Auto racing: Gordon claims support for teammate Busch
After Kyle Busch and his older brother Kurt tangled on track and exchanged some harsh words at NASCAR’s all-star event in May, Jeff Gordon made it a point to make some time for his teammate, Kyle.
Gordon’s still willing to give the 22-year-old driver, who’s leaving Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the season to make room for Dale Earnhardt Jr., the benefit of the doubt. Even in the wake of Busch’s accusations last Saturday that his teammates didn’t work with him in the race he lost by inches at Daytona.
“I think he’s got the utmost support from me,” Gordon said Wednesday during a teleconference. “I showed him that before any of these moves happened. … Throughout this whole thing, I’ve told him, ‘Hey, I’m going to support you, race with you hard but be your teammate at the same time.’ “
Teamwork is particularly important at Daytona, one of two Nextel Cup tracks where NASCAR requires horsepower-sapping carburetor restrictor plates. Drivers need a partner to gain and keep momentum.
At the end of Saturday’s Pepsi 400, Jamie McMurray’s Roush Fenway Racing teammates helped push him to the win – by a bumper – over Busch. While Busch was racing on the low side of the banked oval, teammates Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears chose to stay in the high groove.
NASCAR suspends couple
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Aaron Fike and his fiancee, Cassandra Davidson, a crew member, were suspended indefinitely from NASCAR competition after being arrested on drug charges.
NASCAR issued the suspensions under the rule prohibiting actions detrimental to stock car racing.
The two were arrested Saturday in the parking lot of Kings Island amusement park north of Cincinnati after security officers observed suspicious activity in Fike’s sport utility vehicle and found syringes and a brown substance believed to be heroin, police said.
Kanaan would give subdued apology
Tony Kanaan said he will apologize to Sam Hornish Jr. this weekend for his part in a fight at Watkins Glen, but the Indy Racing League driver didn’t sound contrite.
“If I bump into Sam, I won’t go out of my way to apologize to him, but I will apologize for him for the end lap, if that’s what he’s complaining about, although it doesn’t justify everything else that happened. And we’ll move on,” Kanaan said in a conference call.
Kanaan finished fourth in last Sunday’s race with Hornish coming in second. The Brazilian couldn’t get over that Hornish bumped him trying to pass early, a move he felt cost him positioning and nearly knocked him out of the race.
Kanaan said he was trying to send a quiet message to Hornish by cutting in front of him after the race as they drove toward pit road instead of choosing to yell at him.