NASCAR’s had a few eyebrow raising moments lately
[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”232″]
[/media-credit]Things have been quiet around these parts lately. Some by choice, a little by outside factors which took away time normally devoted to breaking down the latest NASCAR news.
But, I haven’t been completely cut off from the racing world. The races were watched, dissected and discussed. And it was during that quiet time, removed from the journalism side, that viewing racing from a different perspective brought forth many thoughts.
Expect the unexpected and try not to get too riled up over something out of your control. Easier said than done, of course. With every opportunity for an engine to fire and every lap run, there’s a chance for an opinion to be shared. The last few weeks watching the NCWTS, NNS and NSCS races from a distance, brought strong opinions.
To start, racing is supposed to be hard. As the saying goes, if it were easy, everyone would do it. Before Nelson Piquet Jr. won his first NCWTS race at Michigan he discovered how hard racing, and restarts, can be. Had it not been for a few late race restarts, he might have more than just one victory.
He dominated Rockingham earlier this season only to finish seventh following two bad pit stops. Afterwards through his disappointment he chalked it up to a learning experience. But in Pocono he had the field covered until Joey Coulter made it three wide going into turn one.
A third place finish had the Brazilian saying, “that last restart was a bit of a problem.” But what really sticks out from Pocono is Todd Bodine, who called Piquet an idiot for how he raced him, and blaming him for Bodine’s wreck. The tale of the tape, as always, told a different story and Bodine later apologized.
Bodine though, won’t even go down as a major storyline in the NCWTS this year. That will belong to the young guns. Coulter and Piquet haven’t been the only drivers to school the veterans. John King started the season with a shocking, and truly shocking it was, win in Daytona.
After he wrecked the leader, Johnny Sauter, but that seemed to be a minor detail. Then James Buescher finally got his first win, followed quickly by two more. In Charlotte it was Justin Lofton getting the first win for himself and Eddie Sharp, who has been a fixture in the motorsports community.
Yet, for as warm, cuddly and calm the NCWTS seems, all hell is breaking loose in the NNS and NSCS. The season started with such great promise as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. looked to defend his championship with Elliott Sadler still lurking in the shadows trying to make his comeback complete.
Sadler’s new teammate, NCWTS champion Austin Dillon, was sure to gain plenty of headlines – he has – by bringing the No. 3 further up the racing ladder and closer to Sprint Cup. Dillon has even won a race this season, although it’s the races he hasn’t won and failed inspection that come to mind first.
Sadler has also won, a series leading four times, and leads the points. But what’s all the hubbub about people trying to take the championship from him? If he means the other competitors, well of course that’s their jobs.
But thinking that NASCAR is? That’s a real head scratcher. Sure, they’ve made bad calls in the past. Said it once and can say it a thousand times, no one will ever accuse NASCAR of being perfect. Their call in Indianapolis last month, which cost Sadler a shot at the win, didn’t sit well with many.
Had they however, penalized Kyle Busch for the same infraction at the beginning of the race, perhaps the outrage wouldn’t have been as bad. Hindsight is always 20/20 and rules are rules. Sadler broke the rule, whether it was intentional or not and whether he was pushed from behind or not.
He’s still in control of this championship, Stenhouse sits second with three wins, and Sadler is the favorite for many to win the title. It’s simple: it would be an incredible story, better than writing about Stenhouse going back-to-back, although that’s not to take anything away from the accomplishment. Should Stenhouse do it he’d join an elite group.
Sadler though, this is a driver that was in the NSCS for years, lost a lot more races than he won, and bounced from team to team. Much of that time Sadler was running the back of the pack, out of sight and out of mind. Now he’s up front every weekend, a contender each weekend, and on everyone’s mind for all the right reasons.
Eh, that was until this past weekend in Bristol. Sadler and Stenhouse caught me jaw dropped after apologizing for how they raced each other coming to the checkered flag. Normally that’s swell but it’s Bristol, baby!
Stenhouse got into the rear of Sadler coming off turn four, taking the second position while Sadler finished fifth. Afterwards Stenhouse said he didn’t mean to do it since they were racing for a championship. Sadler didn’t accept the apology and said, “He just opened it up. We can race each other differently now for this championship.”
What? Let’s go back … it’s Bristol, baby! It’s about bumping and banging. Rubbing is racing, moving someone out of the way for position. Sure, don’t flat out wreck the guy but get them out of your way. There was nothing wrong with what occurred on Friday night, but these two aren’t acting that way.
Yes, they’re racing for the title and neither wants the other one to intentionally dispose of them. But it’s still racing, you still go at each other hard and Friday night was a great example of that. Stenhouse saw an opportunity and went for it. All is fair in love and war.
Something that’s not fair, having Jacques Villeneuve on track. There are so many things that can be said about the Canadian driver, most of them not eligible for print, but quite simply, until he shapes up he shouldn’t be here.
No matter the circumstances, the car or the driver, Villeneuve always ends up wrecking not one, but multiple drivers. And sometimes he comes out of it unscathed and with his version of events that are so bizarre you can’t help but laugh.
After wrecking Danica Patrick at Road America in June, to which even had broadcasters Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree exclaiming, “Oh, come on!” and “Unbelievable,” it was Villeneuve who won the quote of the day.
Of the incident he said, “It had nothing to do with me, so I really don’t care.” But Villeneuve wasn’t done. He again drew the ire of the NASCAR community for the way he raced in Montreal, spinning leader Alex Tagliani and nearly going on to win the race.
Nearly, thankfully Justin Allgaier gave Villeneuve a taste of his own medicine on a green-white-checkered finish. Villeneuve has yet to win in NASCAR and he still has a lot to learn if he wants to be accepted.
“It’s very frustrating because Roger Penske gave me a car that was unbeatable today, but then I guess Justin Allgaier decided he had to win and the only way he could do that was take me out, which is a little bit frustrating,” said Villeneuve after Montreal.
More proof that he simply doesn’t get what racing is supposed to be. Not what he’s doing, but what Allgaier did. That’s racing. Villeneuve doesn’t race, he wrecks. And the longer he keeps coming back the more everyone can expect it.
For as much flack as he gets, seems Kurt Busch was right about one thing. Busch said after the NNS race at Dover, “Race your car. That’s all there is to it. It’s called a race. That’s what we’re doing now. We’re racing.”
No one seems to want to race anymore. Two weeks ago at Michigan Jeff Gordon complained that teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. was wrong for racing him as he did. Earnhardt Jr. had made it four wide and passed Gordon and others with a full head of steam. But, that was wrong. Earnhardt Jr. should have just stayed where he was.
Gordon felt Earnhardt Jr. put them all in a bad spot and that everyone could have wrecked. They of course hashed things out after the race and said it was no big deal. It shouldn’t have been a deal at all, it’s racing, it’s what should happen. You either pass or get passed.
Gordon’s out there racing as hard as he can for his team and Earnhardt Jr. is out there doing the same. If feelings get hurt in the process, so be it. Make a point then go out and kick his ass and win the race or earn a higher finish than he does. Don’t knock a guy for doing his job, especially when everyone came out of the situation just fine.
Before I could lose all faith in NASCAR, the Cup race at Bristol saved the day. Saturday night’s fight under the lights in the Tennessee bullring was just what was needed. Torn up cars, hurt feelings, thrown helmets and one memorable night. Great racing that leaves us all wanting more.
With the NCWTS getting ready to crown a first-time champion, the NNS battle heating up between four drivers and the Cup Chase just around the corner, Bristol showed everyone how racing should be. Hard-nosed and hard knocks, something will hopefully be a precursor for what’s to come the remainder of the 2012 season.
So, man up ladybugs and let’s get back to racing. Good, clean, hard racing which makes NASCAR as great as it is.
Five questions with Brian Keselowski
In my next interview, I had the honor of speaking with Brian Keselowski. Brian is the older brother of fellow NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski. He is a past winner in the ARCA Racing Series and is a competitor in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driving the no. 92 Chevrolet Impala for K-Automotive Motorsports. Here is my interview with Brian.
Q: Imagine yourself not as a driver but as a race fan, if you were to do a ride along with any driver other than yourself, who would you choose, which track and why?
Brian K: Harry Gant would be the first one. He was really good at a time when the sport was changing to a more younger driver and super team way of doing things. Small team and great driver.
Q: If you could have a track named after you, what kind of track would it be and where would it be located?
Brian K: Track would not be named after me but would be named Motorcity Speedway in Downtown Detroit. 18 degree banking, wide turns, 3/4 mile.
Q: What is your most memorable race?
Brian K: Most memorable race would be the 2011 Daytona 500 qualifying race. We didn’t have a lot of money, but worked hard on our car, and it handled really well when getting pushed. Brad pushed me to the front a few times and I finished 5th in my first ever Cup race. Was an amazing feeling that I will never forget.
Q: Who would you consider to be NASCAR’s bad boy? Golden boy?
Brian K: Bad boy, Kyle Busch. He is a great driver but always cast in a negative light, a lot by his own doing, but still portrayed negatively. Golden boy, Jimmie Johnson. They always seem to get the right breaks when they need them. As a racer, you have to put yourself in a position to get those breaks though. They are simply the best at doing that.
Q: What advice would you give someone who wanted to be a race car driver?
Brian K: Best advice. Drive a car with a lot of power. Figure out how to make it turn and hookup. Don’t stay at just one track, learn a lot of different style tracks. And get good at one division, but don’t stay there too long. Keep moving up and challenging yourself.
The New Old Bristol
[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”225″]
[/media-credit]Call it whatever you want but the Bristol Motor Speedway has a new surface with different racing we’ve never seen before at Bristol. Some people are referring to the new surface as a return to the “old Bristol” which featured one lane racing on the bottom and beating and banging. This new surface is similar to the “Old Bristol” -which was reconfigured after the 2006 season –but it is still similar to the Bristol surface that was reconfigured after the spring race this season. The Bristol surface that was present from 2007 to the spring of 2012 featured multi-groove racing mainly on the top and side by side action with little beating and banging.
This new surface Bruton Smith designed after fans were not happy with what racing at the Bristol Motor Speedway had become has a whole new style of Bristol racing. The newest surface at the track is similar to both surfaces Bristol Motor Speedway has had in the past. The new surface features one lane racing, like the original Bristol that fans had come to love, but the racing lane is not at the bottom like the original Bristol. The racing lane is at the top. With the racing lane at the top, it makes it near impossible to run the bottom lane and stay up to speed with the other cars. The Bristol surface that was reconfigured after this past spring race had its main racing lane at the top, like the current Bristol. That’s about all the similarity between the Bristol that was reconfigured after March and the current Bristol.
The newest configuration at Bristol is also similar to the “old Bristol” because of the beating and banging. We saw more cautions in the Sprint Cup Race Saturday night then we did in the whole entire spring race weekend in Bristol this year. Fans love to watch the beating and banging of the cars as they go around the track and that’s what fills the grandstands at Bristol. Bruton Smith’s ultimate goal of the reconfiguration of Bristol was to fill up the grandstands again and he succeeded. There was a noticeable difference of the amount of people in the grandstand in March than in August. The curiously of what kind of racing the new surface would bring also put fans back in the stands at Bristol.
The new surface has brought back almost the same type of racing we saw in the 90’s and early 2000’s at Bristol and that was the goal of this one million dollar project. Bristol’s classic racing is back and better than ever and expect a show full of drama every time we head to Bristol.
