Let’s get this straight, racers.

Next time a fellow driver tries to engage you in a gentlemen’s agreement about something on the track, politely request that he go soak his head in a vat of 101 octane.

If that driver happens to be your teammate, feel free to do the dunking yourself.

In the space of one calendar year, apparently Kevin Harvick feels that he has graduated from NASCAR’s poster child for arrested development to its moral gatekeeper.

Harvick, who succeeded the late Dale Earnhardt as driver of the GM Goodwrench Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, ripped into RCR teammate Robby Gordon for alleged misdeeds at Infineon Raceway in California whine country last Sunday.

Um, I mean wine country.

What gross evil did Gordon commit? Why, the dastardly open-wheel refugee passed Harvick for second place as the field paraded to the start-finish line and received the yellow flag.

After the resumption, Gordon, who it should be pointed out wielded the fastest car all afternoon, overtook Jeff Gordon (no relation) and held on for his second career victory on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

Like his first triumph at New Hampshire International Speedway in November 2001, Gordon’s win was the product of old-fashioned aggressiveness.

It also was well within the boundaries of good taste. The means used to achieve it were all things we’ve seen before dozens of times.

Some drivers are magnets for criticism in cases such as this, however. Gordon, a driver who notoriously had trouble getting along with mechanics, car owners and peers before coming into his own under Childress’ wing, fits that description.

Gordon could stay clean for the next 10 years, as has been the rule for most of the last two, and some competitors still unfairly will treat him like the outspoken young punk who once couldn’t keep a job.

Another day may come when Gordon’s hard-nosed nature runs afoul of the NASCAR braintrust and earns him a visit to the rolling principal’s office otherwise known as the big, red trailer.

For now, his effort at the Sonoma road course is worthy of congratulations, not chastisement.

It’s particularly galling that the two rivals hurling fiery darts happen to be Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick.

Isn’t this the same Jeff Gordon who has sent Sterling Marlin spinning helplessly toward the concrete wall twice this season?

In his post-race comments on FOX, Jeff Gordon clearly cast aspersions about Robby Gordon’s character.

Write your own punch line to that one.

Harvick’s role in this war of words brings to mind a hundred maxims about pots, kettles and what color paint they carry.

The fact is, whether we’re looking at their behavior on or off the track, no NASCAR driver should be regarded as an angel.

They’re all professionals with a competitive streak a mile long. That’s why the proliferation of gentlemen’s agreements is baffling.

Don’t race back to the caution flag. If you’re the leader, let off the throttle and coast to the caution flag to allow a fellow driver to regain his lost lap, no matter how much a threat he is to win the race.

And so on.

I’m not an advocate of racing back to the line in all circumstances. Certainly at some tracks that could create a dangerous situation.

In the final 50 miles of a race, though, anything goes is a fairly good rule of thumb. At Infineon or Watkins Glen, both road courses where opportunities to pass are so few that they’re treasured and where slower traffic is rarely an issue, passing should be accomplished whenever and whenever it can.

Even if your unsuspecting teammate gets off the gas because he’s subscribing to what he believes is a higher code of conduct.

This is auto racing. Try to tame it into a gentlemen’s sport and you’re spitting in the face of the attitude that made this sport a household name in the first place.

As someone who likes his racing a little rough around the edges, I’m forced to write what once seemed the unlikeliest of sentences to conclude a racing commentary.

Nice job, Robby.

Kalle Oakes is sports editor. He can be reached by e-mail at koakes@sunjournal.com.

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