The aftermath
Hoo, boy.
We're still two days away from the Daytona 500, and there's already controversy. Which is not a bad thing, because it gives the racing writers something to write about and the rest of us something to discuss.
To recap: In the second Gatorade Duel yesterday, Kevin Harvick tapped the left rear of Jimmie Johnson's car. That sent both spinning and wrecked a bunch of other cars, including those of Mark Martin, Joe Nemechek, Rusty Wallace and Dave Blaney.
Everyone pointed fingers at Harvick -- Johnson accused him of detaching his head somewhere along the front stretch and Nemechek vowed payback. Frankly, Harvick's an easy target because he's tangled with just about everyone in the garage.
But there's one thing that baffles me about the whole incident:
What the heck was Jimmie Johnson doing checking up (that's racin'-speak for slowing down) coming out of a corner at more than 180 miles per hour?
So I asked Dustin Long when he checked in this morning. His take: Other drivers told him that Johnson's car had been loose (meaning the back end was sliding toward the wall) much of the race and he tapped the brakes coming out of Turn 2 to keep the car under control. Harvick didn't see what Johnson was doing and hit him.
I checked out the replay this morning. It looked to me that Johnson's car went up the track, Harvick dove down to take the inside route and either Harvick went up or Johnson came down. (It was hard to tell on the video.) Either way, both drivers wanted their cars in pretty much the same place at the same time. And just doesn't work.
In other words, it was one of those racin' deals.
For more, check out our own Dustin Long, and Ed Hardin, Charlotte's Tom Sorensen.
By the way, according to NASCAR's online poll, about two-thirds of the fans are blaming Harvick.
Comments (3)
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Maybe it was just racing, but it was careless racing. I guess it was just inexperience, but that doesn't fix the broken cars. Now Mark Martin is saying they are going to try to fix the car. It is probably the best restrictor plate care he has had in years. He was running a strong third when he was taken out. His backup car just isn't very good, as the Bud Shootout showed. I'd sure like to see him have an outstanding season this year. I think most people would.
Posted on February 18, 2005 1:21 PM
So what's Dustin saying about this Goodyear situation. Anything new on that?
I remember with some bitterness the Hoosier vs. Goodyear "tar" war some years ago (yeah, I needed to get a life back then). I had to sit through a Charlotte race marred by about 15 cautions caused by bad tars.
I sure hope we're not looking for that on Sunday.
(Great work on the blog, by the way.)
Posted on February 18, 2005 2:53 PM
Mark WON the IROC. He broke the record for total wins (12). Now if he can win the championship, he will break that record, too. He is tied right now with Dale Earnhardt with 4 championships.
They are trying to reconstruct his Daytona car. Hope the IROC was a taste of what his season is going to be.
Posted on February 18, 2005 8:19 PM