Clint Bowyer had a rather unfortunate collision with Jeff Gordon, which forced the latter to miss morning practice. However, unlike their on-field rivalry, this time, the accident that resulted in damaging Gordon’s car was just that, an unintentional accident.
Jeff Gordon had to miss out on his Saturday morning practice after the right rear quarter panel of his No. 24 Chevrolet was crushed by Clint Bowyer. Interestingly, this accident didn’t happen on the racetrack, but in the garage area. Gordon’s car was struck as he backed out of his stall by an advancing Bowyer. Fortunately, foul play has been ruled out because it is believed Gordon’s crewman did not notice Bowyer’s on-coming No. 15 Toyota.
The minor collision occurred when Bowyer was driving his powerful vehicle through the unusually crowded garage area, right about the same time Jeff Gordon was preparing to back out. While Bowyer’s view appeared to be partially blocked by boxes that jutted out near Gordon’s garage, the latter’s crewman may have failed to check both ways before signaling Gordon to reverse his way out to the racetrack.
Apparently, neither of the two were aware till the very last minute, and Bowyer ended up running into the right rear quarter panel of Gordon’s Chevrolet, denting the beautifully painted car, reported USA Today .
After an unfortunate incident during 1st practice, my guys did an amazing job getting #24 ready for this practice. pic.twitter.com/9GydRkapGO
— Jeff Gordon (@JeffGordonWeb) July 18, 2015
Though the collision resulted in only cosmetic damage to the car, it meant the car had to go back in for repairs, and that meant Gordon had to abandon practice. Fortunately for him, his team raced against time to replace the damaged panel and ensured his car was ready by the start of final practice at 12:30 p.m. ET, reported SB Nation .
Speaking about the incident, Gordon said, “The guy that backs me out looked over, guess he was just starting to back me out and I crept out there and he cleared me, but (Bowyer), probably couldn’t really see me. I don’t know if he kind of glanced away or what, but when he looked back, I was just right there and couldn’t go anywhere. It’s kind of a combination of, I guess, both of us could take fault in that.”
It is quite obvious the garage lane is usually quite crowded with crew members attending the cars, officials mingling with the stars, and fans trying to get cozy with the drivers. However, the situation was particularly more troublesome on Sunday.
NASCAR fans are undoubtedly waiting for Gordon and Bowyer to clash, especially after their nasty brawl during the fall 2012 race at Phoenix International Raceway. However, both of them appear to have forgiven each other for such a trivial collision.
[Image Credit | Rainier Ehrhardt, Jerry Markland / Getty Images]
