Posted on 02/22/2006 10:01:41 AM PST by stainlessbanner
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Here's how the deal works. NASCAR wants establishment money and establishment credibility. NASCAR wants to look like a professional major league, not a motorized division of fake wrestling occasionally rocked by genuine tragedy.
When those goals collided during the bumper-rattling, bump-drafting Budweiser Shootout eight days ago, superstar Tony Stewart sounded the alarm. He predicted possible death before the tour left Daytona unless NASCAR got a grip on rogue driving.
NASCAR approach backfired
The graphic public comments hit the NASCAR trailer like a tax audit. The bosses issued directives, policies, hints and outright threats. In effect, they endorsed Stewart's warning comments despite Chairman Brian France's political reservations. "That's not how I would have said it," France conceded Friday, "but I'm not driving the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet."
The media crowned Stewart the dynamic garage leader missing since Dale Earnhardt's fatal crash here five years ago.
NASCAR executives took a pure Mayberry approach but overlooked one unintended consequence. These stock-car sheriffs assumed they had deputized Stewart, law-abiding Nextel Cup champion and maturing sportsman. As it turned out, they had deputized Ernest T. Bass.
Stewart was prime offender
During Jimmie Johnson's efficient ride to victory with a substitute crew chief yesterday, Stewart threw more rocks than Ernest T. on Mount Pilot Quarry Day.
He stubbornly held his outside line as Jeff Gordon floated up the track about one quarter into the race, when survival outweighs all selfish considerations.
The cars smacked together, Gordon's right side tagging the wall hard. The No. 24 Chevy never fully recovered, finishing 26th with top-five material. Gordon diluted his anger with ambivalence.
"I am going to take part blame for that," Gordon said. "I think Tony should take part of it as well.... It was a deal where he could have lifted, but I maybe shouldn't have jumped in there as quick as I did. I think it could have been avoided by both of us. It was an unfortunate incident that hurt us both a lot."
Next combatant: Matt Kenseth
Stewart, perhaps deferring to Gordon's stature as the consummate pro, declined to budge on the track but backed off gracefully in his analysis.
"Just a lot of guys out there being impatient too early in the race," Stewart said. "The thing with Jeff, I don't think it was his fault. I think he just got a spot up there where it was wet and he pushed, got into me and we both pushed into the wall. I wasn't complaining about that by any means."
Although Stewart's crew had to pry sheet metal away from the right front wheel, Stewart recovered brilliantly. Time after time, he roared back from substantial deficits, astonishing Johnson with his Houdini acts and finishing fifth.
But Stewart couldn't escape controversy and the wrath of Matt Kenseth, an aggrieved and enraged competitor.
Just past the midway point, as the fog thickened and lights shone through the mist, a mass of cars roared down the backstretch in a haphazard pattern.
Stewart broke out of the irregular formation. Ticked at Kenseth, and seeing his opening, Stewart veered left and forced Kenseth off the track. Kenseth's No. 17 Ford skidded through the damp grass and, beyond control, shot back onto the track bound for the outer wall. The jarring impact effectively crushed Kenseth's strong victory bid and doomed him to 15th although he led 28 laps, second to eighth-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. (32). Johnson led 24 laps, including the only one that mattered.
Kenseth kicked and screamed the rest of the way.
"Tony took me out intentionally," Kenseth said. "He was mad because of earlier in the race. I didn't think I did anything wrong, left him plenty of room. I learned that from him. That's the way it is. I'm just really disappointed Tony said all that stuff earlier in the week. If he's worried about people's lives and everything, then he wrecks you on purpose at 190, I wasn't too happy with that."
Stewart seethed over Kenseth's earlier intrusion and unforgiving reflections.
"Yeah," Stewart snarled, "Matt always thinks that. I guess Matt didn't think anything when he got me sideways over in (Turn 2) either. He should have thought about that first. He got back what he started in the first place. I got penalized for that. They didn't penalize him when he turned me sideways over there, so he should have been smart enough to know not to be knocking down a guy's door in the first 20 laps. He has no room to complain. He started the whole thing, and I finished it."
Truth is somewhere in between
Not exactly. NASCAR penalized Stewart for aggressive driving, the sentence he helped create by playing the death card the weekend before and earning the deputy's badge. He also ran over a jack in his pit stall, drawing another back-of-the-pack penalty for trampling equipment. Kenseth, meanwhile, emerged from pit repairs in the same pack with Stewart and revved up the crowd with menacing driving. NASCAR saluted Kenseth with the black flag, which he ignored while seeking clarification.
"I didn't do anything," Kenseth argued over his radio. NASCAR begged to differ, but the sheriff didn't need to beg. The sheriff merely lowered the boom, nailing Kenseth. The unruly combatants can only wonder if the echo will deliver further penalties this week.
Stewart's harshest critics portrayed him as a hypocrite not suited for leadership. His defenders evoked images from the Sprint Car driving of his youth and recalled the elder Earnhardt's flinty grit.
The truth falls somewhere in between - or between the cracks, like old-school NASCAR justice.
As Stewart and Kenseth drove away from The Great American Rock Fight, only one old rule of the road applied: Whatever the evidence, blame someone else.
Ernest T lives!
Stewart whining about overly aggressive drivers is like saying the koranic death cult is a religion of peace.
ROFL!!
We already knew NASCRASH wasn't real racing. This just adds more fuel to the fire.
If you need evidence - they call themselves "stock car racing." So, where can I get a factory stock carbureted V8 rear-wheel-drive Ford Taurus or Fusion, hm?
Matt Kenseth was trying to play with the grown ups and got beeyatch slapped.
Children should be seen and not heard.
I'm only amazed that more haven't been killed.
Never have been a big fan of Tony but after Matt "Waltrip's" whine fest, it was still sort of funny to hear Tony's comments.
Wonder if Matt could get a sponsorship with TIME magazine. Instead of Darrell's TIDE (Tears In Darrell's Eyes) sponsorship we could have Tears In Matt's Eyes..
I love to hear those NASCAR drivers complain, then they get into their private jets and fly back home. NASCAR is 99.4%bullsh**, and the rest of it isn't worth having. That being said, a lot of my friends just love it and think the sun rises and sets on NASCAR. Go figure!
Do you live in the South?
Yes, I live in Savannah, Georgia. I guess since I'm a true-blue, dyed-in-the-wool Southerner I should like NASCAR, and I used to, but now it's all about the $$$, and I think it really isn't any fun for the fans. Kinda' like the NFL.
I agree it's becoming more like the NFL and all about money. But I still watch.
Yep, I loved it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.