Hamlin regarding health issues: “It’s my business”
On Friday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway, Denny Hamlin addressed the media regarding his health issues this past week. Hamlin was obviously aggravated by the questions that have been raised regarding the reasons he was not allowed to race last week at Auto Club Speedway.
Everything started last Friday at Auto Club Speedway when Hamlin began experiencing eye irritation. His initial thought was that he was beginning to get a sty. He assumed it would go away. After shopping with his wife on Saturday night, the irritation began to worsen. Late Saturday evening, Hamlin checked to see if medical staff was left at the infield care center. Upon visiting the care center, the initial thought was that Hamlin was experiencing complications form a sinus infection.
On Sunday, however, the condition was yet again worse than the day before. The decision was eventually made to not permit Hamlin to race due to his blurred vision. That situation seemed to set off some concern within the NASCAR community.
The series’ most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. commented about Hamlin’s situation, “I’m worried the perception is bad for NASCAR and the perception is bad for Denny.” He continued, “If Denny didn’t race because his vision is blurred and he had a sinus infection, NASCAR should put out a release and say, this is the timeline of the events and this is why we made this choice and this is protocol for going forward.” He also commented, “That answers everybody’s questions. Don’t you have questions? I have questions. We shouldn’t have questions. We should all feel pretty comfortable with what happened.” Earnhardt even went so far as to say a statement would clear Hamlin, “…of any wrongdoing or pressure or rumors.”
The issue with statements similar to Earnhardt’s is that Hamlin, as well as anyone else, have rights that prevent anyone else releasing medical information about them without their permission. Granted Earnhardt’s comment didn’t directly ask for that, but it did seem somewhat implied.
NASCAR’s statement about the incident may well have also been used to fuel the fire. NASCAR spokesman, Kerry Tharp, told USA Today Sports, “Information regarding Denny Hamlin’s health and medical condition should come from Denny and/or Joe Gibbs Racing. As our policy, Denny will be allowed to return to on track competition after NASCAR receives notification that he has been medically cleared by his physicians to race.”
That statement is really all NASCAR can do. Just as in the Jeremy Mayfield case a few years ago, as well AJ Allmendinger’s situation, NASCAR itself cannot publicly reveal medical information about anyone without their permission, though many feel they should.
Competitors, fans, media or any other entity, only has the right to know what a given person wants them to know in regards to said person’s health or medical situation. No one was put in danger in this situation, the system worked as it was designed to.
Hamlin, openly frustrated by the comments from the week, became agitated when asked about the situation on Friday and if it had impacted his reputation. Hamlin replied in a stern, direct voice, “I’m going to try to not get mad. Like I just said, my health is my business, but what if it was cancer or tumor – I don’t have to tell anyone. It’s my business. People who think negatively of me or think that we side-stepped some sort of drug test or something is ridiculous. I’m in one of the top-three cars in NASCAR, I would have to be an absolute moron—moron to risk that. I have a daughter that I have to provide for for a really long time. For people to question who I am inside and outside the race car, I’ve never done anything to even put that in question.” He continued, “It bothers me because there’s people out there that like to make rumors and of course within our NASCAR community rumors become truth when enough people say it. I’m done.”
Earnhardt was also asked about the situation on Friday. When asked if the statement released by Hamlin on Wednesday answered his concerns, he replied, “Well I feel real comfortable with the process and I just was worried. I thought that the lack of a statement from Denny’s point of view left him vulnerable and unprotected. I just felt like it was important for him to have a very simple statement that sort of cleared up any kind of assumptions or whatever you have for him personally.”
This situation has definitely riled up Denny Hamlin. Rumors sometimes cause more harm than the actual problem the rumor is about. It is hard to blame a driver, or anyone, for being frustrated and upset when people begin speaking out of turn and assuming facts that are not in evidence. NASCAR drivers are, for the most part, very private people. When it is regarding health or medical issues, they have the right to be. We should never make assumptions or veiled accusations about drivers, teams or series representatives. We should always wait until the facts are available and the parties involved are ready to announce or not announce anything about themselves.
NASCAR has a fantastic reputation in regards to the competitors, teams and officials. A much better track record than other major sports such as football, basketball or baseball. It seems there are constantly news stories where a football player has killed someone, or baseball players have used illegal drugs. Obviously, NASCAR is not immune from those things, and to be fair, not all “stick and ball” sports stars are involved with anything illegal. The percentages, however, are in our favor. We do not need to sabotage that reputation with false or uninformed accusations.
Just this past week, we have seen how rumors can get out of hand and take on a life of their own, when someone reported that Jeff Gordon was involved in a homosexual relationship. Whether it was true or not (this writer does not believe that report in any way) it should not have been reported. The story took on a life of its own. That should be unacceptable.
This writer commends Denny Hamlin on his stance against rumors. It is a practice that should be widely used across the sport of NASCAR.
Denny did have one last comment as he walked out of the media center on Friday. “I’m going to win this weekend, I promise.”
Thank God Carl and Kyle Won
Thank God Carl Edwards won at Bristol, and Kyle Busch won at Fontana. You want to know why? It’s simply because I’m tired of the same old script every Sunday. First, it’s Dale Junior. Forget the other 42 drivers in the field. Second, it’s Jimmie Johnson. Third it’s Jeff Gordon. The four-time champ is always a favorite. Let’s not forget Kasey Kahne. It’s mainly because he’s part of the Hendrick Empire and everyone knows they are the best. Let’s not forget about Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch and even Danica. They have been touched by the master, so they get a majority of the media time. Yes, that’s the way it is in 2014.
Never mind that Marcos Ambrose had his best finish on an oval in his career, let’s put him on the late show so that we can interview more relevant drivers. Never mind that Kevin Harvick finished in the lower half of the race or maybe even Kurt Busch or Tony Stewart, both who just haven’t had the performance this year (though he has a couple of good finishes because of attrition), it’s all about who the fickle fans want to see. They don’t want to see Marcos or Ricky Stenhouse or even Cousin Carl because they’re not that popular. The theory is to flood the airwaves with Junior and Jimmie or Tony and forget about Aric and even Clint. America love s a winner, but that doesn’t apply to the 2012 champ or maybe the guy who won seven races last year. Lest we not forget, we have now ordained one of those mentioned the greatest driver of all time because he won a bunch of championships in a contrived system.
On any Sunday, we get to watch the greatest drivers of all time. Unfortunately, they are not equal. Some have superior funding, but that funding depends on how much ink, or in this case, air time they receive. The media continues to promote Junior, Jimmie, Jeff, Kasey, Tony, Kevin, Kurt, and Danica to the point of nausea. Brad, the one with the championship and Joey just get yeoman coverage. Of course guys like Jamie and Greg Biffle it’s not so much. Mention Junior or Jeff or Kasey or Jimmie or Tony or Kevin or Kurt or Danica and everyone knows them. Try to find a die cast at Wal-Mart with those drivers and it’s no problem. Try to find a Biffle die cast and you’re in trouble, unless you live in Charlotte and most of us don’t life there.
Carl Edwards won two races last year which was more than Junior or Tony or Kurt, and yet a fan has to dig deep to find anything to support their fandom. It just doesn’t exist. That can be said for Matt Kenseth, a two-time Daytona winner and winner of seven races last year.
Thank goodness that Edwards and Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano and even many other drivers win on occasion. Otherwise, no one would ever know they exist. Many are too busy asking others silly questions about silly things and making sure that a small amount of focus is on other drivers. It’s no wonder the stands were empty at Bristol and never got to see a great driver win. Of course, he wasn’t Junior, Jeff, Kasey or Tony or Kevin, so it doesn’t matter.
This week we go to Martinsville where once again the focus will be on Jimmie, Jeff and Denny. Good thing the hot dogs are so good and the racing is simply the best!
Earnhardt Jr. seeking his first clock
Martinsville Speedway is known as one of the toughest places to win. The .526 mile, paperclip shaped track with long straightaways coupled with tight, almost flat corners create a recipe for hard-nosed, fender-banging action.
It is rare for a racecar to leave Martinsville without some damage. More often than not, the damage is significant. Fortunately, for drivers, aerodynamics are not nearly as important here as it is at larger tracks. That fact allows drivers to beat and bang, knock competition out of the way, and still maintain a high possibility of winning.
For Dale Earnhardt Jr., he has yet to find victory lane at the Southern Virginia track, though he has long desired to. Earnhardt Jr., son of the legendary seven time series champion, Dale Earnhardt, talked about his desire to win at Martinsville on Friday saying, “Yeah, this is a track I have been trying to get a win at for a long time. I grew up in a house full of clocks (referring to his father’s six win at the track) so it’s been pretty elusive.” The Grandfather Clock trophy the track is famous for, has become a symbol of accomplishment for drivers.
Earnhardt Jr. has performed well at Martinsville, but has never had every ingredient at the right time to score the victory. Earnhardt commented, “We have had some good cars in the past here that I‘ve felt like could have won races and we just weren’t able to get the job done for whatever reason, somebody was faster or whatever.”
Earnhardt Jr. has 28 starts at Martinsville, and coming into this weekend, has accumulated 15 top-10 finishes, ten top-five finishes and has led 868 laps.
Earnhardt Jr.’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, have been very successful at Martinsville. Gordon has eight wins and 34 top-10’s in 42 starts. Johnson also has eight wins and has scored 21 top-10’s in just 24 starts, including a win in the spring race last year. When asked what he takes from them to apply to his set-up at Martinsville, Earnhardt Jr. responded, “We use a program called dart fish where basically it overlaps my lap with another car. Maybe we look at the guys who sat on the pole or qualified in the top three and then look at my qualifying lap. I can do that for last year, the year before, we can go as far back pretty much as we want and see what the guys are doing differently.” He continued, “As far as my teammates go I’m out on the track with them. I know their tendencies and it depends on how their car is driving and how their car is handling as to how they are going to run, drive the corner and approach each corner.”
Earnhardt has come close to winning several times at Martinsville. He talked about the one that “got away,” saying, “I think you look at all of them and see how close you came. We flat got out ran by Kevin (Harvick) that one year in ’11. I thought we had it. I thought we were going to be fine once we got out front , but he was just so fast. I tried to get under him in three and four but he didn’t have a bumper left to move. I went in there to shove him a little bit and everything on that corner of his car was gone.”
Shoving and moving are many times a necessity at the famed half-mile. Given the new rules implemented for this season, aggression may be more prevalent than ever. Earnhardt has always been a smooth and consistent driver. He is not known for being aggressive. He has already visited victory lane this season and almost found it a second time with an aggressive strategy call. The renewed vigor that Earnhardt is showing, coupled with NASCAR’s new rules that reward winning, may be the final pieces of the puzzle that he needs to begin filling his home with clocks… just like his dad.
Three drivers set to make debut in Kroger 250
Each year Martinsville Speedway is the first event on the schedule in which a young (under age 18) rookie driver, looking to make their first start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, can hit the track. NASCAR rules states that drivers under age of 18 cannot make a start in a national touring series race on tracks longer than 1.25 miles. Due to that fact, the .526 mile nestled in Southern Virginia plays host to many debut races for many of NASCAR’s up and coming stars.
Saturday’s Kroger 250 is no exception. This weekend, three drivers will make their Camping World Truck Series debut – Gray Gaulding, Ben Rhodes, and Cole Custer.
Rhodes announced this week that he has signed with Turner-Scott Motorsports to compete in five races this season driving the No. 32 Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet. He is fresh off two dominating performances in the K&N Pro Series East, where he also drives for Turner-Scott. The first, at Bristol, where he led every lap with the exception of the last two, and then a win at Greenville-Pickens Speedway this past weekend.
Rhodes has a dynamic personality and will be a great fit for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He will also be competing at Dover, Bristol, the fall race at Martinsville, and Phoenix.
Gaulding, who also competes full time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, recently he announced he has signed with NTS Motorsports for eight races during the 2014 season driving the No. 20, Gemini Southern/Krispy Kreme Chevrolet.
Gaulding has also been competing full time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, where this season he has scored three top-10’s in four starts driving the Krispy Kreme Chevrolet. He is currently sitting third in series points. Similar to Rhodes, Gaulding also has a dynamic personality. His experience on tracks similar to Martinsville should allow him to adapt quickly. He will be driving the No. 20, Gemini Southern/Krispy Kreme Chevrolet.
Custer will be driving the No. 00 Haas Automation Chevrolet this weekend. Custer competed full time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2013, where he scored two wins,and became the youngest winner in series history. He also made one start this season at Bristol where he finished 14th. Custer is the son of Joe Custer, an Executive at Stewart-Hass Racing.
Martinsville Speedway, already home to arguably some of the best Camping World Truck Series racing, should be even more exciting this weekend with the addition of these three very talented drivers.
The green will fall on the Kroger 250 at 2:30pm local time on Saturday.
