If NASCAR doesn’t suspend Jeff Gordon, it should have only one explanation

NASCAR officials had a difficult decision on their hands as they went to bed Sunday night following a wild race at Phoenix International Raceway.

Jeff Gordon incited a massive brawl that involved him, his #24 team and several members of Clint Bowyer’s #15 team Sunday after he intentionally turned Bowyer into the wall Sunday as the field came to the white flag.

While the fight was the most eye-catching part of the incident, the part of the situation that will likely receive the most scrutiny is Gordon’s punting of Bowyer into the wall on purpose, even though Bowyer still had a mathematical chance to win the Sprint Cup Series championship.

Bowyer had gotten underneath Gordon and made contact a few laps before the wreck that started the fight. The fender rub caused Gordon’s tire to blow and he crashed in Turn 4. The part of the wreck that should be the focus of NASCAR’s decision is what happened next.

Gordon waited for Bowyer to come back around the track and then turned him straight into the wall while also wrecking Joey Logano and Aric Almirola. He also nearly ruined another championship contender’s day because Brad Keselowski was right behind Logano when the wreck happened.

Anyway, Gordon’s actions looked a lot like what Kyle Busch did to Ron Hornaday Jr. last year at Texas Motor Speedway in a Camping World Truck Series race.

Hornaday Jr. was in championship contention heading into the race, but he and Busch traded paint early in the event. The caution came out shortly thereafter, and Busch drove Hornaday Jr. up into the Turn 2 wall, effectively ending Hornaday Jr.’s shot at winning the title.

The only difference between Busch’s actions and Gordon’s actions was the presence of the yellow flag. Busch wrecked Hornaday Jr. under caution while Gordon wrecked Bowyer under green-flag conditions.

That should also be the only reason NASCAR doesn’t suspend Gordon for next week’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Everything else about the wrecks is essentially the same.

If NASCAR doesn’t suspend Gordon and says they made the decision based on something other than whether the wreck happened under caution, the sport will be thrown into a mess that would once again tarnish the integrity of the sport.

NASCAR dropped a major punishment on Busch last year by parking him for both the Nationwide and Cup races at Texas following his intentional wreck. Sure, Busch is considered a brash, pain-in-the-butt by many in the sport and Gordon has the reputation of a four-time champion that time has helped mold. But none of that should factor into whether NASCAR allows Gordon to race next Sunday.

Some people might say a punishment by NASCAR would prevent rough racing in the future and continue to make a sport that has dwindling excitement even more mellow. I doubt it. NASCAR has delivered punishments for all kinds of actions on the track and in the garage area through the years, and we still end up with arguments and even fights from time to time.

It would be better for the integrity of the sport to suspend Gordon, if for nothing else than to establish a little bit of consistency in the sport’s rulings.

Others might say the Busch incident was different because he wasn't a full-time competitor in the truck series, but that shouldn't make a difference. He was on the track that night trying to win the race just as much as the other 35 drivers in that truck race, just as Gordon did Sunday against a full Cup series field.

Whether Gordon’s actions Sunday deserve a suspension will be debated for a long time, but NASCAR set a precedent last year by suspending Busch for his wreck at Texas.

That is, unless officials say they won’t suspend Gordon because he intentionally wrecked a championship contender under green-flag conditions.

Anything else would further diminish the integrity of a sport that already has enough of those problems.

Rating the AdvoCare 500: 5 Stars *****

The Sprint Cup Series’ final trip out West turned into an old-fashioned bar fight, a down-and-out team won for the first time in more than a year situation the championship situation changed dramatically amid all the noise. The wild day at Phoenix International Raceway gets a 5 Star Rating.

Like it or not, Sunday’s race had everything, and all of it was unexpected.

First, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson hit the wall coming out of Turn 4 on lap 235 after his right-front tire went flat. That incident relegated him to a 32-place finish and put him 20 points behind Brad Keselowski, who finished sixth.

But that was only the beginning of the mayhem that took place Sunday in the desert.

Danica Patrick and Sam Hornish Jr. had their weekly spat as Hornish Jr. tapped the side of Danica’s car on lap 299 coming out of Turn 4. The contact cut down Hornish Jr.’s left-front tire and eventually sent him into the wall.

Then the big one happened. Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon made contact in turns 3 and 4 on the restart, and Gordon ended up slapping the wall. He then waited for Bowyer to come back around the track and turned him sideways, wrecking Bowyer, Joey Logano and Aric Almirola in the process.

Once Gordon got to the garage area, Bowyer’s team was waiting and ready to pounce. They did, and a huge brawl broke out behind the #24 team’s hauler as members of both teams started throwing punches. Bowyer sprinted to the garage area to get in on the action, but he and Gordon never met until after the race inside the NASCAR hauler with officials.

After that excitement settles down, NASCAR restarts the race with a green-white-checkered finish. Patrick wrecks in Turn 4 as the field comes to the white flag, but NASCAR doesn’t throw a caution. The entire field then slides through the oil from Patrick’s car as they come to the finish line and a major wreck ensues.

Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch and Paul Menard all sustain major hits as they plowed through the oil and into Patrick’s car. Keselowski got hit coming to the line, but he didn’t get turned.

To put the finishing touches on a crazy day, Kevin Harvick won the race. It was the first time he and the #29 team had gone to Victory Lane since September of last year at Richmond.

The win was surprising because Harvick and the entire Richard Childress Racing organization had shown no signs of contending for a win for nearly the entire season. Harvick finished second at Phoenix in the spring race, but he hadn’t even had a top-10 finish in the Chase up until Sunday.

Maybe the win will boost the Childress teams, but they still have a lot of work to do to be competitive on a weekly basis, especially at larger tracks.

People will likely debate for days about what NASCAR should do about the Gordon-Bowyer incident and what penalties it should or should not hand out. The one issue from Sunday’s race that shouldn’t be disputed is NASCAR’s incorrect call to throw the caution flag for Patrick’s wreck.

Week after week NASCAR officials call for a caution flag for water bottles and sandwiches or whatever incidental piece of debris is on the race track, yet they didn’t call a caution when Patrick’s #10 car slid sideways through Turn 4 after hitting the wall.

That’s what caused the big wreck on the final lap. Officials always talk about the importance of safety in the sport, but they put drivers in harm’s way on the final lap when they allowed the race to finish under green.

Robin Pemberton’s excuse that officials couldn’t see fluid on the track shouldn’t justify NASCAR’s actions, or lack of action. The caution comes out for small incidents all the time when the leader has put together a big enough lead to keep the race from being exciting.

NASCAR should’ve thrown the caution flag for Patrick’s wreck. Period.

Anyway, Johnson will take a 20-point lead into Homestead to try to win … Wait, not Johnson. Keselowski will take that lead to Homestead to try to win his first championship. He needs to finish 15^th or better to win the trophy. If he does, he will become the first driver to go head-to-head with Johnson in the Chase and beat him since Tony Stewart did it in 2005. That’s a pretty impressive feat, and Keselowski and the #2 team have had a very impressive season.

Have a great final week of the 2012 season, everybody.