NASCAR Rivals: Jeff Gordon Spun by Carl Edwards on Final Restart
July 9, 2008 by Tim Zaegel
Filed under Racing
As Jeff Gordon searched for his first victory of the 2008 season this past weekend at Daytona International Speedway, the racing Gods had other plans in mind. With the field all set to go for the sixth green-white-checkered finish of the year after a crazy final 35 laps of the race finally wound down to the end, Gordon lined up behind the race leader, Kyle Busch, with Carl Edwards lagging behind. As you can see by watching the video below, the restart was a bit slow, and Edwards was the first to duck out of line. Gordon moved down the track just a little – perhaps to block him, but as a result, was spun out in the infield, ending his bid for the victory and erasing the outstanding effort that the no. 24 team had put together all day long.
Below is video footage of the final restart, and at the end of the clip are comments from Carl Edwards following the race.
Here is the clip from when the show came back from commercial, and they continue to go through the post-race interviews. About 2 1/2 minutes into the clip is the response from Gordon following the incident.
That final restart was a close one! But like you said, the restart was slow.
I’m still waiting for Gordon to pick up a win.
Yeah, I was actually a little surprised that Gordon wasn’t more upset about the spin than what he was. It’s only a matter of time before he gets a W, though.
Ditto Tim. I was waiting for Jeff to lash out in some fashion, but part of blocking is knowing where your back bumper is and I think he realized that.
It was a good effort to force the spot and see if Edwards would back off, but as of late, I expect no real gentleman like demeanor from Carl when it comes to racing for the checkered.
BTW: Carl didn’t do anything wrong either, it was a racin’ deal and something I would have done too.
Interesting tidbit: In order to not spin when someone comes down on your nose, you need to anticipate it, and steer towards that imposing car. It’s a unique talent to keep your car from spinning off nose hits.
I agree, Bruce, that Carl didn’t do anything wrong. But, all the same, Gordon had the look of a guy that might be getting his first win of the season, and he got spun out on the final restart … most people probably would’ve tried to lay some blame on the other guy that soon after the race.
Still, I’d like to have been a fly on the million dollar RV wall after that!!