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Slap Fight!
Posted on 11/08/2010 8:12:30 AM PST by tlb
ASCAR got what it needed most Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway when Jeff Gordon assaulted Jeff Burton after the two crashed during a caution period.
Just when the sport had become predictable and stale, there's nothing like two drivers slugging it out .
NASCAR has seen its numbers dwindle in terms of interest and popularity. While they like to blame the economy for that dip, there are some in the garage area who believe fan apathy has played a role as drivers became too corporate, too mindful of the reaction from sponsors and team owners.
And no driver represented that better than Gordon, who arrived in NASCAR in 1992 with a mullet haircut and a cheesy-looking mustache but eventually transformed into the cleanest of the clean-cut images. Gordon had become the "Choir Boy" of NASCAR.
Ironically, Burton was trying to apologize to Gordon before the scuffle began. "I turned left and he turned left and we hung up and off we went," Burton said. "It was my fault, it was 100 percent my fault. I don't blame him for being mad. I would have been mad, too. He was upset and he should have been upset. I wrecked him under caution. I didn't mean to wreck, but I wrecked him under caution. I don't have a bit of problem with what he did."
After Gordon was released from the infield care center, he tried to explain his actions.
"I guess he was really frustrated with the way his car was handling or something and he just drove into my right-rear under caution," Gordon said. "Of all the people out there, I never thought that would happen with Jeff Burton. I have had a lot of respect for Jeff, but I have certainly lost a lot of respect for him today."
(Excerpt) Read more at sportsillustrated.cnn.com ...
Sorry, nothing like the fights of the ‘good ole days’.
(Actually, nothing like the sport of the ‘good ole days’ for that matter.)
Good race, too bad NASCAR like hockey and basketball and baseball have too long of a season, the stands looked half empty.
Slap Fight!
These modern boys certainly need some lessons in the sweet science. I have seen school yard fisti cuffs in grade school better.
Off course, they don’t want to cut or hurt each other, it would damage their “purdy factor” for sponsors.
: > P
When they made the sport about the drivers instead of the cars, it was all over.
The series should be about Ford v. Chevy v. Dodge v. Plymouth v. Chrysler. Useless to even think about it.
Burton would take him... no contest.
I’ve always been an avid motor sports fan. But I haven’t watched one race this year. Just lost interest. I long for “the good old days” myself. Back when manufacturers really fought it out, and the cars were different. Smokey Yunick was a hero back then!
“Another Yunick improvisation was getting around the regulations specifying a maximum size for the fuel tank, by using eleven foot (three meter) coils of 2-inch (5-centimeter) diameter tubing for the fuel line to add about 5 gallons (19 liters) to the car’s fuel capacity. Once, NASCAR officials came up with a list of nine items for Yunick to fix before the car would be allowed on the track. The suspicious NASCAR officials had removed the tank for inspection. Yunick started the car with no gas tank and said “Better make it ten,”[2] and drove it back to the pits. He used a basketball in the fuel tank which could be inflated when the car’s fuel capacity was checked and deflated for the race.”
Their championship format has killed my interest in watching.
The reason for fan apathy is that just three drivers are dominating the series, and not a one of them has the star quality of Richard Petty or Dale Earnhardt.
- JP
When was this? Before or after the Junior Johnson, Lee Petty, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons era? Or do you mean after the common car template/Car of Tomorrow era (in which case, I might be more inclined to agree)? Otherwise, my recollection is that it's pretty much always been about the drivers - it's hard to interview a car.
I don’t know anyone that watches NASCAR, and I live in Tennessee. I have tried to watch it, but a horde of corporate clones driving a couple hundred laps in an oval just can’t hold my interest. It’s kind of like poker on TV... I just don’t see the appeal.
Too right! They're all the same car with different paint jobs and motors now. No longer "stock" cars at all. They need to bring that element back or change the name to National Association for Clone Car Auto Racing.
Ha. I was flipping through the channels and landed on that one just as the wreck happened. After the fight I actually got a little interested in the race. Then later not so much. Then I turned it off.
Nascar bores me. driving around in circles for hours on end is not entertaining for me.
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