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McDowell, Gilliland meet with NASCAR officials; no penalties forthcoming
By SceneDaily Staff
Sunday, August 10, 2008
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - NASCAR officials met with Michael McDowell and David Gilliland following Sunday's Centurion Boats at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. The two made contact with eight laps to go in the Sprint Cup race, sparking a vicious nine-car crash.
After the race, the pair met with NASCAR officials to make sure there was no ill intent in the incident. NASCAR officials say the drivers will not be penalized for the accident, which started when McDowell hit Gilliland in Turn 11.
"They just kind of got into each other and neither one of them said it was anything more than just hard racing, both guys," NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said following the meeting. "It was a shame that it had the outcome for so many cars that were right there behind them at the time. That's all we were checking, making sure it was hard racing. That we don't mind, but we don't like it when it takes out a lot of cars the way it did."
McDowell, a rookie with Michael Waltrip Racing, didn't accept blame for the crash but he did apologize for the impact it had. The incident sparked a 43-minute, 5-second red-flag period on lap 84 of the 90.
"I had a run and I went underneath him and he just didn't give me a whole lot of room," McDowell said. "Maybe I shouldn't have been in there, but we're racing hard to stay in the top 35 in owner points and try to get back into the top 35. ... It's unfortunate and I'm sorry for the fans and all the cars that got wrecked there and then they had to wait through that red flag."
He said that he watched the video with Gilliland.
"Him and I were racing hard and I got underneath him going in there and he pretty much came down like I wasn't there," said McDowell, who remained outside of the top 35 following the race. "I tried to back out of it not to get into him. He went wide so I checked the momentum up and it almost seemed like he was trying to get back at me. After watching it, it looked like it was racing deal and it wasn't anything blatant. It just turned into a big mess with all the other cars that got into it. David's all right and everybody can walk away and I'm sorry to all the teams that have tore-up race cars. I was just racing hard and trying to get the car back in the top 35 and you're racing for your job every weekend."
Gilliland also deemed the incident "hard racing." He was unable to continue and finished 40th while McDowell was able to continue and finished 25th.
"[I] just hated that it ruined our day and a bunch of other innocent people's days," the Yates Racing driver said. "Our Ford was running pretty good, we had a good, solid, consistent day going and got into it there a little with the 00 car [of McDowell]. Too bad it ended our day early, but we'll come back and get them next week."
Gilliland said that in the meeting with NASCAR, McDowell said that he didn't know Gilliland's position on the track.
"He said he didn't really realize I was there on the outside of him and just kind of came up and kind of put us in the wall," Gilliland said. "So it's a disappointing ending to a decent day we had going, but we'll get them next week."
After being hit initially, Gilliland bounced off the wall and into the path of Bobby Labonte, whose Petty Enterprises car hit Gilliland's hard and slammed both cars into opposite retaining walls. Gilliland admitted he was feeling the aftereffects of that impact.
"I'm a little sore everywhere, I think, but I'll be all right, I'll be good," he said.
Mentioned Drivers: David Gilliland
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Comments
6 responses to "McDowell, Gilliland meet with NASCAR officials; no penalties forthcoming". Post a Comment.
joyce snow said:
Aug 11, 2008 at 1:06 PMMcDowell needs to watch what he is doing. Its not the first big wreck for him.
said:
Aug 11, 2008 at 2:17 PMOh come on Joyce thats just hard racing. We have seen hundreds of wrecks over the last few years that were just hard racing. I'd like to see you in one of those cars. McDowell is still new in this series he'll learn. Its great that no one was hurt but in these new cars there is a lot of pertection for the drivers. Let them race. The road races are the only good races this year. Most of them are getting so boring.
Paul Baumgarten said:
Aug 11, 2008 at 4:17 PMThat's not hard racing, that is dumb racing.
jesse jesse Mcelroy said:
Aug 11, 2008 at 6:26 PMIT WAS JUST HARD RACING,WHICH IS WHAT WE WANT TO SEE,IF YOU WANT TO WATCH FOLLOW THE LEADER WATCH FORMULAR 1. BUT THE GOOD THING ABOUT THE WRECK WAS ESPN ACTUALLY HAD TO MENTION THE CARS IN THE WRECK INSTEAD OF JUST THE 7 CARS THEY SHOW EVERY WEEK.SOMETIMES I THINK THEY HAVE ONLY 4 CARS IN THE RACE.
Richard Reeves said:
Aug 11, 2008 at 10:53 PMWhile I do like to see hard racing, there is a total difference in what McDowell did on Sunday. Watch the replay and you will see him jacking the rear end of the 38 going into the corner to move him out of the way. That is not racing! Being able to get a run, out brake or just out drive another driver is racing. Banging someone out of the way and then endanger his life by taking the whole track to get around him just shows why NASCAR should park people who drive rough. This is racing not a demolition derby. Gilliland gave him room after he got muscled out of the way and guess McDowell thought he needed more or either way he should have been parked after an incredibly stupid stunt like that! Any team that would be interested in someone who can't handle a car that has the horsepower that the top cars have, must be out of their minds. He has shown that he needs a few years to develop.
Paul Baumgarten said:
Aug 12, 2008 at 1:58 PMJesse, you don't need to shout, especially when your opinion has little merit. Richard, I agree with every word of your post.