Robby

	Jeff

SONOMA, Calif. -- For some reason, Jeff Gordon has a Pavlovian response every time Robby Gordon wins a NASCAR Winston Cup race.

Pavlov's dog was trained to salivate every time it heard a bell ring. In Jeff Gordon's case, every time Robby Gordon wins, he loses his cool.

On Sunday, Jeff Gordon was angered by a move that didn't even involve the four-time Winston Cup champion. It came on the 71st lap of the Dodge Save/Mart 350 as the field was racing back to the yellow flag. Robby Gordon passed Kevin Harvick for position, a move that helped determine the winner.

"That's a bunch of crap right there," Jeff Gordon said. "Anybody who races back under the caution like that, I don't know where his mind is. (Robby Gordon) did a great job. He won the race fair and square today, except for that move right there. I don't care if they call it a gentlemen's agreement or not, what he did, especially to his teammate, is absolutely ridiculous.

"If he can be proud and satisfied with himself to go out there and do what he did today, and he's sitting over there in victory lane because he knows he passed his teammate under caution, then by all means have it."

When Robby Gordon scored his first Winston Cup victory in November 2001 at New Hampshire International Speedway, he had to beat Jeff Gordon.

Jeff Gordon did not like the bumping tactic Robby Gordon used to get the lead and retaliated by trying to spin out the winner. For that, he was black-flagged and called to the Winston Cup trailer for disciplinary action.

When the victor was told of Jeff Gordon's comments on Sunday, he had some strong words of his own.

"Do you really think I care what Jeff Gordon says, honestly?" Robby Gordon asked. "Let's not talk about bull crap here. The guy has won enough races. I don't know why he is so sore. I guess he doesn't like it when somebody comes in and rains on his parade.

"Jeff Gordon sat in the same driver's meeting that I did and I interrupted it three times to make sure I knew what they were saying. I can't help it I understood what the rules were and took advantage of it."

Jeff Gordon said he saw Robby Gordon pull a similar move heading back to the yellow flag earlier in the race. When Robby Gordon passed Harvick, his teammate at Richard Childress Racing, on lap 71 to get ahead of one of his biggest challengers, Jeff Gordon got upset.

"I might not have been right behind him, but I saw what happened because he about did it the caution before," Jeff Gordon said. "When I saw Robby become an animal as soon as that caution came out because he thought that was his one golden opportunity to get by him. He was all over the place on Kevin and I'm sure Kevin was looking in his mirrors wondering, 'What the heck is going on here?' I don't know how he actually got by him."

What made the move even harder to accept was it involved teammates, Jeff Gordon said. Had a teammate done that to him, "we'd have a little discussion somewhere," he added.

Told of that comment, Robby Gordon grew even more combative.

"He's not big enough to have a discussion with me," Robby Gordon said. "I don't know why Jeff Gordon has an issue. This has nothing to do with Jeff Gordon. If I passed Jeff Gordon under the caution, then it would be his own concern. As far as I'm concerned, he should mind his own business."

The driver actually involved in the incident had the least to say about it.

"It was good, hard racing except for that (crap) move under yellow," Harvick said.

According to pole-sitter Boris Said, several other drivers passed heading back to the yellow flag.

"Ron Fellows, that idiot, tried to do it to me several times," Said replied. "I had to pass guys under yellow just to keep him from passing me."

Robby Gordon's half-second victory over Jeff Gordon was the culmination of a hard day of racing. Harvick gave team owner Richard Childress two of the top three positions.

"I hate it for Kevin because he drove his heart out," Childress said. "He's a fierce competitor -- both of them are. When you have that, there isn't much give, but we'll talk about it.

"Jeff Gordon was sitting in the driver's meeting. I'm sure he was awake, I think he was awake, he was probably awake -- they said it in the meeting. When Robby asked that question, there shouldn't have been a doubt in anyone's mind that is what he was going to do. If the caution came out, he was going to pass when (NASCAR officials) said you could."

Winston Cup's "Western Vacation" ended up turning the Gordons into the Griswolds.