September 27, 2010
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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Who needs a daytime soap opera when you have rivalries in NASCAR?
The penalties levied against the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing team driven by Clint Bowyer apparently were no surprise to at least one driver in the garage -- and that driver has had no problem voicing his thoughts to the folks in Dover. The problem is, by airing the dirty laundry, he has apparently placed a bulls-eye on the back of his car for those who feel wronged by Hamlin’s accusations.
“You can really try to say 60-thousandths didn’t help him perform any better – that is a crock,” was Denny Hamlin’s response that the claim that the small deviation in measurements that led to the penalty for the No. 33 car were of no advantage to Bowyer’s team in New Hampshire.
"In the garage, everyone has known it for months (the 33 team was pushing the limits) -- it's not two weeks old. This is something that's been going on for months. They've (the No. 33 team) been warned for a long time, way before Richmond. They knew it was wrong way before (last week in New Hampshire) and I felt like they wanted to get everything they could. What did they have to lose, really? You almost can't fault them for that," stated Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota for Joe Gibbs racing, on Friday. He went on to provide a comparison to something that happened to his own car vs. what Bowyer claims happened to make the No. 33 illegal.
"The car that I had in Atlanta was towed all the way in and the tow truck destroyed the trunk. We never replaced one thing on the tail of this car and it just went through inspection fine. My car went through way more destruction than (the No. 33) did just getting a simple push and my car is fine."
Apparently those comments aimed at the RCR organization lit a fire not just under the No. 33 team, but their fellow teammates as well. The return volley unfolded on Saturday during the opening laps of Sprint Cup practice as Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 car got into the back of Hamlin and sent him spinning, leading to damage to the back of the No. 11 car.
The irony is, the No. 11 and No. 29 cars are currently 1st and 2nd in points, which mean they park right next to each other in the garage on race weekend. After Harvick sent Hamlin spinning, a lot of angry glares were exchanged between the garage stalls of the two teams.
“I think it was a lot of frustrated team members, and that’s going to be a part of it,” Hamlin explained in an interview after practice was over. “Of course it’s unnecessary because it didn’t help either one of the race teams -- us having to work on race cars. I spoke my mind (Friday) and I felt like I said a lot of truth and a lot of times, that’s not popular with the teams involved.”
That would apparently be an understatement.
"When you're talking about comments, you can't win a pissing match with a skunk," commented team owner Richard Childress said after the dust up in practice in response to Hamlin’s comments. "There are two things I've learned. One thing is that. The other is that you don't throw stones if you live in a glass house."
Hamlin said he wasn’t surprised about the incident involving Harvick. "I had a hint something was coming because their crew guys were just staring and saying something like, 'Hey, good luck today. He got into me on pit road before we were even on the track. So I knew we were going to have some issues. It's unnecessary that the team guys have to get involved in it, but we're going to just keep focused on trying to win a championship."
After practice was over, Harvick and Hamlin exchanged words out of earshot of the media. When asked what Harvick said, Hamlin said “There was a lot of cursing. That’s all that there was really being said.”
For Harvick’s part, he had very little to say to the media after practice. "(The RCR teams are) a tight-knit group, always have been."
It is a sentiment his boss echoed. “I didn't see what happened. I wasn't on top of the truck at the time. But we're all a good, tight-knit group and, well, you know.”
Fans are choosing sides, with some calling Hamlin a “whiner” or “cry baby” while others are already tagging the RCR teams as “Cheaters who cheated their way into the Chase.”
Other teams not involved in the battle are enjoying the fact that the there is a rivalry brewing between at least three teams in the Chase. Chad Knaus, crew chief for defending four-time Champion Jimmie Johnson, stated that he feels that those teams no longer have their head in the game, which means they won’t be focused on the Championship, but instead on each other.
Photo by Kim Roberson
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NASCAR Prepares To Take No. 33 Car Back To R&D Shop
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When Carl Edwards was asked about his thoughts on the unfolding drama, he said “All I know is I drive the 99, and it’s my job to go fast and it’s simpler if I just focus on that.”
Sunday morning in the garage, the 29 and 11 teams worked to get their cars prepared for the race with no interaction between the two garage stalls. In the drivers’ meeting, the drivers and crew chiefs for the 29, 33 and 11 all sat in the same row, although there was an aisle between the RCR teams and Hamlin. Hamlin’s teammate, Kyle Busch, sat behind Harvick and Crew Chief Gil Martin, and was talking with Harvick before the meeting got underway.
Pre-race, JGR president J.D. Gibbs said he had spoke with Denny about his comments and asked him to tone down his accusations. "He just said too much. We just told him to start saying less.''
After Sunday’s race, Denny noted that he thinks it is time to look ahead and move on from the dust up. “I think it was over yesterday, it should be over yesterday. It’s over with -- I didn’t see those guys at all today. There is too much to lose in this Chase to do anything out of the ordinary to make a dumb move.”
During the race, the 29, 33 and 11 were rarely within proximity of each other, and the 33 was dealing with battling back from hitting the wall and a speeding penalty on pit road that left him three laps down. Despite that fact, at the end of the race, as other teams were rushing to leave the track to head back to North Carolina, the 33 team was in their garage stall breaking down the car as Shane Wilson stood with his hands behind his back and a NASCAR official watched. It seems that the 33 was heading back to the R&D center yet again for another once over as the chosen “random” car.
And this week, there wasn’t a tow truck anywhere near them.
Nothing like drawing out the soap opera for another week.
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