During the days that preceded and followed the NASCAR weekend at Infineon Raceway and Road America there were some eyebrow raising, and in some cases very funny, comments made regarding current NASCAR news stories and what happened during the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series road course weekend. Many of those comments bears repeating. The following is a list of my personal favorites observations from well known NASCAR personalities.
Let’s begin with Mr. Excitement. That of course would be SPEED Channel analyst Jimmy Spencer who makes regular appearances on the network’s “Race Hub” program. Spencer’s main gimmick on the show is the awarding of cigars, if a driver impressed him, or crying towels, if he’s not that impressed. The result is often some hilarious comments.
But there’s another element here that makes Spencer’s commentaries both interesting and funny. It’s that chalk board hanging on the wall behind him. Commenting on recent announcements that said Red Bull Racing is planning to leave NASCAR at the end of this season, Spencer’s chalk board said: “all you can drink Red Bull-going out of business sale !”
It was delightfully tacky and very funny. It was also one of the reasons Spencer adds so much to SPEED’s “Race Hub” program.
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[/media-credit]Then there was the matter of “Smoke”, better known as Tony Stewart. He had every reason in the world to feel a little on the cranky side following his road rage adventures during the Sprint Cup race at the Infineon Raceway.
However, Stewart’s cranky levels actually began to rise the day before the race during a press conference. A reporter asked him: “how does the heat inside of the race car affect you?” Perhaps perturbed with a question he answered a thousand times over the years, Stewart replied “it doesn’t” and then added “if you guys would get out of the media center, and away from the buffet table, once in awhile you’ll learn what it’s like to be in the heat.”
Sadly, there may actually be an element of truth to that statement. But the media should look on the bright side. At least Stewart didn’t chide them about their frequent, and sometimes over abundant, use of hair care products as he has so many times in the past.
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There were, of course, some observations regarding the double dose of road rage, during the Infineon event, between Stewart and Brian Vickers. The tire smoke from Stewart’s wrecked race car had barely settled when TNT Network analyst Kyle Petty told the fans ” contact NASCAR at have at it boys dot com.”
Once the Stewart car was towed to the garage area, his team immediately went into the repair mode. While the master plan was obviously about salvaging any championship points possible, there was a lot of speculation that said Stewart was planning a return to race with the intent of locating Vicker’s #83 Red Bull Toyota. TNT pit reporter Ralph Sheheen was covering the repair process and, when Stewart climbed back into his battered car, said “it looks like he’s out to open a Red Bull can of whoop ass.”
Later in the day Darrell Waltrip, three time Sprint Cup champion and Hall Of Fame inductee, sent a “Twitter” message that read: “racing is a beautiful thing when it’s done right, then there’s boys, have at it.”
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The other big issue, we’re all still debating, occurred during the Nationwide Series race at Road America in Wisconsin. It took three green-white-checker attempts, and a video review before it was determined that Reed Sorenson, and not road race ringer Ron Fellows, won this event.
Following the first green-white-checker restart, driver Jaques Villeneuve, another road race ringer in this event, made a dive bomber move from his fourth starting position in an effort to steal the win. Many observers felt this move was unnecessary because the result was hard contact that sent one driver spinning into a gravel pit while another driver slammed head on into a retaining wall.
Following this accident, Kevin and DeLana Harvick immediately grabbed their cell phones and fired up their “Twitter” accounts. They had every right to do so because the Max Papis driven car that was sent into the wall was owned by, you guessed it, Kevin Harvick Inc.
Harvick’s “Tweet” read: that’s why Villeneuve should just quit driving in NASCAR. No sense. I hope Max Papis punches this dumb ass in the mouth.” Kevin Harvick’s second “Tweet” read: “no respect here in NASCAR for Villeneuve. Same reason they kicked his ass out of F1”, (Formula 1 racing).
Meanwhile DeLana Harvick’s “Tweet” read: “I learned today: the 22, (Villeneuve’s car number), is a bonehead, fuel mileage races on road courses suck and U should NEVER congratulate yourself before crossing the start/finish line.”
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The final comment comes from “Race Central’s Whine Cellar,” an extremely popular racing forum hosted by Stickshift Transmissions headquartered in San Bernadino-California.
Using the keyboard name “Help”, the comment’s writer said: “does anyone have the racing attorney’s phone number? I need to sue all of you who can’t pass without taking someone else out. I would be in the Sprint Cup by now if it were not for all you fools.”
You just have to love something like that. It’s also why some comments deserve to be repeated.
