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?

 

Bad Boys, Bad Luck and Bad Endings

Originally Posted on May 29, 2006 on Foxsports.com

Bad Boys:  Kurt Busch - On Friday night, Kurt Busch had a literal "run-in" with a traffic control person at the "Cars" premiere at Lowe's Motor Speedway.  Apparently, Busch was following a police escort when the traffic controller tried to stop Busch's car by stepping in front of it.  (maybe he wanted an autograph?)  Busch brushed by, grazing the man's knee.  The man's knee was checked out after he finished work about 15 minutes later.  Nothing further will happen as a result of the incident, as it appears no one knows who should do something about it - Nascar claims it wasn't their event, track security was not contacted, and the local authorities can't do anything without a report. 

Not to be out-done by his brother's second run-in with traffic control laws, Kyle Busch drug a Nascar official away from the ambulance after a caution flag. Casey Mears slid to start crash, which culminated in Busch violently crashing into the wall.  Busch was so disgusted with Mears that he pulled the official from taking him to the ambulance and threw his HANS device at Mears.  This happened in the same week Busch pled guilty to improper driving in Richmond, VA.

Bad Luck:  Tony Stewart crashed twice this weekend - first in the Busch race on Saturday, and then in the Cup race on Sunday.  At this time, he has a broken right shoulder.  Will this slow down his extracurricular driving activities?  In addition to his Cup duties, he has more Busch races on-tap, a Modified race in New Hampshire in July, and the Prelude to the Dream Late Model race at Eldora next week.  And that's just what he's told us about ...

Kevin Harvick, who has been solidly in the top 10, had another bad race, following his trouble at Darlington.  Harvick had a tailpipe that broke, which caused him to be stuck in the garage for several laps.

Is it me or does Jeff Gordon have the same undiagnosed mechanical problem every other race? 

Bad Endings:  The Indy 500 was a bad ending for the Andretti family - leading the race going into the fourth turn, Marco Andretti looked destined to win the race as a rookie.  However, Sam Hornish had other ideas and took the race at the line.

Scott Riggs was leading the Coca-Cola 600 when he had problems in the pits that probably cost him the race.  The only solice had to be that his teammate won (although that might be more like salt in an open wound).

Jimmie Johnson finished second in the 600.  Given his domination at Lowe's over the past few years, second has to feel strange.

Texas Tangles: Was this a Short Track? Or just a return to Busch Brother Bashing?

Originally Posted on Foxsports.com on April 9, 2006.

Nascar finished its Texas weekend, celebrated 10 years of racing at the facility, and managed to continue the Busch Brother Bashing that had been going on for several races. 

Kurt Busch v. Greg Biffle:  Although the President had a taped greeting at the track, the majority of the Busch Bashing this weekend was betwen Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle.  Biffle's car had been strong during the first 50 or so laps, but he was cycled out of the lead due to pit stops.  As he was working his way back to the front, he came across Kurt Busch.  Whether Busch or Biffle was to blame for what happened next depends on your point of view.  Busch, who  was down a lap, end up running into Biffle's back bumper, causing him to crash.  Biffle blamed Busch for ended his day.  Biffle's girlfriend, Nicole Lunders, walked to Busch's pit box and had words with Busch's fiancee Eva Bryan. 

Kurt Busch vs. the Media? The news media wanted Busch's reaction to Biffle's wrech after the race.  Busch gave an explanation blaming Biffle for coming up in front of him and slowing down.  When another reporter asked him what happened, Busch snapped back at them that he had answered the question and stormed off into his hauler.  He later came back out and answered a few more questions.  Apparently the Penske PR people have not quite worked their magic with Kurt...

Clint Bowyer vs. Kyle Busch:  Late in the race, Bowyer opted to take 2 tires instead of 4 to gain track position.  As he was sliding backwards in the field, he began racing with Kyle Busch for position.  As they raced, Bowyer crashed.  Bowyer claimed Busch got into him, Busch claimed Bowyer did it on his own.  The tape is unclear.   Given that Bowyer is a rookie and Kyle Busch is,  well, Kyle Busch, both are probably at fault in some way.

Carl Edwards vs. Jeff Gordon vs. Tony Stewart?  Carl Edwards, who was in third place, was racing with Jeff Gordon, who was a lap or two down.  Edwards got out of shape, hit Gordon, hit the wall, narrowly missed hitting Stewart and then crashed into the inside wall.  Needless to say, he was out of the race at that point.  Reporters questioned Edwards and asked if Gordon or Stewart caused the accident, Edwards denied it  and said it was just him pushing too hard at the time.  After the race, reporters went to Stewart and asked him what he thought happened - Stewart said Edwards was driving too hard ("in over his head") and lost it, then commented he was glad Edwards was OK because it looked like a hard hit into the wall.  In other words, the drivers didn't have issues with each other, but the reporters tried to generate a fight.  No one appears to have taken the bait.

Busch Series Racing Notes:  Kurt Busch won his first race in the Busch series, and to celebrate, he did his "trademark" snow angel.  I admit it was somewhat charming at Bristol where it had snowed all weekend, but I'm not sure it should be his "trademark" celebration.

Reed Sorenson may be penalized after it appeared he threw a piece of his rollbar padding/insulation onto the track to cause a caution.  He then called in that there was debris in the corner.  The Fox cameras caught the piece of foam flying out the window - it didn't seem to be certain that Sorenson threw it, but he was penalized by Nascar for the infraction (he was sent to the end of the line and lost about 5 places).  Nascar may exact a point penalty as well. 

More interesting was a conversation that Kyle Busch and his crew chief had immediately after that accident.  Busch was warned not to throw anything on the track to cause a caution because they had caught Sorenson.  Busch replied that he didn't have anything to throw.  Seconds later he remarked it would be stupid to do it since he had an in-car camera. 

You'll remember that Greg Biffle eventually won a Busch race when someone caused a caution by throwing a glove onto the track.  Nascar never found out who caused the caution or lost the glove.   Hmm...