#24-Jeff Gordon put a scare in the crowd and offered a testimony to safety advances by crashing near the end of the Pocono 500. Gordons Chevrolet suffered the most nightmarish of Pocono Raceway fates. The brakes failed suddenly at the end of the front straight the longest in NASCAR with Gordon speeding along at over 200 mph. With little other choice, Gordon skidded into the grass, scrubbing off some speed before his car slammed savagely into the SAFER barriers. The grass and mud from the infield excursion coated the trailing car of Tony Raines [and of #07-Clint Bowyer], running perhaps 150 yards behind him. Miraculously, Gordon was unhurt. I dont know how, said Gordon. Thats one of the hardest hits Ive ever taken. We broke a right-front (brake) rotor going into turn one, and thats about as bad a thing as can happen to you at Pocono. The impact damaged the barriers and left a considerable amount of debris to be cleaned up. The race was interrupted for 13 minutes, 9 seconds. The red flag was unfurled at the end of 193 (out of 200) laps, and racing resumed with five remaining.(Gaston Gazette)(6-12-2006)
UPDATE: Jeff Gordon was checked out by doctors Sunday and was cleared to race in this weekend’s 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway, NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp confirmed Tuesday.(SceneDaily.com)(6-14-2006)
