Stewart's shoulder
No doubt - it's messed up. Tony Stewart didn't look great after wrecking Saturday in the Busch race. After Sunday's Cup wreck, he looked like he was considering amputation. I've never cracked my shoulder blade, but, man, it looks painful.
Which is why Ricky Rudd will sub for Stewart on Sunday, probably after the first yellow flag. Stewart will start the race to get the driver points. Rudd will try not to wreck - he hasn't driven since Homestead in November, and he'll be a bunch of laps down by the time he gets in the car. Stewart doesn't exactly leap out of the car under ordinary circumstances.
The points thing is bothering David Whitley of the Orlando Sentinel, who pops a blood vessel in his take on Rudd's pending relief appearance: In the newspaper business, taking credit for someone else’s work is called plagiarism. If Jayson Blair had worked for Gibbs Racing instead of The New York Times, he’d probably be the defending Nextel Cup champion.
Whoa. Never mind that Stewart's point harvest is perfectly fine under NASCAR's rules and what that jerk formerly at the Times did was ... not. Regardless, I think we found our winner for "Worst Sportswriting Analogy 2006."
Elsewhere, DW says Stewart should take the week off: Just think about the big picture — the final 10 races. McReynolds is fine with Stewart starting the race.
You?
Comments (4)
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Nail... hammer... Direct hit.
Relief drivers being allowed, and points given to the regular driver, has been on the books for as long as I remember. (admittedly my memory varys from day to day dependent on subject matter and the number of liquid "consumables" had that day)
Whitley is nuts to believe that comparison is valid. Aside from that if Jayson Blair had worked for Gibbs Racing he would have had the his name stenciled over a teammate's drivers window instead of his own.
Posted on June 1, 2006 5:25 PM
Injured is injured. If Stewart's that banged up, he should stay home to rest and rehabilitate. If Rudd's driving the car, then Rudd alone should get credit for doing so. In every other sport, when a player comes into the contest as a substitute for an injured player, whatever they accomplish is credited to them alone, not the player they're substituting for. Why NASCAR feels this shouldn't apply to them... oh, it's probably in their mythical rulebook.
Posted on June 1, 2006 6:58 PM
This is the only sport where individual placing requires the team. I know it will never happen, but if the points were only considered for the team this would not be an issue. No, I don't like it now that I have typed it.
I've also heard about throwing out the worst race or two as an alternative, I don't like that one either.
Posted on June 1, 2006 8:48 PM
Lemme throw this one out there ... Joe Gibbs (or whoever is the quote-unquote owner) will get owner points for the No. 20 no matter who's behind the wheel. So why shouldn't the driver with his name above the window get the same treatment?
Posted on June 1, 2006 9:52 PM