First off, congrats to Jeff Gordon for getting the monkey off his back and passing The Intimidator’s record.
Now on to the issues.
For the past couple of years I’ve been going to live NASCAR races, I’ve sung the praises of the fans. They have been nice, polite, helpful and congenial, and made my experience pleasant whether I’ve been with a group or by myself.
I’ve had people help me to my seat in the middle of the row, direct me to the best in track cuisine, assist me with my Track Scan and how it operates and give me tips to make the live visit more fun.
I have never seen such a display of poor sportsmanship as at Talladega over Jeff Gordon surpassing Dale Earnhardt’s win record. I’ll admit to not being a Jeff Gordon fan, but give the man some credit, he’s proven himself on the track. And Gordon is still a young man and can, i.e. will, break more records. And each time he does, I’ll applaud him.
But what possesses people to throw things toward a driver? That’s dangerous – not necessarily for Jeff Gordon, but for the fans sitting between the thrower and the track.
More than likely you’ve consumed some of the cans’ contents and even if you have an arm like the Minnesota Twins’ Johan Santana, you probably can’t clear the fence. That means someone is going to get a head, back or lap full of beer, not to mention the thump and subsequent bruise or cut from the can.
It’s stupid, pointless and dangerous. On the practical side, some drinkers would say a waste of good beer.
As Junior said, “That ain’t cool. That ain’t cool at all.”
OK folks, time to vent. Let’s hear it. Whether it’s about throwing trash, talking trash, today's pretty-boy drivers, Juan Pablo Montoya’s five finger wave minus a few digits (he’s really not making any friends), the debris cautions, rookie “mistakes” or whatever, let’s hear it.
About our photo:
Race fans throw objects at the car of Jeff Gordon after Gordon won the NASCAR Aaron's 499 auto race, breaking a tie with the late Dale Earnhardt on NASCAR's career victory list, Sunday April 29, 2007, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Glenn Smith)
1 comment:
I am done as a passionate NASCAR fan. It wasn’t only the incident in Talladega, but that was certainly the thing that broke the camel’s back. The foundation started to crack when I was in the bleacher seats at Charlotte a few years back and was verbally abused and had beer poured on my wife an I by Earnhardt fans. Why would these fans do this? Because I was wearing a Jeff Gordon shirt and she was wearing a Ryan Newman shirt.
I know there are idiots in every crowd, but this was out of hand.
NASCAR also alienated me with the top 35 points guaranteed a spot in the race thing. Case in point, at Talladega Michael Waltrip didn’t qualify. However, if it were set with the fastest sitting on the pole and everyone positioned there after, Waltrip would have made the show in 20th position.
The mile and a half cookie-cutter tracks are boring. 500-mile snoozefests is what they are.
So when I saw those cans hitting the track Sunday, my zest for NASCAR went out the window. I have spent too many years defending NASCAR from the naysayers who think it’s just a bunch of hicks swilling beer in the stands watching guys drive in a circle rooting for a car to catch on fire. After Sunday, I’m starting to believe those naysayers are right.
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