(NOTE: This is an opinion article)
Coming to the last restart, the plan was for Trevor Bayne and Jeff Gordon to draft together to the finish. However, when the restart happened and into Turn 1, Matt Kenseth abandoned his drafting partner, David Ragan, and went behind Bayne. So Bayne had a decision to make while in the backstretch: Stay with his plan and continue drafting his childhood hero, or help his teammate gain some points in the Championship. His decision, however, didn't make many Jeff Gordon fans happy. Bayne and Kenseth ducked low and passed Gordon, making him a sitting duck. What could possibly been a Top 10 finish for Gordon came out to be a 27th place finish.
Bayne went on his Twitter account and tweeted that he was not happy with his decision he made. He felt sick about it, this alone didn't help the Jeff Gordon fans on their views on him now.
My view, I'm a fan of both drivers. And after what I heard what Ford's orders were before this race, I don't blame Bayne making his decision. Before this race, Ford gave the order to all Ford drivers that they have to pretty much draft only Ford drivers. This order is the reason why David Gilliland and Tony Stewart drafting together (which was planned during Friday practice). In this race, Trevor Bayne was driving a Ford and Jeff Gordon was in a Chevy. Matt Kenseth was driving a Ford, so Bayne pretty much came down with Kenseth to make Ford 'happy'.
If Ford never gave that order (which was not a smart order to begin with), I'm sure Bayne would've continued drafting with Gordon. Or if Kenseth didn't bail out Ragan, I'm pretty sure Bayne would continue drafting Gordon.
Another thing, what if Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson caught up to them? What will Jeff Gordon do? For all we know, Jeff could've done the same thing that Bayne did.
Remember folks, this is Talladega, drivers have to take risks during the last laps. What Bayne took was a huge risk to take. Is it something to be disappointed by if you are a Gordon fan? Yes. But is it something that fans should bash him for? No. Its just part of plate racing.
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