Tuesday, August 22, 2006

NASCAR's 'spin doctors' have those in Washington covered

If anybody thinks Washington, D.C., is the only place where people practice the art of "spin," they’re not paying much attention to NASCAR fans.
I’ve been laughing hysterically all weekend at the various chat rooms and message boards that I like to check out. They’re replete with apologists insisting that Dale Earnhardt Jr. did nothing wrong in Saturday’s Busch Series race at Michigan.
"THAT’S RACIN’" someone averred on the forum on the site I work for that bears the same name. "Junior had no choice," read another one.
Had no choice? Sure he had a choice.
He could have chosen to wreck Carl Edwards or he could have chosen not to wreck him. That’s a choice. Maybe he wouldn’t have won the race if he’d chosen the latter, but he certainly had a choice. As long as there’s an accelerator AND a brake pedal in a race car, the driver has a choice in a situation like that.
I was laughing, too, at all of the commentators who talked about Edwards’ car "getting loose" in front of Earnhardt Jr.
OK, let’s say perfectly stable is zero percent loose and spinning into the wall is 100 percent loose. What percentage, on that scale, was Edwards’ Ford at the precise moment Earnhardt Jr. "had no choice" but to hit Edwards? Maybe 5 percent? Maybe 10?
OK, then what’s the allowable limit? What percent loose does a guy need to be before it’s OK to knock him out of the way?
Here’s what I suspect. I suspect most of the fans I’ve been chuckling at all weekend would give you very different answers to that question depending upon whose car is getting turned and whose car is doing the turning.
Remember back when Jeff Gordon knocked Matt Kenseth out of the way to win at Chicago? I asked the question back then whether views on that incident would be different if it had been Earnhardt Jr. doing the knocking. I suspected, strongly, the answer was yes and this weekend pretty much proved that right.
For the record, my view on the whole deal is that deciding what he’s willing to do to try to win a race is a decision every driver has to make for himself. There are all kinds of sliding scales involved in that decision-making process. How much does NASCAR let you get away with (and the answer there pretty much seems to be anything goes in the last few laps)? How much can you do and still be able to live with yourself? How much are you willing to lay down as the baseline for how you want other drivers to treat you?
I don’t drive race cars. I can’t tell you whether a driver hits another guy on purpose or by accident. I can ask the parties involved afterward and almost always come up with the same answers.
"I didn’t mean to wreck him," the hitter says.
"Nobody ever means to wreck anybody," the hittee says.
Lest the Earnhardt Jr. fans flip out on me, I will say that Edwards didn’t exactly bathe himself in glory with his reaction to the bump. He had no business using his car as a weapon in retaliation after the incident. I actually don’t have a problem with Edwards going to find Earnhardt Jr. after the race to express his displeasure. Earnhardt Jr. said something about how it’s bad form for a driver to come into another driver’s victory lane, but that’s where Earnhardt Jr. was – and where Edwards felt like he had a right to be.
I don’t really have a dog in this fight. I think Edwards and Earnhardt Jr. are both excellent drivers and their long-term success is important to the sport. I also have no doubt those two guys will work things out pretty quickly between themselves.
But I do want point out how hypocritical the fans are who want it both ways.
Your favorite driver is good enough to avoid multicar pileups or make split-second decisions running inches away from other cars at 180 mph. At the same time, he’s not good enough to keep from ramming into the rear end of a car in front him when doing that would greatly suit his purposes?
Please.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen

The Jr Nation makes me sick.

Anonymous said...

With Junior fans, any altercation with another driver is always the other driver's fault, and when Junior wrecks someone, that driver automatically becomes a "whiner" no matter what his reaction. And of course, if Junior loses, his fans want a rule change. They'd be the first to support voting a driver into the chase.

I don't dislike Junior and don't think the wreck was intentional, but no driver stays calm and collected when he loses a win that way. I don't blame Carl for getting upset even though his reaction was over the line.

Anonymous said...

Don't be so quick to bash the Junior fans - fans of every driver act the very same way. 90% of the drivers in NASCAR have wrecked someone intentionally at some point & probably more have been wrecked intentionally. It is a part of racing & most likely will be until NASCAR enforces a stricter punishment.

Monkeesfan said...

It has always been like this with Earnhardt fans, of Senior or Junior. And it's the same for Gordon fans - Gordon's rap sheet on big-one melees is huge, and the Gordon rumpswabbers refuse to be honest about it and admit he's a menace.

And spin isn't the exclusive property of fans - the sanctioning body needs a heavy shot of honesty to dissolve the disease of spin.

Anonymous said...

The only reason that we are discusing this right now is that it was Driver 8 who was involved with the of the new "wonderboys." If Jimmie Johnson or Kasey Kahne had spun out Jr. the media would've said that the incident was unavoidable or just "one of them racin' deals."

Unknown said...

Anonymous -- Absolutely untrue. And you know better. A guy wrecks the leader on a green-white-checkered finish, you're always going to hear all of the sides to it. Every time.

Anonymous said...

How come NOBODY mentions that former bad boy Robbie Gordon mentioned that Carl Edwards was loose on the previous restart? so when you have to chase the car up the track what do expect? If the roles where reversed and Jr got loose....Oh sorry THAT was Atlanta 2004.

Anonymous said...

Poole I gotta give you credit, you are fair and balanced. Maybe ABC/ESPN will pick you up for the telly next season!!

okla21fan said...

To me, this is more of a product of the Green/White/Checker and the evils associated with that. (and something like this will probably happen again)

Wasn't it a G/W/C in one of the Busch Richmond races last year when Edwards was the 'giver', and spun Sadler (the race leader) out?

I have never felt cheated in any way, when seeing a race end under caution.

Anonymous said...

I guess ya'll have nothing else better to do than to bash Jr. Get over it already, Jr and Carl have. Why ya'll so jealous anyway? Because your driver is'nt doin so well? Too bad!!! Rubbin is Racin!!! If you can't handle that, then get of the track!

Anonymous said...

Poole
Thats why you writwe about sports other people participate in. If JR slows up and finished 3rd, who would want to be the team owner? Of someone who is supposed to be competeing but settles for third. If Edwards car isnt fast enough to stay in front of anyone's car, get out of the way. It is called racing for a reason. THEY TRY TO GO FASTER THAN THE OTHER CARS. If you get hit in the rear by someone apparently you weren't.

Anonymous said...

...This is not some sissy game here, this is NASCAR RACING people...They call it racing for a reason...Those drivers are trying to win a race...When Edwards bobbled in front of Jr., Did you really expect him to say "that's okay Carl, I will just slow down and stay behind you, until you get it back together and win the race"...HECK NO!!!
He did what his Daddy would have done, He kept his foot on the gas pedal and held his line...

Anonymous said...

this is NASCAR RACING people...They call it racing for a reason...Those drivers are trying to win a race...When Edwards bobbled in front of Jr., Did you really expect him to say "that's okay Carl, I will just slow down and stay behind you, until you get it back together and win the race"...HECK NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

you know what to me it looked like carl edwards let up on the gas so it wasnt jrs fault he couldnt do anything because he was right by the wall and by another ar and you dont stop when you are that close to finishing and in 2nd or 3rd place so you just need to leave dale jr alone because if i was racing then and carl edwards did that i wouldnt stop either

Anonymous said...

I watched over and over that race and in my opinion Jr did not do anything any other driver would or would not have done when he was that close to advancing a position and the driver ahead decides to let off the gas. So no I dont think Jr did it on purpose however I do question Carl's intentions in slowing down. He himself said that something had happened to his car, if that was the case than why chance getting wrecked by blocking, that is the price you pay when you make a decision like that. He was trying to block both Robby and Jr, so why does Jr get slammed about it. Also it doesn't matter to me how upset a driver gets he has no right to come up to another drivers pit area and sit there than peel out and purposely go into the side of that driver while he has his hand out the window and did not expect anything like that to happen

Anonymous said...

Poole...keep believing that trash that you're spewing...You know this has been blown out of proportion because the 8 was involved with BackFlipper. Read all of the posts...it is racing. What about Edwards pulling a "Cole Trickle" and nearly taking Jr's hand off? Why is that not being talked about?

Anonymous said...

It is quite fashionable now to join the "I Hate Number Eight" bandwagon now that he is struggling to make the Chase. Everyone loved them some Dale Jr. when he was in third place.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, David. I have said since Chicago that it wasn't what Jeff Gordon did, it was that it was Jeff Gordon doing it. If it had been the EXACT same situation but the cars had been reversed, they would have been nominiating Kenseth for sainthood. It doesn't matter what happens on the track, it only matters what number is on the door.

Anonymous said...

If Carl Edwards a.k.a TEETH doesn't want to be touched on the track maybe he should drive open wheel. What has happened to NASCAR? What good are fenders if you aren't going to use them. As for the Earnhardt haters posting their negative remarks need I remind you the Earnhardts helped make racing what it is today.

It seems to me that there is an alterction of some kind every week, so this should be no different. For those defending Edwards, how can you say anything about Jr. when Edwards retaliated in such an unprofessional manner?

Unknown said...

Rubbing is racing. I love that. What's wrecking? Parchesi? Rubbing is when you get beside somebody and don't give up the line. When you punt somebody, you punt them. And Junior punted Carl. At no point in my blog, by the way, did I say anything about whether or not he should have done or not. I merely pointed out, and some of you have demonstrated, the capacity fans have for self-delusion when their favorite driver is involved. Look, a driver decides for himself what he feels is right to do when this kind of situation presents itself. If you think anybody you can get a bumper to is fair game, then that's fine. You have to be ready to be raced that way, too, but so be it. What I said was that don't tell me Dale Jr. didn't have an option. And I also specifically said Edwards was wrong for what he did after the race, and I think NASCAR was lenient in its $20,000 fine. But again, read the blog. It's about how fans started making up rationalizations for what happened, which was that Dale Jr. used his car as battering ram and knocked Edwards out of the way.

okla21fan said...

David,
Your last comment about 'rubbin is racin' and with the upcoming race, get me thinking and led to this question.

Isn't it a bit hypocritical for fans (no matter which driver is doing the punting), to be upset, but also feel that the 'best track in Nascar', is a one grooved track where punting is just about the only way to pass the car ahead or you?

but i guess that answer is for another day. Thanks for posting your blogs.

Unknown said...

So now we're going to let Robert Towne, who knows as much about racing as I know about nuclear physics, define the finer points of competitive ethics? He wrote the screenplay for "Days of Thunder," you know. Of course, he didn't invent that term. He just twisted it to what he wanted it to mean in a movie that, if you'll remember, was a tad unrealistic.

Anonymous said...

i hope the earnhardt's did not have anything to do with racing as it is today.it is a sad sad spectacle,jr wrecked carl he was not loose! what do you think the "bud" executives would think if jr said"i wanted to win so i ran through him because robby was on the bottom and it was either finish third or win". i'm sure he got loose sounds a lot better to them.

Anonymous said...

I am a huge Carl Edwards fan, but before anyone starts getting riled up and ready to sink their teeth into me, let me make my point, and yes, I will break it back down to Dick and Jane terms so that nobody will misconstrue what I say. Carl was driving slower than Dale Jr. Dale Jr was driving faster than Carl. Robby and Dale Jr were both behind Carl. Carl was trying to block both cars. Carl GOT LOOSE and Carl slowed down. This means he was NOW going even SLOWER than he was previously. When Carl got loose, Carl SHOULD have immediately tried to GET OUT OF THE WAY of both Robby and Dale Jr, regain his "footing" and come back to show everyone he could win because HE had the faster car. Obviously, Carl did NOT have the faster car and since Carl did NOT get out of the way, Dale Jr is being blamed for sending him "wrecking". Perhaps, Mr. Poole, you should check your vision and rewatch the tape. You yourself stated, and I DO quote, "I don't drive racecars.", so how would you KNOW what kind of choices Carl Edwards OR Dale Jr had? I believe if you were a driver, you would not speak so arrogantly or like an idiot. The commentators even stated Carl got loose, Robby even stated Carl got loose. CARL HIMSELF even said something broke on the car. He made the statement in a sarcastic manner because he was frustrated, but he did admit that there was something WRONG with his car. Before you start bashing ANY driver of the sport, perhaps you should watch ALL angles from ALL cameras to the very last second and see exactly what goes on. I would think that being a PROFESSIONAL journalist, you would have given a PROFESSIONAL run-down of the race and left your soured opinions at home where they belong. Yes, in America we are given freedom of speech by the first amendment, however; this does NOT give you the right to use it to be stupid, ignorant or ill-informed. I applaud ALL the Earnhardt fans for sticking to their guns and by their driver on this one! It just goes to show, THEY are not band-wagon fans. They are in it for the long-haul, come hell or highwater, they support that 8 car. I also support my driver in the same manner, however; I do not blame Dale Jr for Carl's mishaps at Michigan. Please folks, get over it already! My driver lost that race. That's ok, I'm over it. I don't need a support group, I don't need to cry on a website, I don't need to bash another driver because MY driver didn't get out of the way, I suffered no irreversible trauma to my inner-self that I will need extensive counseling for the rest of my life. It's RACING folks. The faster cars WIN. Now, sit down, shut up and LET'S GO RACING BOYS!

Unknown said...

Anonymous -- I am not a physicist, either, but I know enough about laws of physics to say that with a car directly behind him, another car directly to his left and the wall directly to his right, it would have been exceedingly difficult for Carl Edwards to "get out of the way." Unless David Blaine was with him in the car or something.

Monkeesfan said...

We need to get off this "rubbing is racing" crap. Rubbing IS NOT RACING. It's one thing to physically push another car to speed both of you up, but sideswiping other cars and ramming them into a spin is unacceptable and needs to be treated as such.

Anonymous said...

Get a freakin life MonkeeBoy !!

Monkeesfan said...

anonymous, get a life yourself. Rubbing ISN'T racing - passing is racing.

Anonymous said...

uh...last time I checked, sideswiping a car meant that you scrape the car on the side with the side of your car....maybe that's just the way we do things in Texas though.