DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The only thing NASCAR should have done to Kurt Busch for his antics following Friday night's incident with Tony Stewart is the one thing it has shown it doesn't have the stones to do.
Busch should have been parked for the Budweiser Shootout. It's a non-points event, so they shouldn't take points away for Busch using his car to express his displeasure. Fines don't matter. That's been established. Probation is a joke. Busch lives on probation.
The benefits of racing Saturday night included getting valuable seat time in the new car being used here for the first time. Depriving Busch of that opportunity would have been a reasonable and effective measure.
There was, however, never any chance that NASCAR officials would take it.
They'll sit on their thumbs through this weekend and put out some lame fine Monday or Tuesday. They may even wait until the week after the Daytona 500 so as not to spoil all the hoopla they hope will be building up to the 50th running of the 500 next Sunday.
Whatever they do will be wrong.
We ought to be used to that by now. And please, let's don't get all confused here over this whole business about letting drivers show their personality more this year.
If Busch and Stewart had come to pit road, gotten out of their cars and started calling each other names and making up clever, derogatory nicknames for each other, that would have been fine.
But let's hope NASCAR at least tries to make it clear - even if it's in the weak-kneed way it usually does - that using your car as a revenge-delivering battering ram is not acceptable.
As for what supposedly happened in the NASCAR hauler in the meeting subsequent to the accident, all I have to say about that is I hope the fans who actually believe it's good for NASCAR to have its top stars act like drunken sailors on shore leave are happy now.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Actual NASCAR action is not in the script
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42 comments:
I have to say I agree. It would set a standard for the upcoming season and pretty much dictate that if you use your car as a weapon after an on-track incident on pit road or in the garage, your ass will not race the next race. Period. Nascar had the perfect chance to initiate this policy during a non-points, pre-season race. That way, the groundwork for the rest of the season would be solid. Now what we have is another loose, waffling, rules/infraction/punishment situation that will eventually drive folks away from this great sport. If you can't have law and order and have concrete methods in place for individuals who decide to use a 3400 pound vehicle as an object of their infantile temper tantrums, then you run the risk of it happening again and again. Let's just hope when Nascar does decide to get real with this, it's not after a funeral (God forbid plural) of a pit worker.
I agree with setting a standard with pit row incidents, but the contact happened on the track. there was nothing but blocking the garage entrance on pit row. A higher safety standard does need to be held for the pit workers and officals, so strong punishments sould be given for pit row incidents. The on track contact was no worse then how carl edwards hit Dale Jr. on the side with Jr's hand hanging out the window and no suspenion was handed out then. Busch should not be punished for an on track contact, but if it was on pit row like dover last year, than i agree, throw the book at him and set a standard!
So David...Tell US how you REALLY feel! IMO it was a racin' deal, No harm no foul...This "incident" rocketed nascar to headlines news, and I must say thank God i don't have to hear what Dale Jr had for lunch!
This was practice, Tony should have known better should have used common sense, the problem with Tony he believes all the media hype about him and feels he can do no wrong...Both drivers have a "history" so set 'em down like "Big Bill" would do...If Kurt Busch gets parked...What the Hell should happen to Chad Knaus WHEN he gets caught cheating? Lethal Injection for the WHOLE team or make Rick Hendrick the Sacrificial pig?
Hey David, so much for you being nothing more than a NASCAR mouthpiece. Right on Brother!!! Keep tellin' it like it is.
Right on David - I saw Busch do his thing at Dover and he was fined and points were taken and he is still using his car as a weapon. If he got out of his car and faced Tony would be one thing but he is putting a lot of other people in danger and he should not be driving that car tonight!
Carolyn
Two Points:
1. A vehicle should never be used in retalation. Period.
2. Any physical altercation should NEVER be advocated. The statement "What happens in the trailer, stays in the trailer" is fine for most things. Physical attacks. NEVER!
Poole,
Will you be happy when Nascar pulls your hardcard and you are covering Gaston County High School Football
Obviously the punishment that NASCAR gave Kurt Busch last year after Dover didn't sink in, as he did it again. Please don't give me this crap about 'it didn't happen on pit road, so its different'. No, its not. You use you car as a weapon, your done... parked. Period. No questions asked. Busch proved fines and point penalties don't matter to him, so sit his ass down for a race. The message will be delivered LOUD AND CLEAR. Anything less is nothing more than a slap on the hand.
And there is NO COMPARISON to a crew chief cheating; this is a safety issue that could permanently injure someone or, God forbid, kill someone. NASCAR needs to take a zero tolerance stand on this one.
Of course it took the death of their best driver in 2001 to finally get serious about car safety, so sadly we may have to wait until someone dies before they take it seriously.
i must say that fan #5 has some great points....everyone is always on kurt well what about tony and the rest of nascar for that matter! as for the a physical fight instead of using the cars...well this confusing to me. kurt doesn't want to hurt tony...he wants to hurt the team, the chance at winning...the car!!
hey poole go to a sat night short track and see some real fightin
Tony WAS attempting to confront Kurt by getting out of the car but his team blocked him and allowed Kurt to escape--unlike Kurt, who uses a 3400 hundred pound car to argue his point, Tony was willing to face him- Man to Man-- what's wrong with that??? Nascar must stop drivers from using thier car as a battering ram and potentially critically harming others on the track, but a few well placed words delivered with intensity may drive a point home!!!
I'm a Smoke fan and I must say, I don't condone physical violence, but it's painfully obvious that NASCAR isn't going to do anything, so I don't have a problem with Tony standing up for himself.
What happened on the track was a "racing deal" and we saw it happen again in the Shootout tonight, just with different drivers and different results. Tony got his nose on the outside of Kurt (like Hamlin got his nose under Bowyer, except Bowyer saved it AND the way Hamlin got his nose outside of McMurray, and McMurray squeezed up and popped the wall) and Kurt squeezed up. The drivers can't see as well because of the "wing" and the cars are wider, so spotters have to step up.
NASCAR can say they want their drivers to have their personalities back, but so far it's off to a bad start, and the only black eye out there, IMO, is on NASCAR.
Its to bad that Stewart didn't leave Busch looking like Spenser did after he clocked him in the snot locker!
I see little difference between the actions of Tony & Kurt. The fans like Tony, so is selfish behavior is OK. The fans love to hate Kurt, so anything he does is magnified. Personally, the best races I watch are the ones where someone puts fat-man-wreck-em (Tony) in the wall. Here is to a year full of that!
I totally agree David. How much longer, with guys using their cars as weapons, especially on pit road, until somebody gets hurt? Oh wait this is NASCAR it will take somebody getting hurt or worse killed before they get their heads out of their butts.
Its always Tony Steward and somebody.....he needs a 3 race cooling off period after one of these confrontations.
The actual event on the track, Busch getting turned into the wall, was a racing incident. Then the first time Busch door slammed Stewart on the apron, I thought it was a little uncalled for, but tried to give Busch benefit of the doubt because reports are he has been down with the flu, but then he did it again. It was no better when Stewart was jacking around on pit road. I then became concerned that other cars could get damaged by their antics. Maybe Busch should have been parked for the Shootout. Nascar does need to get Busch's "mind right". After all, Stewart is not the first competitor to punch Busch. Finally, I agree with Larry Mac, these driver's bang up these race cars and hand them back to the crew who really are the ones that get screwed. The owner's lose a ton of money because of the damage to their racecars that need repaired and the shop crew whom are already overworked get to repair a racecar that was damaged by boneheads. Maybe the driver's should have to be in the competitors shop every minute that it takes to fix that racecar and have a hammer in their hand as well.
You said it all right there, it was a nonpoints race. That is probably why Kurt got to race. It's the first real racing of the season, even though it is an exhibition. I think this " strong" message in which you speak of is exactly what is wrong with NASCAR today. No, it shouldn't be a free-for-all, but each driver deserves a warning and a chance. Kurt Busch used his right away, it could be a long season for him and trying to stay good. I think you have the right idea about parking them when they use their cars as weapson sort to speak. But this incident was minor in that respect as well. But I also think KB should know that he has used up his free pass way too soon as well. I just think you, the media is making a mountain out of a molehill.
Using cars on the track (they were not yet past the commitment cones)to express displeasure, is a time honored tradition in NASCAR that I completely agree with. I remember in the 60's Bobby Allison and Curtis Turner going to the infield, actually a Football field, at Bowman Grey Stadium and having a demolition derby with their cars. NASCAR needs more of this.
Base upon the "contrite" attitudes and comments by both drivers Saturday, I'd bet that NASCAR let both drivers know there will be no second chances. It's obvious that NASCAR doesn't want to make that call because of the sponsor driven nature of the sport/business, but I'll bet they told Stewart and Busch that they were looking at a 500 suspension if they keep it up.
Good comments, but beware the retribution from the Bubbas! lol
Actually, Tony, by his own admission, deliberately whrecked Matt Kenseth during the '06 Daytona 500 and nothing was done to him. Using your car as a weapon is bad enough, but using it as one while doing 200 mph is beyond stupid. Fortunately, neither Matt nor others were hurt. But it still galls me to this day, knowing that he admitted to it and they let him off the hook. Of course, it wasn't the first time he has been let off and probably won't be the last. Had that been, say, Robby Gordon, he would still be sitting out the racing.
Let em' have at it! NASCAR needs a good rivalry. I agree, we need something else to read about other than when Jr. took his last crap. We want donuts on the sides of the cars, we want more personalties to come out, anger is part of that. Neither Tony or Kurt were going to get hurt when Kurt banged into Tony on the apron. He wasn't using the car as a weapon. He was just showing his displeasure. If he tried to run Tony over in the garage area, THAT would be using the car as a weapon. As long as they keep it away from the crews and officials on pit road. As far as the crews fixing the cars, it's part of the job, they know it. I've had to fix race cars that were damaged because one driver or another was pissed off. All of you people who want NASCAR to be PC (including Mr. Poole) should go have your cheese and wine and watch F1 racing.
Where was all the complaining when Dale Earnhardt would wreck people whenever he had the urge. Amazing that now it is a big deal and then it was "just racing or I just wanted to rattle his cage:
Ok...first off can we give up this whole "using the car as a weapon" thing. Come on people...it's racing!!! Am I the only person here who knows anything about the history of NASCAR??? Do we not remember the beating and banging of past NASCAR champions? Or the infield rumbles between drivers. Give it a break people...this is one of the reasons you see so many empty seats week after week at NASCAR events because we are trying to make it a politically correct exchanging of pleasantries instead of what it is...RACING! I can completely understand and endorse no pit road contact. It puts the crew members and anyone else that may be in the area in danger. I agree 100% with having a so-called zero tolerance policy in that area. Aside from that LET THEM RACE. Allow the individual drivers to be who they are. We don't have to like everything that Tony Stewart has to say but let him say it, it adds to makeup of what NASCAR should be. This is what the sport needs. Let em go for God's sake. As for David Poole...I'm with HENDRICKFAN who posted "all of you people who want NASCAR to be PC should go have your cheese & wine & watch F1 racing."
This is NASCAR people, let's try and remember that!
F5,
Thank you, your comments were definitley on point.
Let it die, but week in week out I see David here and then he chooses to spout PARK KURT, well David if you are parking Kurt last night, or doing anything at all to him Tony gets the same punishment.
I would love to see you David pick up the phone (IE Brian F) and call Don or Home Depot and make them aware you decided to park them both or one of them.. I would love to hear that confernce call that would never happen..
Funny most on here slamming Busch are ANON...
Brian wanted "more expression" well he got it.I just love how certain media types jump on the bandwagon after they sat there and heard it come from Brians Mouth.
As we know Kurts not a saint. Thank God some of us out here still respect Tony, Robby, Kevin, Kurt and Kyle for not being NASCAR robots.
David I would think you know just as well as I do in the garage it is a family..Families have issues. Things happen
They both made a major err. BOTH OF THEM ON THE TRACK and OFF>
F5, as you know Chad has been caught cheating over and over, but he gets sat, then takes the time to come to the track(outside) and still run the show. But someone chooses to state "NASCAR needs to do this and that to a driver?"
Chad will once again be up to his usual antics and be unscathed.HE still was at the shop daily, still set the car up, still went to the campgrounds and had a "FACE" for a CC.That is what makes me laugh some people assume it was so "WOW CHAD and STEVE are not here"... LMAO
Wake up , in 2008 NASCAR, its a fact that you can skirt a rule, or a suspension, unlesss you are a driver..
F5,
do you ever ever think that NASCAR(Brian, Helton or Nelson)would ever make Rick a posterchild for punishment? You know the anwser just as good as I do....
Sorry for the rant Mr. Poole, but face the facts, it many times appears you live on the NASCAR bandwagon... I am sure we will pass one another today and I will speak as usual to be cordial... Now I am going to watch my BOSS qualify his car.
David, how dare you insult drunken sailors by comparing them to the likes of Busch and Stewart!
Thank you Amy for being the first I saw make some sense.I agree that the 2's behavior isn't the best,but that kind of stuff made Nascar popular.Now,doing it on pit lane might be a tad bit uncalled for but from in all reality what did it hurt.And don't give me your anti comments about you never know who will get hurt.It's pit road and these guys understand what the deal is and what can happen once a driver acts out.It IS an unsafe area regardless.Fan 5 and K2 I totally agree.Ya'll know he deal...
Seriously,is this a hate blog against the 2 or a praise team for the 20.No one and I mean no one has proven to be worse on the track than the 20 as far as being overly aggresive with a "3500 lbs" car.Give me a break.The 06 500 with the 17.The crap with the 15 last year.The crap with the 2.So you hollier than thou's think if the 20 had punted you around on several different occasions you wouldn't react like he has?Come on now...Me personally,I would handle off the track.But I ain't there,so my car would do untill.
Give me a freakin break Poole.You boe your neck,so to speak on tradin paint with Petty on Friday nite so much making me sick with how great Nascar is listening to Kyle saying we need to be racing in Seattle made me want to puke.More and more, your opinions here lately have no more merit than us little 'ol fans views except you actually get paid for yours.Almost like an overpaid free agent on the Panthers,say like Kemo...serving no real purpose...
I remember when a swaggering ass named Kevin Harvick got parked at Martinsville for the cup race for the sins committed in a NCTS event. So, NASCAR had the stones to the right thing in that case.
I don't think Robin Pemberton has the stones to call Roger Penske and tell him one of his drivers will be in the box at race time.
Kurt Bush is a swaggering ass. He has a lot of talent at the wheel, but he no control over his emotions. Smoke is better than he was, but has not reached sainthood status either.
I agree with Poole. NASCAR should have parked the punk.
I think that it is time for either Tony Stewart or one of his crewmen to take Kurt Busch to court over his life threatening actions. If Nascar is not going to do anything about the big babies actions then maybe the U.S. District Court System will? Clearly this is a case of reckless Endangerment or something close to that. It will take some one getting hurt like Kiteman11 said, before Nascar will do anything about it.
I'm not a fan of either but if everyone would have left them alone they would have settled the issue in the motorcoach lot or somewhere.
OMG, now we are wanting to take it to court?? Gimme a break.. That stament is just as bad as the one following the punch..
"we checked to see if any charges were filed"
What is this turning into the judical system or is it NASCAR?
I agree it should have been settled in the garage,but the POWERS wont let them do that either..
Seems from many aspects I have read, it wouldnt have mattered at all if the roles were reversed and Tony did it all on the track, or hell anyone else but Kurt could have done it and he wouldnt be facing the mob..
NASCAR should have parked Kurt for the Shootout after using his car as a battering ram against Tony.
Tony's not a saint and is as much to blame as Kurt in the initial contact, but Kurt's form of retaliation was unacceptable as well as very dangerous.
Asking anyone in the Brian France Error - oops, era - of NASCAR to actually make bold, credible decisions is of course asking for too much, but I agree with David's frustration that no one in the present NASCAR heirarchy wants to get it anymore than past leadership ever wanted to get it and suspend Dale Earnhardt or Ernie Irvan for serial bullying in the years they infected the sport - though the BGN group seemed to get it as Earnhardt was parked for nastiness at the BGN level several times, notably at Charlotte in 1991.
Hmmm. I'll be honest I despise Kurt. He's arrogant, cocky and comprised largely of plastic. His fuse is pretty short too. Penske took a turd and shined it up but installing an electronic smile and big dictionary. What Penske hasn't taught him is about consequences. Remember him crying after the arrest and Jack canned him? Park him. Not just him but anyone dumb enough to do something like that on pit road with people around. This story is going to have a sad ending, it's not an it but a when.
PS Does anyone know if he bruised or dented after Tony popped him?
I can’t believe the shit I’m reading!
“life threatening actions”
“U.S. District Court System”
“using his car as a battering ram”
“using his car as a weapon”
What are you people thinking? If Busch t-boned him “Days of Thunder style”
or tried to run him over after he got out of the car, I could see your point.
But he ran into him after they slowed down on the racetrack, not on pit road.
Neither Busch nor Stewart were going to get hurt from the amount of contact they made. If the reports are true of what happened in the NASCAR trailer, it’s sounds like Tony took care of the problem anyway. Let it go people!
For the record - I don’t care for Busch or Stewart. I couldn’t care if they both sat out.
If Nascar takes action against Tony or Kurt then they should also take action against any driver who pulls up beside the winning driver and gives him a "congratulatory" bump. I know, one is being nice and the other one isn't but if you're getting so damned PC, then all of it is banging. On the other hand, there is no place for these actions to take place on pit road. This was practice and Tony was just plain too aggressive and Kurt was just plain too bullheaded to let him by. I've been following Nascar sine the early 60's and these guys are pretty tame to a lot of stuff that used to happen. Nascar wants their drivers to express themselves, well then, let them. As it was, all Sir Brian was doing was giving lip service as Jr pointed out.
it's racin, tempers flare, they always have and always will, so what they banged up a few door panels, made headlines, give them their little fines and lets get back to racin.
What about the old days when someone who got hit like that would just keep that incident in mind and deliver a compensatory tap during a subsequent race, a-la Earnhardt Sr and the old-school types? Seems to me some fo the drivers don't have enough respect for one another, and that's not something you can get from the NASCAR haluer... Sometimes a guy has to get his "cage rattled" to remind him of the company he's racing with and that he's not any better than anyone else on the track.
Kurt Busch needs to be knocked down a peg or two in my opinion. I haven't had any respect for him since that race a few years back when he said on the radio that he was trying to spin someone out to get a caution... Absolutely cowardly.
YOU Fans kill me with your weapon talk...these cars are built to withstand a wreck at 200 MPH...so what is a little bump from a another driver on the side of the car...Tony shouldn't have stuck his nose up there like he did, and kurt shouldn't have hit him..but he wanted to let him know that what he did wasn't smart driving in practice.
People lets take a break here..these guys are in 3500 stock cars, with more safety features then you car...Kurt came up at say 75 MPH and gave him a little bump...to say hey don't wreck me like that...Maybe the next time Tony comes up behine Kurt he will remember and have some respect...I think we have turned these drivers into a bunch of winnies...I like it when a driver bangs another to say hey "don't treat me like that" WE have to many drivers that just want to go out and drive around the track whats wrong with a little fire in your belly to want to win...I hope Tony/Kurt battle continues all year long...will make up for the lack of racing we will see...Just my thoughts...
Just read that both Tony and Kurt got probation for the "on-track" incident. I've seen the video, Tony does not deserve to be punished in any way for the "on-track" portion of this whole thing. The pit road thing, well the only contact I saw was Kurt bumping into Tony again. The blocking was kind of childish in a pissed off man thing kind of way. It looked to me like Tony was wanting to get out of his car and then his guys came running up. Thank God Tony didnt get out of his car because if he got physical with Kurt on camera like that, it would have been far worse. Therefore I think Tonys part of this is what happened behind closed doors. Could Nascar be less that truthful to us?? Shock!
I was hoping that with Jr winning the shootout in such a dramatic fashion, that this would go away but I'm sure now that this will be discussed ad-nauseum for another week.
By the way, when they're on probation and something happens, what happens next?
Park `em for a couple of races and then maybe they will play much nicer with each other. There is no room for using a race car as a weapon. They both should go to therapy and just calm the hell down.. It`s racing. Cars hit and tempers flare but under no circumstance do you use the race car as a WEAPON. I believe Humpy and Bruton could set up a ring at LMS and let them settle it. Hell I pay to see it.
DP..... Kurt Bush was the one at the fault for on the track.....You never know what Kurt said to tony which may or may not have caused what was in the hauler incident.....Kurt should be on probation for rest of year. I bet brother kyle is being rather sheepish right now
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