September 21, 2005

By Rebecca Gladden

They say a watched pot never boils.

But in New Hampshire on Sunday, drivers' frustrations spilled out onto the Loudon racetrack like a giant lobster pot left too long on the fire.

The combination of a track known for difficult passing and the pent-up frustrations of several drivers who've struggled all year made for a mercurial melting pot of emotions.

Five non-Chase drivers and one Chase driver were involved in three separate Cup race incidents, and NASCAR responded both Sunday and Monday with penalties designed to put a lid on the churning passions.

Kurt Busch was the only driver whose tangle could affect a championship run. Busch entered Loudon 5th in the point standings, just 20 points behind Chase leader Tony Stewart. The other five drivers involved in incidents - along with their standings at the start of the race - were Scott Riggs (30), Kasey Kahne (20), Kyle Busch (19), Robby Gordon (36) and Michael Waltrip (22).

Busch had only turned three laps at Loudon when Scott Riggs got loose underneath him and put Busch in the wall, causing heavy damage to the 97. An irate Busch leapt from his car after bringing it to the garage and headed to Riggs' pit box, where he confronted Rodney Childers, crew chief for the 10.

"I just wanted to tell his crew chief that he started his car way too loose, so hopefully they don't hurt anyone else in the Chase," said Busch. "There are guys you race with and there are guys you can't. He doesn't really know where he is most of the time."

Riggs, who argued that the contact was accidental, nevertheless cited an incident between the two drivers at Indianapolis last month, "That's just racing," Riggs explained. "He knows it. He always has harsh words for everybody else's driving, but he never does anything wrong. He did the same thing to us at Indy, took us out, and he was never man enough to come talk to me about it or anything."

While NASCAR officials intended to discuss Busch's actions in confronting Childers, there will probably be no fines or penalties issued to either Riggs or Busch. NASCAR Vice President Jim Hunter said on Sunday, "(Busch) told our officials what he wanted to do when he walked down pit road. We knew he was going down to have a decent conversation with the crew chief of the other car, and he did. He conducted himself in a professional fashion."

The wreck was costly for Busch in terms of points, however. He finished the race 67 laps down in 35th place and fell from 5th to 10th in the standings, plummeting from 20 points out of 1st before Loudon to 142 points back afterwards.

The second of the three incidents Sunday involved last season's Rookie of the Year driver, Kasey Kahne, and this year's leading rookie of the year candidate, Kyle Busch. Busch, who stated his contact with the rear bumper of Kahne was accidental, turned Kahne into the wall on Lap 166. Kahne waited on track for Busch to come alongside and rammed his car into the 5 car demolition-derby style.

Kahne defended his retaliation, stating, "Dale Jarrett, when he got back at (Ryan) Newman, that's just the way you've got to do it. If people are going to run you over for no reason and think they're going to get away with it, then you just go out there and ruin their day too. I think that's the best way to do it."

"I figured he was going to do something," Busch retorted. "I should have been smarter than that - pulling on the outside. I wasn't expecting NASCAR's poster child to do that."

NASCAR parked Kahne for the rest of the race on Sunday, although it was unlikely that he would have been able to return to the track.

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In the third fracas of the day, Robby Gordon and Michael Waltrip traded paint, with Waltrip eventually sending Gordon hard into the wall on lap 191. Gordon then attempted to back his heavily-damaged car into Waltrip's and, failing that, climbed out of the car and stood in front of oncoming caution-lap traffic. After hurling his helmet at Waltrip's car, Gordon described Waltrip, in a national TV interview, as a "piece of sh**."

Waltrip also gestured with his middle finger toward Gordon.

"Everyone thinks Michael is a good guy," Gordon argued. "He is not the good guy like he acts like he is. Caution was out, and he wrecked me."

Waltrip blamed Gordon for the wreck, stating, "I was running up high in the corner and he just came in there and tried to bounce me out of the groove. I went as high as I could go. The next thing over for me was the marbles and the wall. I just stood my ground and he just kept coming and turned himself into the wall."

After the Gordon-Waltrip incident, NASCAR brought the entire field to pit road under the red flag, purportedly to clean up debris. At the same time, NASCAR officials warned all drivers to calm down or risk being parked for one or more races.

Although no one apparently has been parked, multiple other penalties were announced on Monday, including:

Kasey Kahne: 25 driver points, 25 owner points, $25,000, and probation for the rest of the year.

Michael Waltrip: 25 driver points, 25 owner points, and $10,000.

Robby Gordon: 50 driver points, 50 owner points, $35,000, and probation for the rest of the year.

With nine races to go in the Chase for the Championship, look for pressure-cooker conditions to produce parboiled tempers from now until season's end.

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. Although we may not always agree with what is said, we do feel it's our duty to give a voice to those who have something relevant to say about the sport of auto racing.