Brawl overshadows Johnson’s victory at Texas Motor Speedway

People will remember the fight more than the win.

The brawl between Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski and their crews Sunday after the AAA Texas 500 far outweighed Jimmie Johnson winning for a third consecutive year at Texas Motor Speedway.

Gordon appeared poised to win and secure a berth in the Chase championship after seizing the lead with nine laps remaining, but a caution set up a green-white-checkered finish.

Gordon lost the lead to Johnson on the restart and then Keselowski charged hard between Johnson and Gordon. The opening Keselowski thought he saw, though, closed quickly, and he ended up cutting Gordon’s left rear tire.

Gordon spun out, fell a lap down and finished 29th. Keselowski went on to finish third. The real drama happened in the pits afterward.

Gordon furiously went down pit road, creating his own lane en route to Keselowski. That’s where the two confronted each other, and Keselowski tried to keep a safe distance.

But second-place finisher Kevin Harvick pushed Keselowski into the middle and Gordon lunged at him, setting off a melee between the two drivers and their teams.

Keselowski went to the ground at one point, and each driver had noticeable cuts on their face during post-race interviews.

“That’s just uncalled for,” Gordon said on national TV. “I don’t know how he’s ever won a championship.

“It ruined our night. It ruined our chances, might have even ruined our Chase hopes. I had to show my displeasure.”

Keselowski defended his actions, reiterating that he saw a gap that closed sooner than expected.

“I don’t wreck people to win,” Keselowski said. “That’s not the way I race. I’ve been in incidents at the end of the race, but I could say with a clear mind and heart that they weren’t intentional.

“Today something happened. There was a gap. It closed up. By the time it closed up, I was committed and I stayed in it. That almost won me the race. It hurt somebody else’s day. That’s a shame, but the reality is there was a gap.”

This is the second time in four weeks that Keselowski has been involved in a post-race altercation. He drew the ire of Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin following the Charlotte race four weeks ago.

“The kid is just doing stuff way over his head,” Gordon said. “Dumb decisions ... he’s been making a lot of them lately. That is why people have been running after him and chasing him down.”

The intensity and emotions are at an all-time high for the drivers under this new Chase format, and Gordon and Keselowski are gunning hard for the championship.

Gordon entered the race in the best shape for his fifth championship after a second-place run at Martinsville last week. A win, or even a high finish, would have virtually secured a spot for him in the championship round. Now, by finishing 29th, Gordon sits fourth in points and has a one-point lead over Kenseth and Carl Edwards for the final spot.

Keselowski, meanwhile, was desperate to make up for a poor run at Martinsville and pretty much needs to win in order to advance. He fell short and will surely go hard for a win again next week at Phoenix.

NASCAR craved these types of moments in changing the Chase format. Vice president for competition Robin Pemberton, however, said it crossed the line Sunday.

“You shouldn’t punch somebody,” Pemberton said.

He said that NASCAR will review the tapes and take its time in deciding how to handle the altercation. But Pemberton said he had no issues with how Keselowski raced, saying:

“It was hard racing. This is a contact sport.”

Sometimes even off the track.

This story was originally published November 2, 2014 at 8:52 PM with the headline "Brawl overshadows Johnson’s victory at Texas Motor Speedway."