Nascar at Daytona

I didn't do any sort of recap, so, sorry if you're expecting one. A couple of items about the race.

I have said that Wally and Kyle are the best analysts in racing, but they both took sizeable hits in my book this weekend.

Was it just me, or did Wally seem positively gleeful about the thought of a Talladega-type wreck happening at the end of the race last night? The Talladega wreck was part exciting and part horrifying, but Wally seemed to want it recreated. He seemed to have no problem whatsoever with cars potentially going into the stands.

I happen to think that Wally was clearly parroting the Nascar company line. They talk a good game about doing something to prevent another Talladega-type wreck from happening again, but it's nothing more than talk. The only thing that will ever change Nascar at Talladega and Daytona is when a car goes into the grandstands. I just hope I'm not at that particular race when it happens.

Kyle Petty's hit came from parroting the Nascar company line and passing out kudos to Nascar about how they're standing up for their drug testing policy. The problem is that Nascar's drug testing policy is a joke. When a doctor from the WADA (see other thread) says that there are major problems, then you just look like a fool passing out kudos to them for a terrible policy.

Kyle also gets a hit for supporting Crybaby Busch's act after the race. When things are going great for Crybaby, he's all smiles and more than happy to talk to the media. But, when things aren't going so well, he stomps off like a petulant child. Contrast Crybaby's post-race act with Carl Edwards after Talladega, when Carl, clearly disappointed in the finish, was a stand-up guy and talked to the media.

Until further notice, the driver of the #18 Cup car will be referred to as Crybaby Busch by this poster.

 

The adage in racing that I've heard is that when you're trying to outbrake the driver in front of you, if you get up to the front of his left rear tire, then the track is yours. That is, if the driver in front tries to block you, he's going to get spun and he'll be at fault, not you. But, if you're not up to his tire and he blocks you and you spin him, then you're at fault, not him. If I understand that racing adage properly, this is what Crybaby is basing his argument on, that Tony wasn't far enough up to be able to claim the track, thus Tony's at fault when Crybaby tries to block and subsequently wrecks.

If they were at Martinsville and Tony tried to outbrake Crybaby going into turn 3 and Tony was only up to the same spot he was Saturday night, then Crybaby's argument would be correct and Tony would be at fault. However, the stupidity of the argument rears its head because they weren't at Martinsville going into a turn. They were at Daytona going in a straight line.

Tony's move was a brilliant, veteran move. After Kyle passed him, Tony let off the gas the tiniest bit so that Jimmie Johnson would catch up. Once Jimmie caught him, Tony got a draft and got a big run on Crybaby, enough of a run that he practically pushed Crybaby through turns 3 and 4 and it was enough to get Crybaby loose. Crybaby got loose for a fraction of a second, but that was all Tony needed to make a run to the outside, a run that likely would have led to a win regardless of what Crybaby did. Crybaby should have realized that his getting loose for that fraction of a second was all the window Tony needed, but when you're driving your guts out to win, you don't think that way.

The problem is that Crybaby doesn't have any problems talking to the media when things are going good for him, but when something goes wrong, he's the first one to go hide in the trailer. Any body can crow to the media when times are good, but it takes a man to step up and talk when times are bad and you don't want to talk.

BTW, I think that Kyle Petty defended Crybaby's antics because Petty did the same thing after the '93 Daytona 500. In that race, K Petty started from the pole and clearly had a car capable of winning. But, he got caught up in a wreck that wasn't his own making and his day was done. After a heated exchange with Bobby Hillin, an exchange that saw Kyle grab Bobby by the facemask of his helmet more than once, Kyle disappeared into his trailer and didn't speak to the media.

I expect that was one time where Richard's long, bony finger found itself pointing in Kyle's chest telling him that was the last time he would be doing that, because Kyle never did it again. Crybaby needs to have somebody like that around to tell him to grow up and stop acting like, well, a crybaby.

 

Aah, that's it. I couldn't remember it exactly and it was getting too late, so I went with something close. Regardless, it still doesn't matter in this case because they were on a straightaway.