July 3, 2008
By Brian Watkins
Brian Watkins
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Dick Berggren’s Speedway Illustrated has a great article this month concerning the practice of second place racers bumping the leader out of the way and taking the checkers. Dave Moody’s show on Sirius Satellite Radio had a nice commentary on the “technique” a week or so ago. I myself had planned to write this week’s column on the subject, adding my observations and opinions on the “if-you-can’t-pass-em-smash-em” style of racing.
Then there was the Lenox Industrial Tools 301.
Let me get two things out of the way. First, I am a Kyle Busch fan. I understand that he is young and has some maturing to do, but overall I like him. Second, I am not a fan of Montoya. I thought his attitude was lousy last season, and though I have more respect for him this year; I am still waiting for him to show more skill than attitude. With that out of the way, let me also add that what you will read from here on down would not be a bit different if neither of the above caveats were true.
I do not care what kind of fender banging has gone on in previous laps; no one should do what Montoya did under caution on Sunday. Bumping and banging will happen. Taps here and there to let someone know where they stand in the racing food chain happen. Retaliatory turns happen. Brakes “fail” and then magically work again after you hit an aggressive opponent. However, when the caution flies, that behavior stops.
What’s worse than the fact that Montoya had so little regard for the 20 or so other drivers around him when he turned Busch is the fact that NASCAR saw fit to not only let the incident go relatively unpunished, but by their tacit approval they have encouraged other drivers to behave in the same way. Yes, I am aware of the whopping 2 lap penalty they hammered JP with- how he’ll ever recover from that is beyond me. The fact that Tuesday has come and gone with no further official mention of what happened, let alone a point’s penalty escapes all logic.
Edwards was fined 100 points for his oil cover. Junior, both Gordons and Johnson have all been hit hard for infractions that while classified as cheating, did little to jeopardize safety. Montoya did not rub fenders, flip the bird or getting into it with Busch in the garage. He tuned left, accelerated and rammed the 42 into the 18 without any regard for anyone else on the track.
Yes, Busch can be annoyingly aggressive at times.
Yes, many drivers in all three series have had their fill of his attitude and his style.
And yes, at some point his past was eventually going to come back to bite him in the deck lid.
Nevertheless, of all the people to do it, Montoya had not only the weakest excuse, but also the biggest lack of judgment and control. NASCAR should have seized that opportunity to immediately park Montoya and levy a heavy point’s fine. This was the case before he opened his mouth and admitted he did it on purpose. The fact that he did what he did, especially WHEN he did and then arrogantly confessed to it on TV and was only given a two lap penalty once again calls into question NASCAR’s commitment to not only parity when assessing penalties, but their commitment to safety.
It is an easy excuse to say, “Busch had it coming”. Had Reutimann or Biffle been collected along with any number of other cars would that excuse still hold water?
Kurt Busch banged Tony Stewart intentionally earlier in the season with no other cars around, and yet he was hammered for it. I find it very difficult to comprehend how NASCAR has seen fit to let a simple 2-lap penalty be the only price Montoya had to pay.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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