Bring it on: Chase drama is far from over after wild night in Texas
Sunday night at Texas Motor Speedway, the boys had it. And when they did, it all hit the fan.
The result was a race that was compelling and at times dramatic, and an aftermath that was briefly violent and occasionally absurd. And it set up what almost certainly will be another bare-knuckle brawl at Phoenix International Raceway.
A quick recap: On the first of two green-white-checkered restarts, Brad Keselowski tried to dive between Jimmie Johnson on the low side and Jeff Gordon on the high side. When he did, Gordon moved down to block him. The two made contact, with Gordon getting a flat tire that dropped him from second to 29th in the final running, and may ultimately cost Gordon a spot in the Championship Round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Johnson drove to victory ahead of Kevin Harvick and Keselowski.
Afterwards, Gordon confronted Keselowski on pit road. When Keselowski walked away from Gordon, Harvick showed up and pushed Keselowski back toward Gordon. Gordon grabbed Keselowski by the collar and a full-scale brawl ensued.
Keselowski said he was racing the way Ayrton Senna or Dale Earnhardt would have.
"That almost won me the race," Keselowski said. "It hurt somebody else's day. That's a shame. But the reality is there was a gap. You know, I'm not Dale Earnhardt or Senna. I read how they raced, how great they were for this sport. They would sit here and tell you they would go for that same gap. I'm not them, but I'm inspired by that, and I'm going to race that way."
Gordon, naturally disagreed.
"He's just a dips--t," Gordon said. "The way he races, I don't know how he's ever won a championship and I'm just sick and tired. That's why everyone is fighting him and running him down. Your emotions are high. That was a huge, huge race for us. We had the car and had the position."
I don't fault Keselowski for going for it. He pretty much needed to win to advance to the final round. As it turned out, he finished third, but if he didn't attempt to make the pass, he had zero chance of winning. Was it reckless? Maybe. But it really was his only shot.
That said, it was disingenuous of Keselowski to ruin Gordon's night, then try to walk away and then afterwards proclaim, "I came here to race, not to fight." If you're going to destroy someone's night — and probably their championship hopes — stand there and defend yourself instead of walking away. Buy the ticket, take the ride.
The most bizarre part of the whole thing was the fact that Harvick called Keselowski a p---y, told him to fight his own fights and shoved him back into Gordon's direction. That's when all hell broke loose. Harvick said he had no problem with how Keselowski raced, as long as he would take it like a man afterwards.
I asked Jimmie Johnson about the fight after the race and here's what he said: "When your only opportunity to advance is to win, he (Keselowski) had a bad race in Martinsville, he's got to do all he can to win. So the system is breeding this. It was by design. I think (NASCAR Chairman and CEO) Brian France sat back and looked long and hard at this and was hopeful that these moments would happen.
"It's changing the way things take place on the track," Johnson said. "When I think back to when I started, we'd point people by, let them go. There was this gentleman agreement on the racetrack. Everybody told you to study Mark Martin, watch how he lets people go. That hasn't happened in years. We'll cut each other's throat any chance we get. It's just trending that way."
So now, NASCAR will decide if any penalties need to be handed out and if so, likely will announce them on Tuesday afternoon.
Asked about the fight and possible penalties, NASCAR's Robin Pemberton said, "We'll take our time. We'll make all the right decisions that we can. We've got a lot of things to look at."
Pemberton was also asked about whether the post-race fracas crossed line. He confirmed that it did.
"You shouldn't punch somebody," Pemberton said. "Everybody gets together and when you're holding on to each other and grabbing and this, that and the other. When punches are landed, that's a different scenario."
So now it's on to Phoenix, where four of the eight drivers still alive in the Chase will leave with a chance to become the Sprint Cup champion the following week and Homestead-Miami Speedway. From front to back, the eight Chasers are separated by a mere 18 points.
There's going to be all kinds of hell raised at Phoenix this weekend: drama, trash talking, rubbing and probably some wrecking and fighting, too.
Bring it on.
