FONTANA, Calif. -- CART's Winston Cup brethren understood why the open wheel drivers forced the cancellation of Sunday's race in Fort Worth, Texas, due to extreme gravitational forces that threatened the safety of drivers.

"For those guys to run over 240 miles per hour, you've got to be some brave individuals to do that. I think the guts probably ran out and the brains started kicking in because to hit a wall over 240 (mph), that's a bad deal," said Rusty Wallace, winner of Sunday's NAPA Auto Parts 500 Winston Cup event.

Added second-place finisher Jeff Gordon, "I pray we're never in that situation. It was very big on them to do what they did. I take my hat off to them, but boy, they are going to suffer a lot from it. To do it the day of the race, that's going to be very tough on them. They're going to be criticized, I'm sure, for that. But in the driver's mind, the competitors, they probably did what was right.

"From what I saw on TV, the drivers were actually disoriented. There was lack of blood flow to the head because of the G's (gravity pull). I've flown with the (U.S. Navy's) Blue Angels before, and I know what tunnel vision is. It's no fun. I can't imagine driving out there like that. I don't want to see them out there getting hurt."

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.