You know what they say, it only takes a few to ruin it for the many.
It seems that after a few incidents with Kyle Busch, NASCAR is pondering the “Boys have at it” stance, and trying to determine where the line should be drawn when it comes to letting the drivers settle things amongst themselves.
It wasn’t just Kyle Busch, but also incidents with Brian Vickers “fencing” Tony Stewart onto a pile of tires at Infineon an then again, Vickers raging vendetta against Matt Kenseth at Martinsville. (If you remember that race, that was a pretty piss-poor move on Vickers part… blatant and arrogant.)
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NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton feels that generally speaking, the self-policing policy is working. It would only be the intent of a few that are making headlines from the sport.
He also pointed out that he’s also aware of differences like retaliations at a small track vs a high-speed track, and takes everything into consideration.
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At one point, drivers weren’t sure where the line lay, as far as having gone too far with their need for retaliation.
Common sense says one thing, but in the height of competition, it can become an entirely different beast.
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Last year, the entertainment product that NASCAR produced was some of the best racing I’ve seen, across all three series, in a long time. Many races were decided by mere seconds as contenders traded paint and hand gestures throughout the season. And in the end, we saw one of the closest points finishes, well, technically, the closest points race, for the championship in the history of the sport, seeing as how it ended in a tie! That tie was thanks in part to the new points system NASCAR instituted last year and Tony Stewart‘s team.
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When we watch any entertainment venue, it’s usually (for me) the first and last impressions that stick with me. Or, in NASCAR terms, the starts, the restarts and the finishes generate a lot of drama and excitement for me because that’s when the poop can potentially hit the fan.
And NASCAR is cursed with the long-lasting middle section of every race… the time-period that fans call snoozers, nap-time, break-time, do the laundry time, etc.. It’s a little bit different when you’re at the track but on TV, this is the dark period of any race.
But in the end, when two cars are rubbing fenders or Kyle Busch wrecks someone or Kurt Busch (Yes, they’re related: brothers) flips off the world and degrades a veteran ESPN reporter, well, those are the moments that generate the buzz. Those are the moments that send the fans to work on Monday, saying, wow, did you see that?!
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