Harvick Wins In Canada, Gordon Also Claims Win

Saturday, August 4th 2007, 6:54 pm

By: News On 6

MONTREAL (AP) _ Kevin Harvick held off hometown star Patrick Carpentier to win NASCAR's inaugural Busch Series race in Canada on Saturday, but disqualified driver Robby Gordon defiantly tried to claim the victory in a controversial finish that thrilled the crowd.

Gordon took the lead from Marcos Ambrose after a restart with four laps to go, but Ambrose quickly reclaimed it by bumping Gordon out of his way. Gordon went into a spin and the field raced by him as he idled on the course at the historic Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Because the caution flag was waving before Ambrose spun him, Gordon believed he was the leader on the restart, or at worst, in second position. But NASCAR ruled he was in 13th, a decision he vehemently disagreed with.

He refused to move out of second place on the restart, earning an automatic disqualification. When the field went green, he quickly pushed Ambrose out of the way and roared into the lead.

But NASCAR refused to acknowledge him, waving a black flag every time Gordon passed the flagstand for the final three laps. It put the real race to the finish far behind him, between Harvick and Carpentier.

Carpentier tried to pass Harvick, but when the move failed, he faded back and never mounted another challenge as Harvick rolled to the win. But Gordon was also celebrating, doing victory burnouts on the track at the same time as Harvick.

NASCAR officials exited the scoring tower and went straight to their office, where Gordon met them minutes after climbing from his car.

Max Papis finished third, Canadian Ron Fellows was fourth and Stephen Leicht rounded out the top five.