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Gordon made one attempt at a celebratory burnout, which he later admitted was a bad decision because it egged fans on to throw more debris at him.
Track officials warned fans they would be arrested for throwing anything on the track, and 10 fans were detained as Gordon’s crew frantically called for security help to get the team spotter out of the stands.
“It don’t look like it’s something you can control,” Earnhardt Jr. sighed.
NASCAR condemned the debris throwing.
“It’s very unfortunate a few unruly fans can ruin things for a lot of people,” spokesman Jim Hunter said. “The track put a lot of effort into preventing this type of behavior. Our fans are passionate, but this type of behavior doesn’t represent a majority of our fans.”
Earnhardt Jr., who made a brief run at the victory, finished seventh. But unlike last week, when he visited Gordon in Victory Lane, he stayed away from the celebration.
“I told him this week, I said, ‘You win this one and I ain’t coming into Victory Lane this time. That caused too much trouble,”’ Junior said. “He’s a great race car driver. I knew years ago he would eventually pass my old man. I think he has the opportunity to pass a couple more.”
Jimmie Johnson, Gordon’s teammate, finished second as Hendrick Motorsports cars continued their season-long domination. Hendrick drivers have won six of the first nine races.
Kurt Busch was third, Gilliland fourth and McMurray finished fifth. Kevin Harvick was sixth, followed by Earnhardt, David Stremme, Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr.
Stewart, who had a disastrous race but was still in position to race for the win at the end, wound up 28th.
Ironically, he needed a debris caution — something he questioned the integrity of this week — to save his race. The two-time champion was penalized for speeding on pit road early in the race and went one lap down after returning to the pits.
But he got the lap back shortly after when NASCAR found debris on the track and called for a caution. He struggled on the restart, though, and fell out of the draft. But he got another break moments later when Clint Bowyer wrecked.
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