NASCAR sends Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson at the back

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson will start at the back of the line for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 because their front fenders failed inspection.

NASCAR sends Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson at the back Doug Duchardt, vice president of development at Hendrick Motorsports, said at the press conference: "When we presented the cars for inspection today, they found that our fenders were outside of what they felt was the tolerance allowable in between the templates. Our understanding was that the cars fit the templates, but they were outside of what they would like to see us in between the templates. I think that they thing for us, from our standpoint, we understand fully the rules around the template, or we felt we understood fully, the rules around the template, however, we felt that we could work between the points on the template and it became clear to us today, and I think to everyone, that that is not acceptable.”

Of course, nothing can spoil the day for Jeff Gordon, who was blessed with a baby girl this week. The current NASCAR leader and his teammate Jimmie Johnson said they will target the top 10 finish, as they both agreed that winning the race would be near impossible. No one has won at Infineon Raceway from the back before.

But this unfortunate event could prove devastating for the bettors all over the world. Before Gordon became father, the sportsbooks were offering odds with Jeff and without him at the race, as he would not have participated at the Toyota/Save Mart 350, had the baby arrived during the weekend. But as soon as little Ella Sofia Gordon was born, betting was back to normal with Jeff Gordon becoming the oddsmakers' favorite to win the Sunday NASCAR race with odds 5/2 by the bookmaker Bodog Sports (official website). Johnson had the odds of 18/1.

People who took on the bet are now plucking their hair one piece at a time. If even the drivers themselves don't believe they can win, all bets on them are money thrown in the air. The bookmaker favorite to win the Nextel race in California is now Tony Stewart with odds of 3/1. The odds on Jeff Gordon are now 11/2 and Jimmie Johnson - 25/1.

Published on 06/23/2007