Post by dalejrfan on Jun 5, 2005 20:31:51 GMT -5
DOVER, Del. -- It wasn't quite the magnitude of their memorable war of words in 2000 at Watkins Glen, but Dover came close.
Jeff Gordon wound up 39th at Dover after he was tapped by Tony Stewart on Lap 41, sending Gordon into Dover's unforgiving Turn 2 wall.
Final lapsGreg Biffle takes the checkers and then hits the fence
Gordon, Stewart reactJeff Gordon and Tony Stewart share their side of the wreck
Cue the accusations.
Gordon was upset that Stewart rubbed him so early in the race, but Stewart counterattacked, saying Gordon should have moved over and let him go.
"He just ran out of patience. I just think it's a little uncalled for to start something that fast," Gordon said. "I probably would have let him go once we got out there."
"He expects more patience out of everybody else, not himself," Stewart said. "I don't know what it is with him and Jimmie [Johnson] and Ryan [Newman], but it's a group of them that think the roads are named after them."
Stewart finished a lap down in 15th after he was caught speeding on the final pit stop. It was the first time Stewart had ever finished worse than 11th at the Monster Mile.
Gordon, was also caught up in wrecks at Richmond and Charlotte, now has a staggering five DNFs in the first 13 races this season. His car had heavy rear-end damage, forcing a third consecutive DNF for the first time since 1993.
But Gordon knows the incident could have been avoided, and he vowed to remember the day.
"All I can say that the next time Tony's holding me up, it won't be very long for him to be out of my way," Gordon said.
"That is fine," Stewart said. "We can get into a car-crashing war. It does not matter to me."
"Jeff is always whining like that. I mean, if somebody does something to Jeff, it's always their fault, that is just Jeff Gordon."
Stewart said he sees a trend in NASCAR where drivers have to constantly battle slower cars for position, and he cited Mark Martin and Jeff Burton as the two best examples of give-and-take.
"The best thing that can happen to NASCAR is Mark Martin giving a seminar on give-and-take," Stewart said. "It didn't used to be like this. Now you have got to race them to the death to get by them."
Jeff Gordon wound up 39th at Dover after he was tapped by Tony Stewart on Lap 41, sending Gordon into Dover's unforgiving Turn 2 wall.
Final lapsGreg Biffle takes the checkers and then hits the fence
Gordon, Stewart reactJeff Gordon and Tony Stewart share their side of the wreck
Cue the accusations.
Gordon was upset that Stewart rubbed him so early in the race, but Stewart counterattacked, saying Gordon should have moved over and let him go.
"He just ran out of patience. I just think it's a little uncalled for to start something that fast," Gordon said. "I probably would have let him go once we got out there."
"He expects more patience out of everybody else, not himself," Stewart said. "I don't know what it is with him and Jimmie [Johnson] and Ryan [Newman], but it's a group of them that think the roads are named after them."
Stewart finished a lap down in 15th after he was caught speeding on the final pit stop. It was the first time Stewart had ever finished worse than 11th at the Monster Mile.
Gordon, was also caught up in wrecks at Richmond and Charlotte, now has a staggering five DNFs in the first 13 races this season. His car had heavy rear-end damage, forcing a third consecutive DNF for the first time since 1993.
But Gordon knows the incident could have been avoided, and he vowed to remember the day.
"All I can say that the next time Tony's holding me up, it won't be very long for him to be out of my way," Gordon said.
"That is fine," Stewart said. "We can get into a car-crashing war. It does not matter to me."
"Jeff is always whining like that. I mean, if somebody does something to Jeff, it's always their fault, that is just Jeff Gordon."
Stewart said he sees a trend in NASCAR where drivers have to constantly battle slower cars for position, and he cited Mark Martin and Jeff Burton as the two best examples of give-and-take.
"The best thing that can happen to NASCAR is Mark Martin giving a seminar on give-and-take," Stewart said. "It didn't used to be like this. Now you have got to race them to the death to get by them."