WASHINGTON — Usually when you go to a hockey game you can expect a fight to happen, but at a NASCAR race?
Well, it happened Sunday, after the AAA Texas 500. Jimmie Johnson came out on top after a frantic finish in race eight of the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. It was the second attempt at a green-white-checkered finish — an attempt to finish a race under green-flag racing condition.
On the first such attempt, on lap 335 of a race originally scheduled for 334, Johnson’s teammate and Chase contender Jeff Gordon, who had been leading, spun out from the front after contact with Brad Keselowski after Gordon had taken the outside lane. Gordon drifted high, and Keselowski pushed through the gap, making contact and leaving Gordon with a cut tire.
While Johnson celebrated his victory, his fourth at Texas, Gordon got out of his car and confronted Keselowski. Punches appeared to be thrown, and Keselowski later appeared to be spitting blood.
It was a costly loss for Gordon, who was the leader in the standings after seven races, but is now in fourth with just two races to go. Keselowski is now in seventh place.
But Gordon could suffer another setback after this incident. He delivered an expletive on live television — and could draw a penalty from NASCAR, similar to the one Dale Earnhart Jr. received in 2004.
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