The Battlin' Brit vs. The Phoenix Firebird? The Rumble at the Speedway

Originally Posted on foxsports.com on June 7, 2007.

Taking a page from the Humpy Wheeler playbook, Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage has billed the next IRL race, which happens to be at his track on Saturday, as "The Rumble at the Speedway."

Pitting Dan "The Battlin' Brit" Wheldon against Danica "The Phoenix Firebird" Patrick in their follow up bout, Gossage is attempting to generate ticket sales and media coverage of the event. Prominently displaying Wheldon & Patrick's pictures on the TMS webpage, with a "Tale of the Tape," TMS is betting that racing fans will be watching the two as they head to the track.

And it appears that the two are ignoring the spat, and waiting for the other to make the first move to amend the situation.

USATODAY, quoting AP, reports that Patrick has no intention of apologizing to Wheldon. But Wheldon isn't holding his breath waiting for one either, "She acted a certain way and if she wants to look at the video, I think she'll be feeling pretty silly. ... If she wants to come and apologize, I would be very happy to listen."

But Wheldon feels that Patrick took advantage of the situation "When you tug at a guy in the pit lane, I think that is taking advantage of your gender, because it puts me in an awkward position," Wheldon said. "She was acting like a spoiled brat. I don't respect that. ... I tried to step away. She kept grabbing on me like a dog that wanted to bite my ankles."

Patrick, however, believes Wheldon deliberately cut her off. "We'll see how it unfolds, and we're going to have to give each other respect and the space on the track," Patrick said. "If that happens, then I can't see a reason why it would continue. But if he doesn't, then I'll be mad again."

Meanwhile, we'll see if Gossage's promotion sells more tickets. If so, IRL may want to keep the Wheldon-Patrick dispute going for a few weeks to come.

Information from AP, USATODAY.COM and TexasMotorspeedway.com

Danica Attempts a Jeff Gordon and Fails Miserably; Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

Originally Posted on foxsports.com on June 5, 2007.

Danica Patrick was Miffed.  She fumed.  She stomped up to give Dan Wheldon a piece of her mind.  She raised her voice and her eyebrows, dramatically making her point.  Danica went so far as to push Wheldon to make sure he got it.  Wheldon's reaction?

He ignored her.  Like the leftovers you don't want to eat after you get home, and then fester in your refridgerator.

Danica was upset that Dan and Dario Franchitti hadn't let her pass them on the track.  Wheldon went so far as to bump her car.  She managed to keep it off the wall, and finished the race.  But she was upset.

Unfortunately, she hadn't mastered the Jeff Gordon Bristol shove.  Back to the drawing board, Danica!   You did much better slapping Jacque Lazier.

Meanwhile, at the rain delayed Nascar race, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch had another round of "Oh, yeah, well, take that!" which usually ends with both cars wrecked and ruining a good finish.

However, this version amped up the typical slugfest when Busch bumped into Stewart.  On pit road.  While Jason Lee, a crewmember, was on the right fender. 

Lee had to jump onto the hood to avoid being crushed by Busch's car.   Never fear, it appears Lee gave Busch an earful after it happened, and he wasn't hurt.  

Both sides are claiming the other is at fault. 

The IRL announced neither Danica or Dan would be penalized. 

Nascar parked Busch at the time of the offense, but penalties could be handed down tomorrow.   Busch's problem is that a crew member on pit road nearly got hurt and it was clearly intentional behavior. 

The on-track incident is likely to be considered "just racing" even if you could see the outcome watching the two race without giving.

I think Busch could be up for a signficant penalty.  Maybe even a suspension.

After all, if Junior loses 100 points and his crew chief for 6 races for tinkering with the COT, which didn't almost injure someone, shouldn't intentional behavior which comes within inches of harming a teammember be worth more?

 

Paul Dana

Originally Posted on March 26, 2006 on Foxsports.com

Today the world was reminded that auto racing is a dangerous sport:  Paul Dana died from injuries he received during the morning practice before the IRL race at Homestead-Miami.

Dana ran into the crashed car of Ed Carpenter at over 180 mph.  According to reports, Carpenter is recovering at a local hospital and is in stable condition.

Dana was in his rookie season for Rahal-Letterman.  He had worked his way up the motorsports ladder working in marketing, journalism, and through the lower levels of racing.  Dana's teammates are Buddy Rice and Danica Patrick.  Both Rice and Patrick's cars were withdrawn from the race to show respect for Dana.

The race was still run, and Dan Wheldon beat Helio Castroneves to the line by a few thousands of a second.