"Idiot"
There's been a ton of finger-pointing after Sunday's Big One at Talladega that took out more than half the field and caused me to delay my return to yard work by nearly an hour.
Yesterday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. laid out pretty darn clearly who he thought was to blame for the Big One as well as a second crash that took out Junior and some other drivers: Jimmie Johnson.
Said Junior: "If there was one idiot out there it was him. To be honest about it, I think Jimmie Johnson caused about all the wrecks out there."
Greg Biffle agreed: "I hate to point fingers, but if (Johnson) hadn't been in the race, we wouldn't have had those wrecks. I've seen both replays and I don't care what anyone says. I like Jimmie. He's a talented driver. But he caused both wrecks."
Johnson's response? He gave a version of "It's one of 'em racin' deals."
Huh.
In any case, N&R racing writer Dustin Long was way ahead of the curve on the blame-Johnson story. Yep, that's his story from Saturday. Dustin's a prophet, no?
And speaking of Jimmie Johnson, Dustin has more on him here in today's paper. Johnson, as Dustin notes, smoked the competition last May and could do so again this month. We'll see.
Update: Blogger Trent Cherry follows Dustin's lead on the Johnson story and commits heresy by comparing JJ to Dale Earnhardt Sr. Needless to say, fans of the late No. 3 driver are having none of it.
Comments (4)
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Is the summmer of Jimmie like the Summer of George? Let's hope not, for Johnson's sake.
I found it a little curious that Junior was so quick to blame JJ for all the problems at Talladega, when his admitted bump drafting - on the front stretch, allegedly a no-no - played at least some part in "The Big One." In fact, Sterling Marlin publicly chided Lil E for ignoring the bump draft edicts. And when Marlin dares to talk publicly about an Earnhardt, you've got to figure he's pretty ticked.
Any chance this is just transference of the hatred that's been heaped up on Jeff Gordon all these years. There's only so much you can scream at one guy. Why not lump in his closest track buddy as well?
Posted on May 4, 2005 1:12 PM
Last year's "summer of Jimmy" was a little flat if I remember right.
However he did make a nice recovery in October.
Posted on May 4, 2005 10:03 PM
Jim: I think you're right. Folks are getting a little tired of Johnson. He has finished second in the points both of the past two years, and he's running away with things this year. The points leader is always a target for boos and criticism. See "Earnhardt Sr., Dale" and "Gordon, Jeff."
Of course, it doesn't hurt that Johnson reminds a lot of people (OK, me) of the guy driving the No. 24.
Speaking of Gordon, he got a lot of cheers this time after winning. Last year at 'Dega, fans just about burned down the grandstand after Gordon won. It was the first time I've ever thought a soccer match was going to break out at a race.
Posted on May 5, 2005 10:28 AM
Mark: Jimmie's summer wasn't all that bad. He did win both races at Pocono, and he won poles at Watkins Glen and Michigan. Right before the start of the Chase, though, he did go in the tank. But speculation around the garage was that Hendrick was trying a few things with the engine that didn't quite work. At that point, Johnson was guaranteed a spot in the Chase, so it didn't really matter how he finished.
Posted on May 5, 2005 10:33 AM