Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: TV-related fire ruins Robby Gordon’s chances at Glen

Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2001 | 10:16 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

Television largely has been credited with assisting NASCAR's meteoric rise in popularity during the past two decades.

Since the first live broadcast of the Daytona 500 in 1979, television has been responsible for innovations such as the in-car camera and real-time telemetry that have helped bring the excitement of Winston Cup racing into viewers' living rooms.

On Sunday, television actually affected the outcome of a race.

Robby Gordon, driver of the No. 31 Lowe's Chevrolet, clearly had one of the cars to beat in the race at Watkins Glen when a fire suddenly erupted inside the car. TV was there to capture Gordon racing into the pits -- black smoke billowing out of the driver-side window -- and then scrambling to get out of the car.

What NBC failed to report during its telecast, however, was that the fire was the result of a battery pack that had exploded inside the car -- a battery pack that powered the Global Positioning System (GPS) used to provide telemetry for the telecasts and mandated by NASCAR as part of the series' television contract.

"NASCAR owes me one," Gordon said. "We had the car (to beat). I'm disappointed because this team worked so hard the past couple of weeks. We came here and tested and qualified up front. We've been up front every session.

"To go out of the race with something that's not driver-related or team-related is a huge disappointment."

Even eventual winner Jeff Gordon conceded that he might not have won his record seventh road-course race had it not been for Robby Gordon's early departure from the race.

"He had a really strong car all day," Jeff Gordon said. "I don't think we could have beaten him out there today, and that's a shame for Robby Gordon and Richard Childress Racing."

NASCAR officials admitted after the race that they were concerned about the incident and that they were in contact with Sportvision, the company that supplied the GPS units to all 43 cars.

Elliott, who has won the award for the past 10 years in a row and 15 times in his career, said he would like to see Earnhardt receive the award posthumously.

"Being voted the Most Popular Driver for 15 years is certainly an honor," Elliott said. "But, this is a much different year than others. Dale Earnhardt never won this award and I think it would be a tremendous honor for the Earnhardt family to receive it this year.

" I certainly don't want to stand in the way of his family receiving this award."

Elliott is the first driver in the history of the award, which is voted on by the fans, to remove his name from the balloting process.

"Bill's decision to step aside in the voting for the Most Popular Driver Award demonstrates just why he has been such a popular driver for so many years," NASCAR president Mike Helton said. "He always puts the sport -- and his fellow drivers -- before himself. He's not only a great driver, he's a gentleman, too."

Harvick finished seventh Sunday at Watkins Glen while Busch was 29th. Because only a rookie's top 17 finishes are used in determining points, Harvick still leads Busch by 43 points in the rookie standings.

"It's my fault. I had a great, great race car and, obviously, didn't know what to do with it."