It was a wild night in the Fort Worth area. Eliminated Jimmie Johnson won a race, thus allowing three drivers to enter the championship winner-take-all race at Homestead and get in on points. Brad Keselowski, fighting for his racing life tried to split Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson but made contact with Gordon. Gordon cut a tire and tires were in short supply. Gordon finished 29th and wasn’t happy. Gordon said on his radio, “I’m gonna beat his ass.” He confronted Keselowski on pit road (sound familiar?), a crowd followed, and a melee began.
Gordon and Keselowski, well maybe just Gordon, were yelling at each other when Kevin Harvick pushed Keselowski from behind telling him to get involved in the fight, “and if you’re going to drive like that…” You get the picture. All manners of Hades broke loose. One crew member from the No. 5 Chevrolet of Kasey Kahne appeared to be laying haymakers everywhere. Gordon even threw a punch that was intercepted by Keselowski. Both Gordon and Keselowski came away bloody and probably not from each other. I have a theory on this. Hang with me for a moment.
In the past few years, Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing were the top dogs in the Sprint Cup Series (and you can arguably add the Nationwide Series to that too). Though HMS cars have won the most races this year, they have only one car left, Gordon’s No. 24, that is eligible for the Final Four at Homestead. This year, Team Penske cars have won 11 races with a two car team. This must be frustrating to them. Joe Gibbs Racing has only won two races after winning in double figures in 2013. Frustration has to be big there. Add to that the new NASCAR Chase format and dynamite is exploding, and it goes deeper than the two drivers that got into an altercation tonight.
I don’t recall any other altercations with drivers on the track, but it all seemed to explode at Charlotte a couple of weeks ago. Here’s Brad getting pushed around on a restart by Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin, so he retaliates against those two and ended up tapping the back end of Tony Stewart. Stewart retaliates by spinning his tires and backing into Keselowski. Seeing that he’s in trouble, Keselowski drives through the garage area with Hamlin in tow. Kenseth finally puts him in a headlock and the thing is over quickly. Keselowski must have broken some secret rule because now everyone hates him. Or is it now? Maybe it’s always been that way.
Remember how Brad drove in the Nationwide Series? It got Carl Edwards so mad, he went after him. Remember Brad punting Edwards nearly into the stands at Talladega? Maybe no one has forgotten those days. That’s part of it, but it goes deeper. Remember Joey Logano punting Hamlin and causing him to miss almost all of a season. Remember? These were all racing accidents—the kind we see every race, but it’s more than that.
Today’s NASCAR, unlike a few years ago, has a group of drivers who want to act gentlemanly on the track. Don’t take a chance to win; just settle for what you have. If you’re running in second and you have to rub to try to get a win, it’s a no-no. With the new rules, just settle for not making the Final Four and leave it to the proper folks. Trouble is, guys like Brad and Joey don’t race that way. They race more like they did in the day. Win at any cost. Sort of like Dale Earnhardt, David Pearson, and Bobby Allison. Let us not forget Cale Yarborough. This newer generation doesn’t like it. That’s why guys like Hamlin, Harvick, Stewart, Gordon and others are expressing hatred for the Penske boys. They’re running better on some days and winning more. What’s not to hate? So if Brad touches one of them, all of the teams’ crews come out to participate in the beating of Brad or Joey if they get touched. I watched tonight a crew member from Kasey Khane’s crew get in the fray and throw punch after punch. NASCAR may have created a monster.
The worst thing about all of this is the fan reaction. Twitter is filled with hate messages from fans who now “hate” Keselowski. He was called names I can’t even write here. One tweet even went as far as to say a hit man is needed to “take care of him.” Huh? I have to imagine the late Dale Earnhardt, sitting in Heaven is having a good laugh about this. I can imagine what he would say at this point, but it’s not printable either. It’s almost like the sport morphed into that fighting organization where Harvick manages some of the participants, or the WWE. Many think this is the greatest thing, but it embarrasses me. I hope NASCAR acts appropriately.
I totally disagree with you! Hamlin, Harvick, Stewart and Gordon all are hypocrites, it’s okay for them to be aggressive, but don’t you dare do it to them and they end up throwing tantrums over it.
Guess you forgot at Marts, Gordon had he been able to catch Junior, he would have used the bumper for the win.
It’s more about first, had Gordon been able to finish 2nd, he basically would be guaranteed one of the 4 title spots at Homestead and only something catastrophic with his car at Phoenix would keep him out and second, he’s frustrated his eliminated teammates are beating him for wins. So it’s easy to see why he would pick on Kes. Since he doesn’t have the cojones, to confront his teammates, or Mr. H.
So it more the Chase format, that is causing the ruckus with the drivers but it’s win win for NASCAR, since they aren’t relevant in the Sports world anymore and these altercations put them back in the limelight, in a bad way.
“Boys, have at it!” Famous words of the master deceiver, Pemberton. Now NA$CAR has what they want and the mouth of the south says they will probably fine people. They had more publicity during the past 2 days than the past 3 months.
This isn’t right what they have turned NA$CAR into.
BK won’t finish Phoenix with a whole car. Forget the points at Homestead and whoever made the top 4. Just put all 8 out there for 50 laps. “Boys have it.”
I remember the first cup race I attended at Dover in September 1992. The track was asphalt and the race was somewhat of a demolition derby. When Dale Earnhardt crashed out literally half of the stands rose to give him the bird and boo him. Now he is a Saint. How things have changed.
I am not a fan of either Brad or Jeff. The fact is Brad is a throwback driver who carries his car. Most drivers take what the car gives them and settles for that. NASCAR wanted drama to sell the championship, posts racing is dull, satisfying sponsors doesn’t keep fans interested. This is the only way that NASCAR can sell a sponsor in today’s market to sponsor a championship. Besides it is more exciting then hearing the same old xyz sponsored car ran good today. This is what racing was and always been about, driving you but off and just getting faster to get away from the guy who will drive through you. Jeff picked the wrong line on the restart and made a mistake that a aggressive old school driver tried to take advantage of.
I don’t have a problem with Brad’s hard racing style. Probably most don’t. I think the bigger issue drivers and fans have is his flippant arrogant attitude when he does something like this. It’s very similar to the path of Kurt Busch. Early success, hard driving and an arrogant lack of respect for other drivers. Kurt got past it but it took a huge meltdown. Is Brad headed for a career meltdown too. Maybe not. Depends on his mental state but he is definitely asking for some payback. I don’t mind it though. The sport is all vanilla unless you have a few willing to rough it up.
I agree Darren. I guess there’s no attitude management class!
I just don’t see the comparison to Kurt Busch. Kes has done nothing compared to all the garbage Kurt has done and is nothing like him. Your over thinking a racing deal, that honestly needed no explanation by Kes to JG.
I’m not a Brad fan, but there was a hole, Brad came up, and Jeff came down. You can’t tell me Jeff wouldn’t have tried the same move with fresh tires. What makes me sick is Kevin Harvick’s involvement. A bunch of drivers hated him his first couple years because of his aggressive driving. He’s a lot like Tony Stewart in that respect. When I run over you, it’s just hard racing, but when you run over me, there’s going to be hell to pay.
Great Article. I’m remembering Dale Sr. having a lot of haters as well because of his win at all cost driving tactics. It also separated him as one of the greats. Brad’s driving last night also reminded me of a young and hungry Jeff Gordon, that a lot of people got very mad at. When there is a changing of the guard as the the young and hungry step in, there is usually turmoil.
They should throw out every crew member that threw a punch. And Harvick should have to pay some penalty for pushing Brad and then backing out of it. Brad should hit the weights and get ready to rumble, but don’t change a thing about his driving. He has done nothing wrong all year except the nonsense after the Charlotte race. Penske is right to support his driver for standing up on the wheel.
Of course Harvick wanted Kez to fight…he’s on probation! Havvick knows who his biggest threats are on the track and the #2 is one of them – he know if he can instigate and get Kez docked points or suspended – it’s one less threat to him possibly winning a Championship. Q – who has the most wins this season? A – #2. I’m sure Brad put Harvick’s bump in his folder for future reference……
Didn’t watch the race as I had better things to do, & judging from what happened, as far as the actual sport goes I didn’t miss much.
In my 40+ years of following NASCAR I can say that this kind of “drama” is the exception & not the norm. Sure there have been off track altercations in the past & will continue to be so in the future, but not like this. I do agree that “rubbin’s racin'”, but on track actions are getting blown out of proportion by the media, leading to the kind of childish behavior we see on a constant basis now, by the drivers & the crews, & all allowed to happen with a “wink, wink, nudge, nudge” by NASCAR.
One problem is Jeff Gordon, as talented as he is, is the biggest hypocrite I’ve ever seen drive a race car. If he does the same thing Brad did, “that’s racing” according to him, & therefore should be overlooked, but when another driver does the same to him, it’s not right & Jeff wants to retaliate, often referring to the incidents as “He drilled me”. Ummmm Jeff, given all the baseless & wild rumors & speculation regarding your sexual orientation we’ve been exposed to over the years, perhaps saying “He drilled me” isn’t the best response. Either way, Gordon has always been one of the sneakiest, most hypocritical drivers I’ve ever seen, whining about any contact he didn’t instigate & shrugging off the contact he does instigate. Like Brad or not, (& I do, as much as I like any driver these days, which isn’t much), or Dale Sr, (whom I never liked), at least with them both you know/knew exactly where you stand & that’s something I have to admire.
As to Harvick’s actions instigating the brawl; I’m not surprised in the least, & that’s why I have no respect for him whatsoever. He got that RCR ride after Dale’s passing, & let it go to his head immediately, (not that he also didn’t produce results immediately, I’ll grant him that). Because of his attitude he’s never fulfilled his potential & I have a feeling he never will.
In this regard he reminds me a bit of Bobby Allison, who could, (& should), have won more championships if he had spent less time feuding with his various teams & just driven the damned car sometimes. Bobby held too many grudges against other drivers, teams, car ownwers & NASCAR itself, & that hurt him. I still recall Bobby commenting on the situation with DiGard after he left them, & how financially it never panned out, in that he was still owed money, along with how things weren’t always done to his liking there, but he kept his mouth shut & raced. Well that’s the team he won his lone Cup championship with, so perhaps if he had taken that approach earlier in his career, he would have won more championships.
Harvick reminds me of that in so many ways, & I think he lets his ego & attitude get in the way of his talent. The problem is that as he approachs 40, like Dale Jr he’s getting into the backside of his career in Cup, & unless he learns to control himself more, he may never win the championship.
Right now though, NASCAR needs to decide if it’s going to be a legitimate sport or just devolve into a motorized version of the WWE.
There was an interesting common denominator during the final laps at the Texas race.
Back up to last year’s final race before The Chase at Richmond. Bowyer spun which, but for NASCAR’s intervention eliminated Jeff from the 2013 Chase.
Gordon was on his way to winning when Bowyer spun out which culminated in Jeff not only failing to get the win, but also in the contact between Jeff and Brad. While Jeff is not eliminated from the race, it certainly took Jeff out of the catbird seat.
That being said, Jeff and/or his crew made two vital errors. The first was choosing the outside lane for the restart. That choice led to the second which was leaving the door open for Brad to get his nose under Jeff.
It’s hard to tell, it appeared Brad did nothing wrong. However it’s entirely possible that he overdrove the car, using Jeff as a cushion, the way dirt racers use the edge of the racing groove as a cushion.
In any case, it was no surprise that Brad would take advantage of the slightest opening to his advantage.
And, wasn’t it Jeff who said last week that if he had gotten to Jimmy in the closing laps that he would have put the bumper to him?
Yes, it was Junior actually not Jimmy.
I couldn’t agree with you more! All the drivers who ‘hate’ the aggressive way Brad drives would do exactly the same thing if it got them a win…but they would claim it’s just hard racing for the win. brad didn’t spin Jeff out…heck from what I’ve seen on the replay, Brad held his line and it was Jeff coming down on Brad that caused the problem. brad must have been at least a half car up on Jeff to cause the contact. Where was Jeff’s spotter?
I also think you’re right on about the frustration level with some teams lack of success and the pressure of this ridiculous lottery ‘championship’. Guess it’s just easier to point fingers (or throw fists) than it is to admit someone else is having more success and fixing your own problems.
And Earnhardt is grinning that crooked grin and cheering.