When it ALL Goes Wrong

For the second weekend in a row a great race ended badly. This time was much worse, in my opinion. Here’s the quick recap.

- Denny Hamlin lead 380+ of the 400 laps before a tire went down with less than 20 to go opening the door for Kyle Busch and Dale Jr. to fight it out for the win.
- With Dale Jr. up by just over 1 second (which is a significant lead in NASCAR with only 8 -10 laps to go), Hamlin’s tire finally blew and he stopped on the front stretch to draw the caution out so that he wouldn’t lose a lap changing it under green.
- After a restart, Kyle Busch pulled up under Dale Jr. going into turn 3, got loose and took Jr. out. The altercation left Clint Bowyer in the lead with Kyle Busch in second.
- The final restart (a green, white, checkered situation) saw Mark Martin challenge Kyle Busch for 2nd and gave Bowyer time to escape for unexpected win.
Now, for the assessment.

When the whole thing went down I was more annoyed with the cavalier driving of Kyle Busch, but after some time to think it over, if I were Dale Jr. I’d probably want to deck Denny Hamlin first (not that it would be appropriate or acceptable to do that) before dropping Busch.

Yes, Kyle took Jr. out. But it was Denny’s selfish, childish driving that caused the whole problem. If he would have gone to pit road before the tire blew or even if he hadn’t stopped on the track, the yellow that allowed Busch to get close enough to Jr. to take him out in the first place never would have happened. Hamlin was penalized 2 laps (not nearly enough in my opinion, but maybe he’ll think twice before doing that again) so it didn’t work out in his favor either, unfortunately he took out the rightful winner. Hamlin’s tire issue was no one’s fault. Jr. had the race taken from him by immaturity and…

Kyle Busch’s recklessness. Kyle is out of control most of the time and drivers generally stay away from him in order to avoid things like happened last night. It was a racing incident, but Busch lost control of his car and would have been in the wall himself (or at least would have lost positions from having to slow way down to save it) if Jr. hadn’t been next to him to catch him. Busch is a guy that runs his mouth a lot and probably should hire really good security teams to cover him at all times. I’m pretty sure he couldn’t handle himself in a pinch – did you see him run like a scared little girl when Steve Wallace grabbed his helmet on Friday night after the Nationwide race? He approached Wallace, ran his mouth and then ran when Wallace reached out of his car and grabbed Busch’s helmet.

Here’s the part of all of this that pains me. Both Busch and Hamlin drive for a man I respect deeply – Joe Gibbs (yes, the former Washington Redskins coach). Joe is a good man, a man of integrity by all accounts, but he has hired a group of 3 thugs to drive his cars. There was a time when I would have applauded Jr. choosing to race for Gibbs alongside Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin (who I hadn’t realized was such a punk back then). Stewart has always been a little bit of a loose cannon, but he’s been around long enough to choose his spots.

Unfortunately Busch and Hamlin are young, cocky, and need to have their attitudes adjusted. At one point in the race a comparison was drawn between the late Dale Sr. and Kyle Busch – with specific reference to the incident that took Jr. out. Let’s be clear. Dale Sr. did put some people in the fence on occasion and at times he was seen as a villain (before he became the most famous racer in history). BUT Sr. didn’t take people out because he was out of control. If he moved someone out of the way it was because they wouldn’t get out of the way. And in NASCAR, that is a distinction that matters. Moving people out of the way is acceptable – much like moving a hitter back off the plate in baseball – taking people out because you can’t control your car is not part of the deal. Sure, it’s going to happen, but when it does don’t come out of the car acting like it wasn’t your fault.

My advice for Jr.:
- Make peace with Gordon (and Johnson and Mears if needed) because you guys are going to have to start working together to break the stronghold Gibbs has on the series right now.
- Keep taking the high road. We all know you got ripped this weekend. Keep not lashing out in post-race interviews – that’s how you become a statesman in the sport, let others do the talking – you do the driving.
- Just keep racing, the drought will end. You’re going to get one or more wins this season, but don’t forget the big prize and you’re in a good spot to go after that right now.
- Paint your car black. Then follow Kyle around the track until he wets himself. Nah, not worth it. No one likes him anyway.