Busch Penalty Was Unjust
Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 10:30am UTC
By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.
Yes, it was.
I’ve put a lot of thought into this, and I think it was too much. I’ve reviewed the “footage” a couple dozen times, and this is my conclusion.
It wasn’t the right action for Kurt Busch to take. The pits aren’t the place to use cars as tools in a heated discussion. I’m not disputing that.
However, I do believe it’s being blown out of proportion just a tick too much and I think it’s because of the driver involved.
Kurt didn’t come screaming down pit road, nor did he at any time try to smash into one Mr. Flip Flop (aka: Tony Stewart for those of you new to the Lounge). He simply pulled up beside him to “express” his dissatisfaction. What the issue seems to be was Flippy’s crew member freaking out and hopping onto the hood of that orange machine. A little dramatic, considering when he jumped it was evident that Kurt wasn’t there to play bumper cars. All he had to do was simple stop from coming around the front and wait. Not necessarily his fault, it all happened so fast he did what he thought necessary.
In response, NASCAR came up to the #2 Crew while they were preparing to fix the damage and told them to load it up on the trailer and that their day was done. No problem there, it was appropriate and cost the team a lot of points. The most possible at the time.
In addition to this, last Friday Kurt was fined $100,000, docked 100 points, placed on probation until December 31st, and Roger lost 100 Owners points.
I’m kosher with all of that except Roger’s points. Why? Well, the Owners points affect the Owner and the team. Neither of which had a single thing to do with Kurt’s decision to pull up next to Stewie. Why should they be punished? They shouldn’t.
What a lot of folks were calling for was, in addition to the above, for Kurt to be parked for Pocono. Read as: Suspended Harvick style. I disagree. He already was effectively sat out right after the incident. They got their point across when Kurt knew he could be out there racing, yet wasn’t part of the remaining roar of some 33,000 HP waging battle against The Monster Mile.
NASCAR reviewed all the footage, and made the right call with the exception of the Owners points.
Now, on the horizon, we face an even bigger problem as a sport. This would be a recent revelation on Sirius. One such revelation that has to do with Indy, and one that poses a far bigger threat than pulling up next to someone in the pits.
More on this after bit.
2 comments. Add your 2 cents!.
Filed Under: Dover, Drivers, Kurt Busch, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Penske Racing #2, Teams, Tracks
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Luke I think you have nailed the Kurt Busch deal. I have watched the available videos repeatedly and I think I have come to the same conclusion as the NASCAR boys. This just wasn’t bad enough to waarant a more drastice penalty. I only differ from you in that I am fine with the owner’s point deduction as well. Although the owner was not involved in the infraction, the points penalty may cause owner and sponsor to pressure driver to shape up.
Charlie, I’m still not convinced with it in terms of Owners points.
Granted, you don’t handle things on pit road. You just don’t. But, Kurt still only pulled up beside him, probably gave the standard greeting of displeasure, and drove off.
Hell, I’ve done worse in afternoon traffic. Compared to the Roushketeer version of Busch, this was a much more tamed down event. A “Lite” version, if you will.
To me, giving all parties the benefit of the doubt and comparing with the footage, I think this is being blow out of proportion.
If there was really something to talk about (and believe me there sure is now), this wouldn’t have been such a huge issue. Well, unless you’re a Stewie fan, and have the blinders on.