NASCAR says Gordon’s restart was “close” but legal

Gordon got away with one

NASCAR admits that Jeff Gordon's restart on Lap 144 was "close" to being illegal, but officials ruled that his pass of leader Kyle Busch was good. "It was close and all of our resources, especially our new resources … that helped us make our decision," said Richard Buck, managing director for the Sprint Cup Series, after Sunday's race at Chicagoland Speedway.

"That official is looking and listening for when they fire," Buck told reporters, referring to when the cars accelerate.

"It gives us another perspective. He calls up to the tower and will give his input. We start to pull together all of the other resources from the video we have available to us. That's when we come over the radio and say, if this is the case, the restart is under review. That allows us to pull the information in and make the decision."

Series officials reviewed Gordon's restart and a decision came about 10 laps later.

Asked about the timeframe for announcing the decision, Buck said: "The most important thing for us is to get it right and be consistent. We'll take whatever measures necessary to make sure we get it right." NBC Sports