Grumpy chewed on this thing for a couple of days. I read all the pundits. I listened to Brian Vickers and others. I listened to all the comments given to the media by Dale Earnhardt jr.
Grumpy’s take: One car was coming fast. One car moved to block. As the field hurled into turn 3 at, oh say 180mph. People, shit happens. If I am Brian Vickers, I will go to the hauler and kick myself in the ass for a reckless blocking maneuver that triggered the wreck that everyone knew was waiting to happen.
If I am Dale jr, I calmly step to the microphones and man up. No driver will deliberately take a shot at another at that speed just to punt the guy or ‘rattle his cage’. If NA$CAR thought there was clear evidence of that, they should have parked him for 5 laps.
Think of the last laps of the cup light race on Saturday. Here was Tony Stewart leading with Kyle Bush on his bumper. No, really on his bumper. Kyle admitted that he was doing everything he could to get Smoke ‘loose’. Most any driver but Smoke would have lost the car in turn 4. Had there been a crash, Kyle would have had a sheepish grin in Victory Lane and say, ‘well thats what the fans come to see.’
If you watched the truck series race on Friday night, you saw Todd Bodine come off the yellow line and make contact with a truck running to his outside and forward. The #10 lost control and collected the front of the field in a big crash. Bodine went on to win the race. Rather than offer any words of apology for causing the crash, he insisted that the #10 ‘came down on me’. Video replays clearly show that the #10 was steady and Bodine came up from the line to initiate the contact.
Bottom line. People will believe what they want to believe in all these incidents. If you already have a low opinion of Dale Earnhardt jr, my comments will not change your mind. Since I began contributing to this blog, I have had to try to be as objective as I can. I am no Rush Limbaugh. Still, at times my views tend to bleed with certain bias. (Grumpy shrugs) With my take, you get your moneys worth everytime. Nobody pays me to write it. Nobody pays to read it.
2 Comments
I’d like to add a couple of comments Uncle Grump-
Contact between cars happens, as Vickers should remember as that was how he won in 2006 at Talledega-he bumped Jimmy Johnson causing a wreck that took out Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. They weren’t racing for the win here, but to be the first car a lap down. Important to both drivers, but if anyone was driving without regard it was Vickers. To cry like an innocent victim after the wreck makes me think even less of him. And let me just add the same comment about Kyle Busch. He wrecked Jr. last year and you didn’t hear Jr. crying like a baby about it. Some of these guys are sure quick to throw stones…
Paul, thanks for your perspective. I cannot argue any of it.
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