Gordon rebounds for fifth place finish

JIM UTTER, jutter@charlotteobserver.com

Sunday, Aug. 12, 2007

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Robby Gordon’s first top-five finish of the season couldn’t have come at a better time.

Gordon was parked by NASCAR and missed last weekend’s race at Pocono for his behavior following the Busch race at Montreal, but said his fifth place finish Sunday at Watkins Glen International helped atone for the loss.

“It should make up for missing last weekend, for sure,” Gordon said. “I knew I didn’t have enough to win the thing, so fifth was better than – what – getting spun out and finishing 36th or 38th or something like that.”

Gordon got as high as fourth on the final lap but with a soft brake pedal decided not to challenge a fast-approaching Ron Fellows. “He had the better brake power than I did at that point,” he said.

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