Fan Commentary
Decrepit Has-Beens and Prima Donnas
by Grandstand Bob
If you put 43 guys together
in any sort of drama or competition, there are going to be some you love, some you like,
some you dislike and some you hate. If you loved all of them or hated all of them, there
would be no drama or competition. It takes all types to keep the show interesting.
Winston Cup racing is no different. Though some would like to see
Tony Stewart’s head on a platter, he does more to make the sport interesting than do
95% of the other drivers.
No, there really isn’t justification for punching a
photographer, but haven’t all of us lost our temper once or twice, and wouldn’t
we be more apt to lose our cool after simmering for hours in a hot car under intense
pressure? We typically have the luxury of removing ourselves from a situation before we lose
it, but drivers are rarely afforded that luxury.
This isn’t to say that I buy the line of B.S. that Bill France,
Jr. was trying to throw around trying to save one of his cash cows. Journalists are paid
to be pushy. That’s the only way that they can get something to work with from some
of these drivers. Plus, sponsors see the media as free advertising, so it’s part of a
driver’s job to work with the media.
You see where this is going, don’t you? It’s really
hypocritical of most of us to criticize Tony when most of us aren’t all that great at
controlling our emotions and have no way of knowing how we would feel after driving a
Winston Cup race. It’s especially hypocritical since we want action, drama, emotion
and controversy in the sport. The fact is that we need drivers like Tony, even if we boo
him and ruthlessly criticize him.
When it comes to Jimmy Spencer, I’m still trying to convince
myself that we need him like we need Tony Stewart. I’ve grown increasingly weary of
hearing Mr. Excitement criticize other drivers, like Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick, when it
would be tough for any driver to be more reckless and stupid with a racecar than Spencer
is. Just one day after he took Jack Sprague out crossing the finish line of a Busch race
in the process of making one of his patented dumbass moves, Spencer threatened Kurt Busch
for bumping him out of the lead, even though he had bumped Busch just a few laps earlier.
Then, instead of waiting until the circuit returned to a track with
more sane speeds and waiting until Busch screwed up, Spencer gives him the boot at 200 mph
after Busch cleanly passed him. NASCAR’s reaction? Yeah, we’re still waiting,
but in my opinion, Spencer gave NASCAR every reason for a black flag and fine.
Imagine if the wreck that Jimmy caused had gone horribly wrong and
ended a career or life. NASCAR better prepare itself for such possibilities if they
continue to let that reckless hypocrite terrorize the racetrack.
Speaking of fines, does anyone besides me and Tony recognize the
hypocrisy of the penalties applied these days? Tony himself expected harsher punishment,
but it came from Home Depot rather than NASCAR.
Likewise, Spencer’s “fine” came from Chip Ganassi and
God. Ganassi gave him a one-week suspension (not officially) and God gave him the
qualifying lap that he deserved.
Now, who is going to take care of fines for jumping the restart?
Thanks to everyone who sent me scanner stories
last week, but I want some more. If you have heard something cool on the scanner, please
send your notes to bob@arsracing.com. I'm putting
together a column on interesting radio exchanges.
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note: This opinions expressed in this
column are those of writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of ARS
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