Double Clutchin’-The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly From New Hampshire
Written by Rocky Kitts · June 30, 2008
Call him the Milli Vanilli of NASCAR, because not only did Kurt Busch win a race that he did not deserve to win, the drivers who were in control of the majority of the race were left doing the only thing that they could do; blaming the rain. If there’s a worse finish in sports than a race stopped by rain, I’m pretty sure that I’ve not been a witness to whatever it is. A rain-out robs fans of the best part of the race; the finish, and this race looked like it was headed for a possible classic ending. I’m just venting because, if there is anything else that NASCAR can do, I’m not sure what it is; as I guess that it’s not practical to hold the last few laps the next day. And yes, folks, I would be on this rant if Earnhardt or Stewart had been in first yesterday when the sky opened, so give me a little bit of credit. Now, let’s get on to the G, B, and U:
The Good:
It was bound to happen sooner or later, but I’m sure there were many NASCAR fans who smirked when J.P. Montoya (sounds a little more Southern, don’t you think) spun out Kyle Busch. I’m not a fan of intentionally wrecking anyone, but I’m surprised that it has taken this long for someone to take affront at Kyle’s racing style. I really didn’t seen anything too bad that Kyle did, but whatever it was really got Montoya boiling, and he decided to go vigilante, and probably made a few new drinking buddies in the garage. I’m listing this confrontation under the good mainly because of Busch’s reaction; which was:
“I don’t know what his beef is but, obviously, NASCAR should probably fix it.”
From what I hear, there will be no further penalty for Montoya other than his two lap, on-track penalty; thanks in part, I believe, to his admitting that he wrecked Busch on purpose:
“Then we touched each other and (I)(Montoya) got beside him to the next corner and he starts banging on me like he was trying to wreck me.
“I said, ‘OK.’ I went into the corner and the wreck happened . . . I thought we had a decent car today and I don’t appreciate when people race me like that.” (Canadian Press)
Maybe it just doesn’t surprise the folks up top that someone finally tried to take Kyle down a peg. It’s going to be interesting what will be NASCAR’s reaction when Busch tries to get the payback that he’s going to be looking for on down the line. You know that there’s another chapter waiting to be told in this NASCAR novella, and hopefully no one will end up injured because of it. Rivalries and bad blood are good for competitive racing just as long as the testosterone doesn’t get too out of control.
How much do you think Casey Mears liked having the highest finish of any of the Hendrick drivers, with his seventh place finish? Yeah, he was twins-in-a-hot-tub happy, I guarantee that.
The Bad:
The drivers who finished in the top five need to get down on their knees and thank the Good Lord for deciding to give the ground a drink on Sunday, and thereby ensuring that some drivers who had as much chance of a top five finish as I have of winning Mr. USA (although my guns are no doubt, very impressive) would get their best finishes in ages. Kurt Busch’s crew chief said that he would have been able to fight for the lead even if the race had restarted. Yeah, for about two laps. I have my doubts if that piece of junk that Busch was driving was even going to finish the race, much less contend for the win, but Busch has no reason to apologize, he got lucky and he’s the winner, although rain-shortened races need asterisks the size of Barry Bonds’ head attached to them. He did nothing wrong, but everyone needs to take this race with a grain of salt and know that this was truly the definition of “better to be lucky than good”.
The Ugly:
I’m starting to think that there really is a witch doctor out there with a Tony Stewart Voodoo doll, and that every time that it looks like Smoke is going to jump out of his slump, they stick the pin right in his backside. Stewart easily had the best run on Sunday, leading 132 laps and was only challenged by Jimmie Johnson, only to see his crew’s decision to take two tires and the finish under rain, knock him back to a 13th place finish. Stewart brought something good out of the weekend with his win in the Nationwide Series, but I don’t have to ask any of you reading this post, whether or not he even remembered that win on Monday morning.
Rocky Kitts is the Good, in the G, B, and U, and he can be reached at wwwthreestrikesandout@yahoo.com; and yes, although he’s a huge star, he does read all of his emails. He’s just above responding to them.
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