A few days ago I saw that Robby Gordon would be auctioning off his helmet that he threw at Michael Waltrip at New Hampshire. The proceeds would go to the vicitims of hurrican Katrina.
That's a pretty cool gesture by Robby to make up for his bonehead moves at NHIS.
I saw a mention that the helmet had gone over 100k! unbelievable!
I went on to the auction and take a look at what its going for now....
I think bidders are just going overboard with it and not taking it seriously now. Would be nice if all that money really did go to the victims of Katrina, but I think the auction will be coming to a stop soon.
The news reported that some hakers were in jackin around and ebay ended it and the amount it went for was 150k. Not sure who got it, but I can tell you this, I was bidder #5.......................lol.........................needless to say I got out bid!!!!!!!!HEHEHE
By JENNA FRYER, AP Motorsports Writer September 21, 2005
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The helmet that Robby Gordon threw at Michael Waltrip was pulled off the online auction site eBay on Wednesday after bidding exceeded $10 million. The site ended the auction because it was unable to verify the legitimacy of the bids and because Gordon didn't have the proper documentation showing that he planned to donate the proceeds of the sale to charity, said eBay spokesman Hani Durzy. The helmet was scheduled to be re-listed Wednesday night with AuctionCause, a site known for assisting in fund-raising efforts with experience in prequalifying bidders. Gordon listed the helmet on eBay on Tuesday and planned to donate all proceeds to the Harrah's Employee Relief Fund, a charity designed to aid Harrah's employees affected by Hurricane Katrina. Bidding was spirited all day and the helmet was listed at over $100,000. By Wednesday morning it had reached $8 million and Gordon's representatives began questioning the validity of the bids. By this time, eBay had also taken notice of the high amount of traffic and decided to end the auction. ``That sort of thing sometimes happens on high-profile listings, its what we call bogus bidding -- people just bidding with no intention to pay for it,'' Durzy said. ``People sometimes do that because they think it is funny, and it's not.'' Durzy said eBay would probably investigate the bogus bids and either suspend or issue a warning against the potential buyers. Gordon could have worked with the site to scrutinize which bids were legitimate, but the helmet could not go back up for auction until he provided a letter from the Harrah's Fund showing that the money would be directed there, Durzy said. Gordon was directed to AuctionCause by eBay, and that site will accept bids on the helmet until Saturday night. ``We hope that everyone that submitted a valid bid will do so again,'' said John Story, CEO of Robby Gordon Motorsports. ``Robby has a genuine interest in helping build the Harrah's Employee Relief Fund, and all of us here want to help in any way we can. ``That's why it is so important to re-establish the auction and guarantee that every dollar pledged actually goes to the relief effort.'' Gordon threw the helmet at Waltrip after the two were involved in an accident during Sunday's race at New Hampshire International Speedway. After Waltrip wrecked him, Gordon first tried to hit Waltrip's car with his own. He then climbed from his car, walked through race traffic and tossed his helmet at Waltrip. He also used a derogatory term during a television interview when asked about Waltrip. Gordon was fined a total of $35,000 and docked 50 driver points by NASCAR for the actions.
ESPN's 4 Quarters reported this evening that the helmut will go back up on EBAY tonight at 10 pm..................I'm assuming thats Eastern Timezone.
Who the hell wants that anyway? Either you have too much money and don't know what to do with it, or you are currently broke because you buy things like that.
What a PR move too by the driver. He sells off a helmet that probably is useless now. He collects the money and sends it to New Orleans, and then claims this donation on his taxes. Guy is still an ass.
