Within certain circles, I think some NASCAR fans possess a selective memory. To hear them tell it, Dale Earnhardt won all 76 of his Cup races moving other drivers out of the way. Some would have you believe Mark Martin is a four-time runner-up for the championship because he’s soft. Some seem to think Kyle Busch wins races simply running his opponents off the track.
There was a lot to take away from Saturday night’s race: Marcos Ambrose is more than just a good road racer, Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson are human after all, and you can have a good finish at Bristol that doesn’t involve the use of the chrome horn.
Did you wonder if Kyle Busch might have a Nationwide hangover after what happened Friday night? I wondered that. Busch not only showed a lot of graciousness in the wake of his night shortened in the Nationwide series, you didn’t see him carrying around some Talladega-sized chip on his shoulder the following night. The heart-to-heart chat with crew chief Steve Addington paid off and he worked his way to the front….without shoving the competition out of the way, I might add.
Sure, he and his older brother Kurt traded some paint, but I’m not talking about
contact. Where it crosses a line in my estimation is when a driver tries to wreck a competitor. The two traded what amounted to nudges and they moved on from there. That’s short track racing.
After controlling much of this race, what Mark Martin feared came to pass: all the wrecking, cautions and re-starts gave his opponents a chance to get back into the race. With steely, yet controlled determination- Busch did not squander the opportunity.
Mark Martin threw everything he had at the “18.” “We raced really hard. Anybody that thinks that I was soft out there on the racetrack tonight wasn’t watching. I raced my guts out.”
He wouldn’t have taken any guff either. “If somebody abused me enough to really, really irritate me, I might use that bumper. But Kyle gave me all the room in the world. It’s a good thing because I was over my head when I went in that corner and I got loose. If he’d have been crowding me, we both would have went up to the wall. I’m really grateful for that.”
After the race, Busch said “He didn’t give it to me, but he didn’t take it from me, either.” He added, “Yeah, it’s fun when you’re able to race around the guys that respect you and that you respect back. So Mark is one of those guys. I mean, you know, I go up to Mark all the time and I talk to him all the time. I look up to him a lot. He wasn’t the guy that I always looked up to when I was growing up as a kid. But since I’ve gotten here, he’s been one of the closest drivers I’ve been able to spend time with. Him along with Jeff Burton.”
You may disagree, and you’re entitled, but that’s how you race hard and finish. I won’t say there’s a time and place to defend your position, but to just go and punt someone for the win, there’s no honor in that.
Let’s go another step and imagine for a moment that Martin said “Screw it. I know this kid’s reputation, and no one would blame me if I squeezed him.” Well, for one thing, there an old saying that says “It takes decades to grow a forest and minutes to burn it down.” That outstanding reputation the 50-year-old winner of 39 Cup races and 48 Nationwide races goes out the window in a year he might just win that elusive championship.
What’s more, there’s no guarantee that the two wouldn’t end up like Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip did at Richmond some twenty years ago. That mess opened up wounds that took 12 years to heal. Sportsmanship aside, consider what this would have done to their seasons. Martin’s chances would be dealt a serious, if not fatal blow and Busch would likely be out of the running for the year.
As it is now, Martin opines, “He raced me like a good sport. When he’s behind me, I will be comfortable that he will race me the same way that I raced him. I can’t say how he might race someone else on the racetrack because they may have different history. But I feel really, really good at night when I go to bed. I have managed to win a race or two, and none of ‘em did I have to pull something dirty.”
To top it off, Busch gave the checkered flag to a fan in celebration. Nice move. That shows some class.
As it stands now, Martin is 60 points to the good, Busch is giving Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne a mirror full of driver. Both men got what they needed out of this race.
And they got their with honor. “Nice guys finish last” is as much myth as it is fact. Just ask a Tony Dungy, or a Joe Gibbs. You can have your rough and tumble guys. Some have found success that way. Me? I prefer the Ned Jarretts, the Bobby Labontes and the Dale Jarretts- and others like them.
What does these guys have in common? They race clean. Come to think of it, When was the last time Jimmie Johnson rub somebody out? It’s not all check ‘er or wreck ‘er.
You know what else ?These drivers are also champions.
PHOTO CREDITS- Upper left and lower left photos by Jason Smith/ Getty Images for NASCAR. Upper right photo by Geoff Burke for Getty Images for NASCAR media.
{ 22 comments }
If everyone raced queaky clean, how boring that would be. After all, it’s a fist fight many years ago that got people watching in the first place. Every sport needs a Kyle Busch.
@Janine. But what does it say about a sport if you need fights to make it interesting? I thought we got to see another side of Kyle that was cool, that showed respect for the “elder statesmen” of the sport.
Frankly, I’d rather the racing itself be what gets us excited. In reality, we get a little both.
I thought it was a great race and finish. Enjoyed them both. I’ve said this before: it takes absolutely no talent to run into the car in front of you. The finish of Saturday’s race is how racing is supposed be.
Jim, I’m not saying it’s OK to run into people and that fist fights are ok but those kind of things seem to fire fans up and watch. Most people I talked to about the Bristol race were disappointed with It. And as much as there seems to be a new Kyle, I think he would have dumped Mark if it was the other way around.
@Janine (#4). I’ll admit an intense rivalry enhances the racing. No denying that Allison- Yarborough dust-up sparked new interest.
To your experience, I’d say mine has been different. There are a few that share the disappointment you’ve encountered, but I’d say that in my experience it’s been about 3-1 of people who enjoyed the race versus those who didn’t.
Concerning your last comment, I think what Martin said was telling: if it were another racer with a different history KB may delivered some bumper tag, But on Martin? The onus is on Busch after what Martin said after this race. You think people got POed over Jr.?? Hitting Martin is like hitting somebody’s dad. You just don;t do that. I, for one, don’t think Kyle would.
The race was good, but the finish was dissapointing because Kyle Busch won. Any race he wins is going to make a lot of us angry. I will NEVER like him. I also do not believe he would race Mark clean. I love Mark and have followed his career for years but I have on several occasions wished he would move someone for the win. Carl Edwards proved you can move them without wrecking them last year and how about Jeff Gordon. He did the old bump and run of Rusty twice at Bristol and didn’t take him out either time. Mark is truly a class act but I just don’t think Busch is. Just my opinion but judging from the chorus of boos at Bristol I am not in the minority.
Jim, I hoping that Kyle has learned some manners from his experience racing with Martin. We shall see. I’m still not convinced that Kyle is all of a sudden Mr. Nice Guy.
Jim McCoy: I don’t always agree with you but this article and your responses to several who have commented have been right on the money and I agree with you 100%. I too, thought the Bristol race was one of the best I have seen in my 45 plus years of watching. Thank you for your article.
Too many comments surrounding the bump and run tactic fail to recognize when it should be used. Bumper tag should only be considered when you have the faster car and the guy in front (knowing you have the faster car) continously cuts you off. Anyone can run up on leader and hit them to get them out of the way – and you’ll see a black flag. One of the reasons Mark didn’t hit Kyle is that Kyle gave him a line. If Mark’s car couldn’t make the pass in the open lane, so be it – and it was. Mark even said it, “if I would have tried any harder, I would have taken us both out”. This also speaks to one of the reasons why Mark is cheered and Kyle is booed. In previous races, when Kyle got in too deep he took out the other driver (Jr…and Johnny B….and…). And for those who didn’t like the race, they need to go to a demolition deby.
@JR. The thing I like about you is we can disagree agreeably & debate and have some fun with it. I hope you and others like you keep coming back. I’ve always said the interactivity is what I’m all about.
@Roger. Excellent points. There is a time and place for contact. Some do it well, others don’t.
Nice article, just wanted to point out one thing:
“What does these guys have in common? They race clean. Come to think of it, When was the last time Jimmie Johnson rub somebody out? It’s not all check ‘er or wreck ‘er.”
Jimmie Johnson bumped Denny Hamlin out of the way for a win at Martinsville earlier this year. Not saying it was wrong for him to do so, just wanted to remind you.
Anyone who thinks Kyle would have raced Mark the way Mark raced him Sat. Night is living in a dream world. You can bet your bottom dollar if Kyle had been second with two laps two go Mark would have been “nudged” or he would have “accidently” slid up into Martin to make the pass and win the race. Now, all of a sudden, a lot of writers are talking about how “clean” Kyle raced Mark and all. Again, if the rolls had been reversed Sat. Night, my pridiction is you would have seen the same ole Kyle doing whatever it took to win the race including bumping the other driver. There are plenty of races left so I’m sure we’ll see if Kyle has changed but I’m betting money he hasn’t.
@Chris. I’ll take your word for it, though I don’t recall it. Now my question would be one of whether or not it knocked Denny out of the race or not. You may have answered my question by saying you wouldn;t think of it as wrong. I know we’re talking a gray subject here. To me, what we may be talking about i something like two guys fighting ro a rebound in basketball. Contact is inevitable. To a point, it’s just physical basketball. When you get to a point you’re aiming an elbow at someone’s face, it becomes something else. Maybe what I said would have been better put as “I’ve never known Jimmie Johnson to hit someone hard enough to put him out.”
@Larry. It may be a hard argument to prove, just simply because it’s not what happened. The fact is, Kyle was in front of Martin.
I guess my question is this: Would Busch run the risk of wiping himself out by trying to lay a fender on Martin? Wouldn’t that be stupid for Busch to do if he’s trying to make the chase.
At the moment, all I’m doing is taking Busch’s words at face value. I do take Martin at his word when he says that if Busch had pulled something like that, he would’ve gotten something back. NASCAR would have also had the option to black flag Busch, opening a whole new can of worms.
The way their cars are running, we may have a chance to see what Busch would do with the shoe on the other foot.
Given what he said…..he’d race Martin clean.
Sorry Jim, I don’t believe it! Granted, probably would have waited till the final turn to do a little bumping to get an advantage. These guys are pretty experience in tapping someone without wrecking themselves so it wouldn’t have been that big of a risk. And you’ve got to remember who you are dealing with. Remember, this is the same guy who wrecked his own brother in the all star race a couple of years ago and he hasn’t shown much maturity since then. Have you forgot Michigan already along with a lot of other fans and writers? I guarantee you there will be more Kyle Moments before this season is over with.
Jim, I guess I misunderstood your point. Jimmie certainly didn’t knock Denny out, it was more of a “rubbin’s racin’” moment. As you’ll recall, Denny acknowledged as much after the race by saying that if he were in the same position he would have done the exact same thing.
@Larry. You may be right. No, I haven’t forgot Michigan. Remember, I’m not nominating Kyle for sainthood. Speaking as a fan, I’m just glad he was in no position to knock Martin out. This may have been a case of where it was better for Martin to be second behind Kyle.
@Chris. It’s coming back to me. Call it sensory overload or spleep deprivation, the incident didn’t “stick” in my memory. In that case, if I’m Jimmie, I keep in mind that Denny has “touched” his share of cars and he’s kind of like those pitchers who have enough of a “control” problem, you don’t know if he’s hitting you on purpose oraccident.
To everyone who is part of this column string…when people ask me why I think NASCAR is better than open wheel??? They just need to read this string. You’d never have this discussiion about open wheel because they can’t get near each other (on purpose anyway).
@Roger. Great point!
Jim, I totally agree with your reply to my second post. It was probably better for Martin to be second seeing who he was racing with. I do think Martin would have pushed it just a little harder if not for points racing too.
@Roger. I am a stock car fan at heart and have been my whole life. But check out the Indycar Chicago finish. This is typical of that series on the mile and a half cookie cutter tracks that provide the Cup yawners. If you can find a Cup race this season that is more exciting, I would like to see it.
Thanks for reading the site.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqH9wCWWYhs
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