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Respect: What Is It And Who Should Give It?

An Opinion



April 29, 2009

By Nick Blake

Ten quick observations I made after this weekend’s races at Talladega.

1..Dale Earnhardt Jr. has to be baffled that he called the same exact strategy with Ryan Newman two days in a row, and neither of the two won either race. Speaking of Newman, if they were drafting partners, how come he ended up on Carl Edwards' car while Jr. cruised on by?

2..Four Chevrolets with Hendrick engines finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 15th. Only one of those Chevys was actually a Hendrick Motorsports car.

3..I took this one from Jimmy Spencer. Isn’t it spooky that Talladega Superspeedway was built on an Indian reservation, and the Miccosukee tribe sponsored the winning car? Makes you think.

4..Mark Martin wasn’t lying when he said he hated restrictor plate racing.

5..Regan Smith has mixed emotions all over again. He now sees what could have happened if he held his position in last years race, a catastrophic wreck that could have been much worse than it was. And personally, I wouldn’t want to wreck Tony Stewart anyway. He’s not as nice as Carl Edwards.

6..I’d love to be Brad Keselowski right about now. Not did he win his first Sprint Cup race; he goes from not even showing up to the Sprint Showdown, to being in his first All Star Race.

7..And how about Phoenix Racing? In Saturdays Aaron's 312, The Nationwide team, driven by Mike Bliss, cooked the motor and finished 41st. And Even Keselowski had to go from a 9th starting spot to the rear because of adjustments to the engine. Still, they came out on top. But don’t be shocked if this team goes from the euphoria of winning a cup race to not even qualifying at Richmond. It has happened before. Keselowski has qualified 25th, 32nd, 15th, 33rd and 3rd in his only Nationwide starts at Richmond.

8..Juan Pablo Montoya won’t have any of his packages shipped via FedEx anymore.

9..Carl Edwards said “we’ll continue to race this way until we kill someone.” While those are very rash comments to make, there can be a solution. Build another fence, and remove some rows of seats so that fans aren’t so close to the race track. Sure, it will look more like a UFC octagon than a race track, but heck, the COT can’t get any safer.

10..Lastly, I want to wish a get well to any fans that were hurt after the horrific crash.

Now, as I was watching the Nationwide Aaron's 312 Saturday, the motivating factor that compelled me write this article was Justin Allgaier’s post race interview, in which he said “I know we’re supposed to show respect to the Cup guys, but sometimes you don’t get it back.” And it’s true. It’s specifically aimed at the Joe Gibbs trio of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and the rookie that has been at the center of two controversial wrecks this season, Joey Logano.

Those three come into the Nationwide Series and don’t cut the regulars any slack.

The two wrecks that I linked Joey Logano to are the January wreck he caused by crashing Peyton Sellars on the last lap of the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway, and just this past Saturday when he took out Michael Waltrip. And poor Waltrip, a week ago he was taken out by Carl Edwards in the Nationwide race at Phoenix while leading, this week, not only did Logano take out Waltrip, but Clint Bowyer too, and initially, Bowyer blamed the wreck on Waltrip.

Both accidents were for the most part, Joey’s fault.

Denny Hamlin has kept his nose clean, with only one start this season, but it was last season’s incident with Brad Keselowski at Lowe’s that really confused me. Hamlin, upset with the way Brad was racing him, decided it was OK to slam into Keselowski’s left front fender under the race’s last caution. After the race, each driver took verbal jabs at each other, and each others pit crew were each others throats.

Kyle Busch is always at the center of controversy, Earlier this season, he was racing for the lead at Nashville Superspeedway with Michael McDowell, and McDowell was doing the right thing, racing hard with the laps winding down, even if he was on worn tires. The accident gave Busch minor damage, costing him the win. After the race, Busch gave his “typical arrogant kid type” post race interview, ignoring ESPN pit reporter Shannon Spake’s question about how McDowell raced Busch.

And now Saturday, Kyle was trying to race to the front late in the race when he came up on Justin Allgaier. Allgaier may have been a tad bit loose before being hit by Busch, but Busch showed no respect by just ramming the back of Allgaier’s Dodge without even checking up to avoid that from happening.

Hamlin, Busch and Logano all need to realize, that this series belongs to the Nationwide regulars just as much as they belong to race there. There’s a long standing quote in racing, (And no, Ricky Bobby didn’t say It.) it’s called, “Rubbin’s Racing.” And it’s true, it doesn’t matter who you are.

Brad Keselowski could be racing Kyle Busch for the lead on the last lap at lets say…..Richmond, and if Keselowski pulls the “bump and run” and wins, it’s racing, and Kyle should deal with it rather than whine like a baby. It was fair racing. If a Sprint Cup regular can’t deal with a Nationwide regular “taking the series back”, then just stay in cup. And what do I have to say to the Nationwide regulars? Toughen up, and don’t back down. However, just when I thought that series regulars like Justin Allgaier or Jason Leffler weren’t going to make an impact, and it was going to come down to a Carl Edwards/Kyle Busch battle every week, I was shocked, we all were shocked.

Congratulations to Brad Keselowski on his first Sprint Cup victory.

And that, at least me, to the final issue regarding respect.

Do drivers give too much respect to the yellow line? Or not enough?

It’s a strict rule enforced by NASCAR, go below the yellow line, and you’ll be black flagged. The rule cost Regan Smith his only career win, and the same rule also injured fans and gave Jack Roush his second flipped car of the weekend.

How could a simple yellow line (It’s double now) make so much difference on the outcome of a race? The winner of this spring’s race was passed below the yellow line by Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., and neither was penalized. It’s something very simple that you and I learn in Driver's Ed, double yellow line means no passing. But when it’s causing accidents and drivers are making sneaky passes below the line anyway, how do you police it? How do you stop it?

This seems to happen at Talladega more than Daytona, so for Talladega only, why not get rid of the yellow line on the Tri-Oval? Keep it into turns 1, 2, 3 and 4 and along the backstretch, but when it comes to the Tri-Oval, anything goes. That way, there’s even better, safer racing, and if you lose the race, you don’t have an excuse to complain about.

The yellow line has too much authority on how these races are determined. It’s time to put restrictor plate racing back in the driver’s hands, and hopefully, not in the fans laps. Literally.

Comments or suggestions are encouraged. Please contact Nick Blake at Insider Racing News.

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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