NASCAR WCUP: Kevin Harvick 'not sorry' for contact with Robby Gordon

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

June 25, 2001

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet Monte Carlo (Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender, finished 14th):

"It was a frustrating day. We got off of our plan and pitted too many times and got behind. I guess I was speeding when I came onto pit road and got caught (penalized). I was trying to get a lap back. If that would have been anybody with any sense, they would have known I had fresh tires on. We were quite a bit faster than Robby (Gordon) and you've got to do what you've got to do. If we wouldn't have gotten that lap back, we would have been 15 spots further behind. So I don't feel sorry for him a bit."

(What are your full thoughts on that pass in turn 7?) "Well, I'd been behind him (Robby Gordon) for a long time. If he would have just let me go by, then Tony (Stewart) would have never gotten by. But he swerved up and ran into the side of me. That's the way it goes."

(If the roles were reversed, would letting the guy with fresh tires go by be the smart thing to do?) "You're leading the race, what do you do? You let the guy behind you go. He's a lap down and it doesn't mean anything to you. You protect your spot from the guy in second. So you've just got to realize who you're racing with sometimes and just take what he gives you."

(What was Richard Childress telling you on the radio during that whole time?) "He said that they (the No. 7 team) told him they were going to give us our lap back as soon as a yellow (caution flag) came out. But you can't trust very many people. I wouldn't give anybody their lap back, especially if they were faster than you. So, it's just one of those situations where you get into it and you've got to do what you've got to do. I was doing what I was having to do and he was leading the race. The smart thing would have been to let me go. I was on brand new tires. Richard was saying to be easy on him. I was easy on him but he was still going."

(Once you saw that Robby Gordon was not going to give you your lap back, did you think about backing off?) "Nope. I was trying to get my lap back. I peeked to the inside a couple of times but for some reason he decided to block. I don't know if he thought I was racing for the lead or what the deal was. It's over and done with."

(Did this surprise you?) "It really did surprise me. There was plenty of distance between me and Tony (Stewart) and it was just me and him up there. Obviously I've got that yellow and black (paint from the No. 7 car) all over the front of my car trying to get by him. When somebody is that much faster than you and obviously you know that they have fresh tires, sometimes it's just better to let it go - especially when you're leading the race."

(Did you see Tony Stewart on that move? Did you expect him to be there on the inside?) "When Robby shoved us up, I had to let on the gas and he (Stewart) was obviously coming. So yeah, I saw him coming and he went by me. I'm not going to be the one that causes the wreck. I was just trying to get my lap back. It was like a rolling freight train trying to get by him. He was swerving all over the place and trying to hold me off for some reason. I had to get my lap back."

(If he had just run you clean and given you room, would you have passed him?) "If he'd just have run straight, I'd have gotten by him clean and everything would have been fine. I had a good run coming off the No. 90 back there in the new section and got up underneath him and he ran me all the way down to the curb. At that point, I didn't feel any mercy for him. If he's not going to run straight down the straightaway, you've got to take what you're going to give. And that's how I've always looked at it. It would be different if I was running for second place. But if you can't drive straight and drive clean, then I don't feel sorry for him a bit."

Text provided by Nancy Wager

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