Fans voted the Food City 500 post-race, pit-road confrontation between drivers Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth as the fourth-most dramatic moment for 2006, a season in which ESPN.com writer David Newton said provided many moments from which to choose.
"There were two unusual scenes at Bristol in late March," Newton wrote in his piece. "The race was delayed by snow. And Jeff Gordon was so hot after Matt Kenseth spun him out on the final lap that he shoved Kenseth with both hands on pit road."
"What you see today is a truer Jeff Gordon and who I really am," Gordon said. "For years, I was so concerned with, 'What is this person going to think? What is this person going to think?' I was more caught up in that than being my true self."
Gordon was fined $10,000 and placed on probation through August. A few months later, no action was taken after he spun Kenseth out with four laps remaining for the win at Chicagoland.
"He just dumped me," Kenseth said. "I know for sure it was intentional, but that is OK." Gordon said it was not intentional, but added, "I didn't mind moving him out of the way."
Ironically, Gordon found himself on the "giving" end of similar circumstances at Bristol in 1997 and 2002. In both races Gordon nudged Rusty Wallace on the final lap to win.
Because of this type of excitement, where the checkered flag doesn't always mean things are over, ESPN.com in April of 2006 named Bristol Motor Speedway's Sharpie 500 as one of the top 10 toughest tickets in all of sports, along with events like the Super Bowl, the Masters and the Final Four.
