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NASCAR to review the Brawl: NASCAR will study film of the post-race fight [at Texas Motor Speedway at the end of the race] involving #24-Jeff Gordon, #2-Brad Keselowski and a host of crew members, but according to Robin Pemberton, the sanctioning body's senior vice president of competition and racing development, NASCAR has no issue with the incident that caused it. "I think it was hard racing, and this is a contact sport," Pemberton said of Keselowski's up-the-middle attempt pass on the next-to-last restart, a move that left Gordon with a cut tire and diminished championship chances. "You look at what drivers are trying to do. We had a couple shots at a green-white-checkered finish, and everybody was going for it. Nobody was leaving anything behind." The brawl itself is a different story. NASCAR will review the incident in its entirety and decide if penalties are warranted. Keselowski already is on probation from post-race actions three weeks ago at Charlotte. "We knew the (new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup) format was going to put a lot of pressure on people to perform and make aggressive moves and decisions out there on the race track," Pemberton said. "You could see the result of that after the race. We're going to take our time. We've got a lot of film to review and things like that. The important thing is to make the right decision at the end of the day." Pemberton says NASCAR draws the line when drivers and crew members come to blows. "You shouldn't punch somebody," he said. "Everybody gets together, and when you're holding onto each other and grabbing and this, that and the other, that's one thing. When punches are landed, that's a different scenario...We have a lot of work to do this week."(NASCAR Wire Service)(11-3-2014)

Gordon, Keselowski and Harvick comment on the 'brawl': #2-Brad Keselowski made a move on 1st the green-white-checkered finish at Texas Motor Speedway Sunday night, moving past #24-Jeff Gordon. Keselowski's move resulted in contact with Gordon causing a tire to go down, sending the #24 scraping the wall and to the pits, losing a lap. The move was not well received by Gordon, his team or Harvick and his team as both drivers took issue with Keselowski on pit road, resulting in a three-team brawl after the race.
Gordon's comments: "We drove down into Turn 1 and he just decided to body slam us and cut our left-rear tire. It ruined our night. It ruined our chances, ruined our night, might of even ruined our Chase hopes. It's just uncalled for. I had to show my displeasure. It got ugly down there, obviously, and you know that is alright. A lot of things are going to happen in the next couple of weeks."
IS THIS EMOTION THAT WE ARE SEEING FROM A LOT OF YOU GUYS A RESULT OF THIS NEW CHASE FORMAT?
"It's emotion that is a part of this Chase and this format as well as towards people that make dumb decisions. He has been making a lot of them lately. That is why people have been running after him and chasing him down. It's why his team has got to defend him over there because of what he does on the race track."
TAKE US THROUGH THE FINAL RESTART AND THE CONTACT. "We were sitting there on a little bit older tires. I spun the tires a little bit but got a pretty decent start. We went down into Turn 1 and I just wanted to get on the outside of the 48 and out of nowhere I just got slammed by the 2 and it cut my left-rear tire. He's just a (expletive). The way he races, I don't know how he's ever won a championship and I'm just sick and tired. That's why everyone is fighting him and running him down. Your emotions are high. That was a huge, huge race for us. We had the car and had the position. I'm so proud of my team and I'm proud of Jimmie Johnson for winning that race and not letting that little you-know-what win that race."
YOU PULLED ON THE PIT ROAD TO TALK TO TO BRAD (KESELOWSKI). WHAT WAS THAT CONVERSATION?
"There wasn't a conversation. You can't have a conversation with him. He gets himself in this position and he has to pay the consequences. I'm going to race him the same way he races me. That kind of stuff is just uncalled for and I'm not going to stand for it."
WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES AS FAR AS YOU'RE CONCERNED? SHOULD NASCAR GET INVOLVED OR IS THIS BETWEEN YOU TWO?
"To them, I'm sure it's a racing incident. But to me, it's just a bunch of crap. The kid is just doing stuff way over his head. That's just uncalled for. You're racing for a win and a championship. You don't go slam someone and cut their left-rear tire. If that's what it takes, then no problem. We can do the same thing to him."
WHAT HAPPENED AT END OF RACE: "He cut my left rear tire. I went over there to talk to him."
YOU WEREN'T GOING TO BE DENIED TALKING TO HIM, DID YOU WANT TO SEND A MESSAGE TO HIM: "I wanted to do a lot more than that."
Keselowski's comments: "I am doing everything I can to win this championship racing at 100-percent and that is something I am not going to be ashamed for," Keselowski said, bloodied from pit road. If I was out there wrecking guys to do it, that would be one thing, but a little bit of rubbing is how this sport was created and probably how it should move forward. I don't mind getting raced that way and I don't mind racing that way. I got a little rub there at the end too from the 4 car and that was just good racing. I am proud of our effort but just wish I would have been able to make two more spots out of it. We were very close and will keep fighting the good fight."
Q) WHAT WAS YOUR VIEW OF THE CONTACT WITH JEFF GORDON?
"There was a hole and I went for it. It closed up and we bounced off each other and kept going. It was just a battle for the win."
KEVIN HARVICK CAME UP HERE ON PIT ROAD AND GAVE YOU A SHOVE AND THAT KIND OF SET EVERYTHING OFF DOWN HERE.
"Kevin likes everybody to fight for some reason. I came here to race, not to fight. I raced as hard as I could and these guys just didn't like it."
Harvick's comments: YOU HAD SOMETHING TO SAY TO (BRAD) KESELOWSKI WHAT WAS THAT?
"I mean if you are going to run into people all the time you are going to have to fight your own fight, so I helped him get into it."
TELL US ABOUT THE END OF YOUR RACE. "Yeah, you just try to do all you can do. Obviously it was no-holds barred there with the 2. He was in bulldoze mode. I'm proud of all my guys on our Budweiser team. We fought all day and put ourselves in position to win. A lot happened at the end of this race, and we were able to put ourselves back in the hunt."(Ford Racing / Team Chevy)(11-3-2014)