Conway issues statement on run-in with Robby Gordon in Las Vegas

Kevin Conway released a statement late Monday night discussing an incident with fellow NASCAR driver Robby Gordon in the garage area at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday.

NASCAR officials put Gordon on indefinite probation on Saturday after he allegedly assaulted Conway, the 2010 Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year.

"I don't mind stiff competition, but I want to make sure the hard facts are told," Conway said in the statement. "First and foremost, I love being a part of NASCAR and have worked very hard to earn the privilege of competing in the Sprint Cup Series. On Friday night, Robby Gordon, who has a long history of issues in NASCAR decided to ambush me in the garage area at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, completely unprovoked. Robby even confronted Joe Nemechek, my car owner, on pit road during Cup Series qualifying shoving him and telling him that he was looking for me and going to assault me.

"We have many witnesses including a crew chief that signed a police report documenting the truth of his physical attack on me. Situations like this are not good for our sport. It's one thing if we were racing each other and I wrecked him or he wrecked me, that's an entirely different situation. It's very unfortunate that he chose to physically attack me to address his rage. Our fans, sponsors and NASCAR expect and deserve more from our competitors than this bullish, illegal behavior that was displayed by Robby against me."

According to a report by The Associated Press on Saturday, NASCAR officials didn't witness the interaction between the drivers. It was brought to NASCAR's attention by Conway, according to vice president of competition Robin Pemberton. He said the period of Gordon's probation has yet to be determined, and referred all questions to the two drivers.

At the time, Conway declined to discuss the matter, but said he filed a police report Friday evening.

Conway briefly drove for Gordon in the Sprint Cup Series last year, and the drivers are now suing each other over financial aspects of that deal. Gordon sued Conway sponsor ExtenZe in California court for $690,000 for the six races Conway drove for his team. According to sources, Conway is suing Gordon in North Carolina for $27,000 in money earned through the NASCAR Sprint Cup rookie of the year award.

Gordon refused to comment on the subject when asked by reporters following Saturday's practice session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.