Brakes On Busch

I just wonder how long NASCAR will wait before they put the brakes on out-of-control Kyle Busch, before he kills somebody.
He collided with Jamie McMurray at Talladega, and it was a miracle that he did not cause a massive pileup. Then came Richmond. Once Denny Hamlin was sidelined, you could see what was coming next, either Busch was going to win or no one in front of him was.
Busch was lucky he took Dale, Jr. out. If that had been Dale, Sr., you could bet there would not have been a second time. Nice going, Clint.

Junior Deserved Win

On the Richmond Race: I thought I was watching Bristol or the last laps at Talladega. They had the “big one,” too.
The race did not end right. Dale, Jr. deserved that race, but Kyle Busch pulled a Dale, Sr. act: “I didn’t mean to put him out, I just wanted to rattle his cage.” Dale, Sr. was always honest. For Kyle Busch to say Jr. should have given him more room, and he came down on (Busch) is bull.
I don’t know what TV the announcers were watching. They can try to explain it anyway they like, but they must not have seen Busch’s hands. He should not have been scored second. NASCAR sat Michael Waltrip out for a night for doing less. Friday night, Busch got out of his car on pit road and punched Steve Wallace. Steve did grab his helmet. He should have jerked his head off. Let’s see who gets penalized. Tony Stewart should give Busch his anger management address, and NASCAR should see he uses it.

Team Orders?

The Richmond Cup race — another NASCAR twisted justice. Gibbs told Hamlin to cause a yellow or Earnhardt would have won.
Gibbs hired Busch. If he can’t control him, call Spencer. A two-lap penalty is a joke when Hamlin is already out. NASCAR should punish Gibbs.
Don’t be afraid to do right.

Some Great Racing

Danica wins, and Kyle Busch makes it three in a row. What great racing.
You can’t say enough about Danica — looks, smarts and a race winner. She has a great attitude and her approach to racing is kind of a take-no-prisoners attitude. I hope she wins again and soon.
If Kyle keeps running up front in his three series, someone might offer him a gazillion bucks to cross the pond and try F-1.

Praise For Patrick

Anyone who has spent time behind the wheel of a race car can easily recognize that Danica Patrick is an extremely talented driver. Most of her critics probably never even sat in a race car.
So, suck it up all you sexist cry babies and quit your whining. She’s the first woman to get press because she can drive, not because she’s an oddity in a male-dominated arena. This is 2008. Like it or not, a woman was going to make the grade sooner or later.

Correcting Martin

In response to Bruce Martin’s article regarding Danica Patrick’s victory in which he stated Danica’s victory made her the first woman to win a major auto race. He went even further when he stated Muldowney and Troxel were race winners, but simply in a one-on-one, against-the-clock situation, while Danica had to drive against 17 other drivers.
Danica may have been racing against 17 other drivers, but she can make several mistakes in a single lap or in several laps and have plenty of laps and time to make them up. You can even spin a car completely around in open wheel and still win the race as Danny Sullivan showed us.
In NHRA, there are no mistakes and certainly no time for mistakes to be made up. A single mistake will put you back on the trailer for an unceremonious trip home. A mere hesitation will put you on that same trailer headed for home. A matter of seconds is what you get to put forth the best performance of your life with no hesitations, second guesses and certainly no mistakes.
If the car so much as fishtails, it can cost those valuable fractions of seconds that get you beat, unlike spinning an open-wheel car and still winning.
Thank you, Susan Wade for stating the truth: Danica Patrick was the first woman to win an IndyCar Series event, period.
You don’t need to create false and exaggerated credentials for Danica, Bruce. Danica has the talent and endurance to create real ones of her own, and, I’m sure, would be the first to be appalled by your omitting critical facts — some call this lying.
Journalists still in their diapers do better research and reporting than you have demonstrated, especially your report of winning women in NHRA. Yes, open-wheel drivers are on the track for hours at a time with 15 or more other drivers. But I wonder how many of those other drivers would still be on those tracks if they got one lap? How many passes would it take them to become near-perfect each pass?
I think, Bruce, you need to rethink the difficulties involved in a one-on-one, against-the-clock race, if thinking is what you call what you do.
Living between Indianapolis Motor Speedway and O’Reilly Raceway Park, I have seen the best these worlds have to offer, but as far as the difficulties and talents required, I have obviously made my choice.
I can still appreciate the talents and skills of open-wheel drivers. A win in any of these arenas takes more skill and determination than is imaginable. I am so happy and proud for Danica, but let’s state the facts as they truly are and not take away from those talents of a different, if not more difficult arena, called the NHRA.

Boos For Bowyer

I would like to take a moment to thank Clint Bowyer for snubbing my 3- and 5-year-old sons when asking for his autograph at the Talladega Short Track. Let me preface by saying that we attend 20-25 dirt races per year and fully understand NASCAR drivers’ boundaries while working at the dirt tracks.
When asking him to sign my boys’ shirts, he grumbled, “yeah” and then proceeded to ignore us despite our attempt to follow and catch him while he was not busy. Interestingly enough, he found time to pose for pictures with cute girls, but avoided us like the plague. Later, he sat 15 feet behind us in the pit bleachers, and we looked each other eye to eye — with my dejected 5-year-old son next to me.
Of course, he did not come over or send one of his entourage down to us, but he did sign for others.
First and foremost, we are Tony Stewart fans. Yes, it disappoints me that my son will never get Tony’s autograph at the short track, but I know what he is in for if he starts signing. That is why Tony apologizes for being unable to sign for anyone up front.
Clint Bowyer, you are no Tony Stewart, and you did not have a mass of crazy fans bombarding you. Even your car owner, Richard Childress, was taking time for the fans. Had you not signed for me or some merchandise peddler, I would understand, but blowing off little kids? I assure you my son will shake it off because his true heroes like Chris Wall, Shane Clanton, Wendell Wallace and Clint Smith always take a moment for him and treat him like a king.

Dodge Disaster

The first three cars out at Darlington (S.C) Raceway Saturday night were Dodges — McDonald’s, Mobil and Petty.
Is Detroit watching? I doubt it.