Richmond Int'l Speedway - Lipton Tea 250
Danni
RESULTS
1. Denny Hamlin
10. Scott
18. David
They say that Richmond is notorious for bringing out tempers. Well, it definitely proved that last night and unfortunately one of our drivers was involved.
Everything started out pretty decently. David made up some spots, although he had some trouble getting around Mark Green, who qualfied incredibly well. After that he stayed easily in the top-10 and his crew did a great job in gaining him spots on pit road. During a long green flag run, however, things got ugly.
The leaders set a blistering pace, lapping a lot of cars early. All of a sudden, David started dropping. He fell beyond 10th and settled around 15th or so. Before the broadcast cut to commercial, I saw him in middle of a group that included none other than Sam Hornish. Bad feeling? Yeah. Upon return, the caution was out and I knew before they said anything that it was because of David. Of course, it took them forever to even show the replay. At first I thought, "Maybe they were just racing hard."
Why do I even try to give Hornish leeway sometimes?
Replay: commence. Hornish: straight into the back of David. David: spin.
I'll admit, I said some choice things about Hornish that I try not to say about drivers. But I was just raging furious. It's not just that Hornish has been messing with David consistently since he started Cup racing late last year for no particular reason other than to be a pain in his ass. It's not even the glaring fact that the guy was a freaking lapped car while David was still on the lead lap. But you know what? He acknowledged, right over the God damned radio, that he was tired of David "bumping" him all the time and that he did it on purpose! And NASCAR did fucking nothing! HE ADMITTED IT! It was premeditated! I thought NASCAR warned against that shit?! Why is it that they penalize everyone else except those bloody ex-open wheelers like Hornish and Montoya? What the hell makes them so great?!
AAAAAARRGHH!!
So David fell a fucking lap down and watched the championship slip further from his grasp. On the next restart, he fought like hell. If his car was handling bad, it didn't show because he was passing others on the lead lap. He got right up against Kyle Busch and was preparing to get by him when the caution came out and Kyle got the free pass.
Round two. And just like about every other damn time David is in contention for the free pass, the race went green. By the time the next yellow flew, the leader had started to lap the field again.
Next restart and who's leading the bottom line? Hornish.
He freakin' made it hell for the leaders, pushing them up the track and everything. And the caution came out and he got his lap back. I just couldn't believe it!
Unfortunately for David, the next caution came out within 10 to go, so he was not able to get the free pass. I vaguely remembered that part of the rule, but it still depressed me that he was trapped.
Throughout the race I was hoping he'd get back to Hornish and teach him not to screw with him, but then he probably would have been black-flagged for retaliation. Unlike Hornish. 
In the meantime, Scott was running great in the top-10 when he hit the wall coming off of Turn 2. From the video, I can't tell if he got hit or not. It damaged the car but he was able to hold on for a good finish.
The excitement was far from over. Green-white-checkers are usually wild, but this one was uncalled for. Kyle, after having an uncharacteristically bad day in the #32, had clawed his way into the top-5 and was aiming for a good end to his birthday. Steven Wallace was also running great and respectfully when something just clicked the wrong, wrong way. On the backstretch, he got a run on Kyle. Instead of turning low to pass, he just plowed straight into the back of him!
Kyle's car wiggled but he saved it, so he came up fast behind Steve and Steve moved out of his way because he knew he was in deep crap with Kyle. The checkers flew and on the cool-down lap Steve barreled into Kyle again, causing David Ragan (an innocent bystander) to spin! What the hell?
Kyle was obviously and understandably furious. It's not like Steve even attempted to pass him! So Kyle got out of his car after the race and went back to give Steve a piece of his mind while Steve was unstrapping. Steve reached out and grabbed the bottom rim of Kyle's helmet and yanked, causing Kyle to jerk back and stagger!
A flood of crew members from the #32 rushed over to defend their driver. Kyle got a few more words before they gently led him away, consoling him. Through all of this, not a single one of Steven's team showed up, which may indicate their feelings.
I like Steve. I've stood and fought for him when fans nitpick every little thing he does and when they cruelly joke about his Tourette's Syndrome. He's not a bad person. But I have no idea what went through his head last night at Richmond. From his interview, I knew he was aware he screwed up, but didn't want to own up to it. So instead he called Kyle a girl and used Dale Earnhardt's line of wanting to "rattle his cage" in reference to grabbing Kyle's helmet. He then made a significant mistake - he said there must be a problem when fans boo you all the time. Um... number one, someone who lives in a glass house shouldn't throw stones, since the last time I checked Steven doesn't have a high fan approval. And number two, the amount of fans who boo Kyle (both Busch brothers, actually) has been dramatically reduced! Case in point: following the race was Trackside Live, where Kyle was a guest. People didn't boo him and the whole crowd sang him Happy Birthday!
Kyle did nothing wrong. He had a right to be mad and he had a right to go over an express that to Steven. He never touched anyone. During his interview, he said that he'd wreck as many as he needs to because he's not racing for points, so he doesn't care. People are up in arms about this, but they don't understand what he means. He was talking about those who mess with him, not the entire field. Jeeze. He was mad. Other drivers, like Tony Stewart, have said far worse and been praised for it. Come on - Tony has freakin' insulted drivers' abilities! Kyle did nothing of the sort but fans still cry about him. Just shut up and stop being jealous! It's not Kyle's fault that you want to be a fan of his but can't because you'd be hypocrites!
Amid all this controversy, Denny Hamlin won at his home track. Pretty good to see.
David ended up losing two bloody spots and a lot of points in the standings. Thanks a lot, Hornish!
POINT STANDINGS
1. Clint Bowyer
6. David -158
1. Denny Hamlin
10. Scott
18. David
They say that Richmond is notorious for bringing out tempers. Well, it definitely proved that last night and unfortunately one of our drivers was involved.
Everything started out pretty decently. David made up some spots, although he had some trouble getting around Mark Green, who qualfied incredibly well. After that he stayed easily in the top-10 and his crew did a great job in gaining him spots on pit road. During a long green flag run, however, things got ugly.
The leaders set a blistering pace, lapping a lot of cars early. All of a sudden, David started dropping. He fell beyond 10th and settled around 15th or so. Before the broadcast cut to commercial, I saw him in middle of a group that included none other than Sam Hornish. Bad feeling? Yeah. Upon return, the caution was out and I knew before they said anything that it was because of David. Of course, it took them forever to even show the replay. At first I thought, "Maybe they were just racing hard."
Why do I even try to give Hornish leeway sometimes? Replay: commence. Hornish: straight into the back of David. David: spin.
I'll admit, I said some choice things about Hornish that I try not to say about drivers. But I was just raging furious. It's not just that Hornish has been messing with David consistently since he started Cup racing late last year for no particular reason other than to be a pain in his ass. It's not even the glaring fact that the guy was a freaking lapped car while David was still on the lead lap. But you know what? He acknowledged, right over the God damned radio, that he was tired of David "bumping" him all the time and that he did it on purpose! And NASCAR did fucking nothing! HE ADMITTED IT! It was premeditated! I thought NASCAR warned against that shit?! Why is it that they penalize everyone else except those bloody ex-open wheelers like Hornish and Montoya? What the hell makes them so great?!
AAAAAARRGHH!!
So David fell a fucking lap down and watched the championship slip further from his grasp. On the next restart, he fought like hell. If his car was handling bad, it didn't show because he was passing others on the lead lap. He got right up against Kyle Busch and was preparing to get by him when the caution came out and Kyle got the free pass.
Round two. And just like about every other damn time David is in contention for the free pass, the race went green. By the time the next yellow flew, the leader had started to lap the field again.
Next restart and who's leading the bottom line? Hornish.
He freakin' made it hell for the leaders, pushing them up the track and everything. And the caution came out and he got his lap back. I just couldn't believe it!Unfortunately for David, the next caution came out within 10 to go, so he was not able to get the free pass. I vaguely remembered that part of the rule, but it still depressed me that he was trapped.
Throughout the race I was hoping he'd get back to Hornish and teach him not to screw with him, but then he probably would have been black-flagged for retaliation. Unlike Hornish. In the meantime, Scott was running great in the top-10 when he hit the wall coming off of Turn 2. From the video, I can't tell if he got hit or not. It damaged the car but he was able to hold on for a good finish.
The excitement was far from over. Green-white-checkers are usually wild, but this one was uncalled for. Kyle, after having an uncharacteristically bad day in the #32, had clawed his way into the top-5 and was aiming for a good end to his birthday. Steven Wallace was also running great and respectfully when something just clicked the wrong, wrong way. On the backstretch, he got a run on Kyle. Instead of turning low to pass, he just plowed straight into the back of him!
Kyle's car wiggled but he saved it, so he came up fast behind Steve and Steve moved out of his way because he knew he was in deep crap with Kyle. The checkers flew and on the cool-down lap Steve barreled into Kyle again, causing David Ragan (an innocent bystander) to spin! What the hell?Kyle was obviously and understandably furious. It's not like Steve even attempted to pass him! So Kyle got out of his car after the race and went back to give Steve a piece of his mind while Steve was unstrapping. Steve reached out and grabbed the bottom rim of Kyle's helmet and yanked, causing Kyle to jerk back and stagger!
A flood of crew members from the #32 rushed over to defend their driver. Kyle got a few more words before they gently led him away, consoling him. Through all of this, not a single one of Steven's team showed up, which may indicate their feelings.I like Steve. I've stood and fought for him when fans nitpick every little thing he does and when they cruelly joke about his Tourette's Syndrome. He's not a bad person. But I have no idea what went through his head last night at Richmond. From his interview, I knew he was aware he screwed up, but didn't want to own up to it. So instead he called Kyle a girl and used Dale Earnhardt's line of wanting to "rattle his cage" in reference to grabbing Kyle's helmet. He then made a significant mistake - he said there must be a problem when fans boo you all the time. Um... number one, someone who lives in a glass house shouldn't throw stones, since the last time I checked Steven doesn't have a high fan approval. And number two, the amount of fans who boo Kyle (both Busch brothers, actually) has been dramatically reduced! Case in point: following the race was Trackside Live, where Kyle was a guest. People didn't boo him and the whole crowd sang him Happy Birthday!
Kyle did nothing wrong. He had a right to be mad and he had a right to go over an express that to Steven. He never touched anyone. During his interview, he said that he'd wreck as many as he needs to because he's not racing for points, so he doesn't care. People are up in arms about this, but they don't understand what he means. He was talking about those who mess with him, not the entire field. Jeeze. He was mad. Other drivers, like Tony Stewart, have said far worse and been praised for it. Come on - Tony has freakin' insulted drivers' abilities! Kyle did nothing of the sort but fans still cry about him. Just shut up and stop being jealous! It's not Kyle's fault that you want to be a fan of his but can't because you'd be hypocrites!
Amid all this controversy, Denny Hamlin won at his home track. Pretty good to see.
David ended up losing two bloody spots and a lot of points in the standings. Thanks a lot, Hornish!
POINT STANDINGS
1. Clint Bowyer
6. David -158
