WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Joey Logano and Robby Gordon got into beating and banging on the track during the Zippo 200 on Saturday, resulting in a flat tire for both of them, then more contact and some hard feelings following the Nationwide Series race at Watkins Glen International.

The 19-year-old Logano, who eventually spun and hit the wall to finish 33rd, voiced his displeasure afterward with Gordon.

“He decided to wreck me under caution, which is not real cool, I think,” said the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. “It’s a pretty raw deal to race someone pretty stupid. You can’t fix stupid. It’s forever. … I got caught with an idiot.”

Gordon’s response?

“Whatever,” said the veteran driver/owner. “I’m not too worried about what Joey Logano thinks to be honest with you. The second time [when he wrecked] he got into somebody else. I don’t think he passed anybody without running into them first. That’s what he did to me. So it is what it is. He’s not going to run into me and think he’s going to go on by because he knocked me sideways. That’s just not the way it goes.”

It is unlikely Gordon and Logano will forget the incident soon.

“He cut down my left-front tire earlier and we got into a grudge match after that,” Logano said. “It was back-and-forth and back-and-forth into each other. Eventually a caution came out and he put me into the fence and my car went up in flames.

“That was real nice. You remember that stuff. Eventually it’s going to turn around and bite him because he races everyone the same way just like that. I don’t know if this is the one place he thinks he can run good so he beat the hell out of everybody. You just remember that. Eventually everyone is going to start doing that back to him. What goes around comes around.”

Gordon said Logano hit him first to start the exchange.

“He hit me first, so it all started with him making contact with my back bumper in Turn 11,” Gordon said. “That’s where it all started. If he can learn to pass me clean, I’m cool with it. But if he’s going to run into me, he’s going to get hit back. It’s just plain and simple.”

Neither driver competes in the Nationwide series full time. It was Gordon’s first start of the season in the series as he hoped to score a win on a road course where he has won in the Cup series.

Gordon had a long day after starting third. He got hit from behind and then into the back of Greg Biffle, who then spun Gordon. Even with front-end damage to his car – and even after heavy cosmetic damage after the tire issue that followed the first Logano incident – Gordon was running fast lap times. He had to settle for 14th.

“Until Logano got into me and got flat tires for both of us, we were hanging in there in eighth place,” Gordon said. “I got really, really aero tight with the hood being [bowed] up [from damage] like it was. All in all, we had a decent day.”

From Bob Pockrass, Scene Daily

UPDATE: Statement From Robby Gordon

"After reviewing the comments by Logano and the replay of the day's events, I felt that it was necessary to explain what happened during yesterday's race from my prospective.

This whole turn of events started with Joey running into the back of my No. 55 in Turn 10. He then knocked me sideways in Turn 11. To show him my displeasure, I ran him down towards the inside wall on the front straight. I tried to do a crossover move in Turn 1 to get back by him; however, I missed judged a little resulting in both of us getting flat tires.

During the final incident that ended Joey's day, we were racing for the lucky dog position. We both had good cars and were just trying to improve our finishing position for the day. After the bus stop chicane, Joey wrecked the No. 34 of Tony Raines. This contact allowed me to get underneath him in Turn 9. He saw that I was going to pass him for the Lucky Dog position, so he tried to block me. This maneuver resulted in his right rear tire connecting with my left front. From there, I felt he would be okay because he was in the section where the outer loop was. Rather than going down the inner loop, he decided to cut across the grass, hitting the tire barrier.

At the end of the day I'm just glad Joey is okay. This is a highly competitive sport, and we are all very passionate when we are on the track. Tempers have a tendency to flare, but hopefully in the future we will both race each other cleaner.

Under my own doing, I did stop by the NASCAR hauler this morning to converse with them about yesterday. There will be no repercussions from yesterday' events," commented Robby Gordon.