesome! sadler’s exactly right!
Sadler is just a big cry baby. He is just mad that his crew chief, along with the other three for the other teams were susupended. But you have to look at two MAJOR things here. The four teams did something intentional, that when NASCAR investigated it, they even admitted to doing.
You have to look at the facts before making this a battle of the love or hate of Jeff Gordon, which is what every single one of you have made it into. Just everyone shut up and look at the facts, and if you dont want to look at them, then dont talk because none of you know what your even talking about.
Jeff Gordons car passed PRE-race inspection. The shocks that NASCAR distributes to the teams, one of which obviously went to the 24 car, broke during the race. It was popping up and down causing the quarter panels to bounce up and down, something that happend during the race, not intentionally done by the team. The shocks were given by NASCAR right before the duels, so how could it have been done intentionally?
Its just like if someone blew an engine during qualifying, which technically, the race is a qualifying race…. Not an ACTUAL race, so shouldnt it be the same thing? You would think so, and NASCAR made it the same. Just like if something broke on a car during qualifying, they have to go to the back of the pack… So they made Jeff go to the back, its simple.
Why would they dock points from the team when they didnt even know anything about it.
Now you all probably think im a HUGE Jeff Gordon fan or something because im standing up for him and his team….
your DEAD wrong… I hate the guy, with a passion….
But I say what I feel is right, not just complain because I do or do not like a driver…
Get your facts right people, or dont bother talking. If your going to talk, make sure your not just backing up a driver because you like him, or dissing a driver because you hate him. Grow up and discuss something based on the facts.
that is all
Ok now, this bothers me, I am a huge Gordon fan, but in my opinion what they did with theyre call was right. I woulda thought the same thing if it happened to earnhardt even though i think he cant drive. Im not choosing sides people but you have to understand it was a qualifying race. They didnt literally say gordon didnt win but they put him in the back of the pack (which if yall think for once is as bad as getting the victory stripped). Now i think what sadler is saying is wrong. I like him too but that is just wrong to say especially because they had an intentional infraction. Gordons was unintentional. End of story.
K im done ranting
I dont understand why everyone is crying over broken shocks if half you people would read it was a shock bolt put in the wrong hole.if it passed pre-race inspection and was ok why wasnt it after the race .apparently someone changed the position of the bolt ,dddddddddduuuuuh call it what u may but if thats the case its cheating and hes lucky to be going to the rear and not totally dq’d.I also am an avid fan of Jeff Gordon and Im sure he knew nothing about it.He doesnt need to cheat to win as you can tell by his championships.Earnhardt fans are crying as usual
I totally agree with Chris. If you don’t know the facts, don’t talk. I am a huge Jeff Gordon fan and if this incident was about cheating and not a malfunction, I would be extremely disappointed and I certainly wouldn’t be backing him in the fight. In this case, though, it was an unintentional mistake and I wish everyone would just let it rest at that.
What NASCAR needs to do is put into the rule book what infraction - no matter how it happened - gets what penalty, period. No adjusting for different drivers, different times, likes and dislikes. It’s a crock. You can’t just say, “well we’ll dock him 50 and 50, and we’ll dock the other guy his starting position.” BE FAIR AT ALL TIMES ACROSS THE BOARD.
I disagree because I am a Jeff Gordon fan and the team were unaware of what happend to the shock observer
Gordon hardly ever gets penalized for anything because of who he is.
Nascar’s wonder. He should have got more that he did.
I think sadler has alot of nerve to talk about any oneanybody that would leave his car during the middle of the season is a wash out
I said earlier in an article that was printed about the others penaltized that if it was a Chevy things would be different because I have noticed that if you driver a Chevy you do not get the same as the Ford, Dodge or now Toyota. And I guest I was right since he did not get points taken away, I think NASCAR needs to be penalized for not being equal. I have watched racing for over 20 years and I can not believe what is happening they will not gain viewers, and with this I may not watch anymore. Gordon may not have told anyone to do it to the car but I don’t think Matt, Kasey, or Elliot told anyone to do it to their car either so why do they lose points and not Gordon. Chevy Chevy Chevy. I heard on TV that what Johnson’s team did to his car was worse than what was done to Kasey, Elliot and Scott’s car but they lose points Johnson doesn’t (Chevy). NASCAR is making a point and I have heard if you do not have a Chevy we will make sure you have a hard time getting to the Championship, we only want a Chevy.
Isn’t it ironic that Gordon is in 2nd place, kicking ass now… Where is Dale Jr?
You all ARE a bunch of whooped Jr. fans.
If it weren’t for his daddy he would have shit for a fan-base.
Learn your NASCAR folks.
I’m not saying it has never happened, but I have never seen a win taken from a driver. If you can make it past pre-race inspection, all you have to do is win the race. So the fine is basicly 50% of the winnings, You still make more money than finishing 43rd place. Bump a car on the track– you get to pull the fenders out for more down force. If you don’t pass post race inspection you should get no points for the race and be listed as finishing 43.