This coming from DW if you can believe it....
Bump-and-run fan polls disturbing to me
Darrell Waltrip / AllWaltrip.com
I was scanning my computer to get headlines, see everybody's opinion about the weekend and find out if anything significant was happening. Certainly, the old computer comes in handy for that.
But I was shocked by polls on FOXSports.com and NASCAR.com, asking fans if they thought Jeff Gordon should have knocked Jimmie Johnson out of the way to win at Martinsville. What was disturbing to me was a majority of people — almost 70 percent — said that Jeff should have knocked him out of the way. I was shocked. I am race fan. I love going to the track, watching races and driving cars because I love the competition. As a fan, the last two weeks have been two of the best races I think I've ever witnessed.
Let me tell you why. I am not a fan of the bump and run. I'm not a fan of taking advantage of the leader and knocking somebody out of the way to make a pass. That's not racing. Bump-and-running is wrecking, and that's not what racing is meant to be. Drivers are meant to challenge each other. It's a mental game; it's not a physical game. If you're going to get physical with your race car, you need to find another profession. You need to be a boxer or a football player.
The art of the game is setting up people and working on the pass, just like Gordon did. It was a perfect example of one driver trying to distract another. Gordon went in a little high a few times to diamond the corner and get a nose under him. He went in low. He took a look down the straightaway, and every time he did, Jimmie gave him enough of the inside of the track to get in there. Jeff played the game right. He respected his competitor and drove the way you would want a champion to drive.
We've kind of accepted the bump and run because it happens so much, but it's not the right way to race. Jeff Burton's Bristol race against Kyle Busch at showed how a true professional and real race car driver handles himself. You long to be in a situation where it's you against the other guy. It's your brain against his brain, and you try to outsmart and distract him. When he's looking back at you in his mirror, you make a move on him.
It's OK to put the bumper to him. It's OK to tell him, "Hey, I'm back here." Get him distracted and maybe a little bumfuggled, but I'm not a fan of knocking a guy out of the way to win the race. I think that's wrong. I've always thought it was wrong, and I don't think it shows very much respect for your competitors or for the sport. Martinsville was the picture-perfect finish of two drivers challenging each other. I don't care whether they're teammates or not, it wouldn't have been right for either driver to bump and dump the other.
My brother tells me all the time I'm old school, and I guess I probably am. But I love a good chess match. It's like playing poker. There aren't a lot of drivers that can sit on that hot stove like Johnson did and sweat ice water, but that's what he was doing. I respect and admire his ability to sit there with Gordon hounding him and not make a mistake. I have an equal amount of respect for Gordon for not literally taking out his teammate or anybody else.
Don't get me wrong; I've seen it done. I saw Jeff do it to Matt Kenseth last year at Chicagoland, which brings me to another point.
I don't believe this Car of Tomorrow is going to be a car like the current car, which has a droopy, sloopy nose that's low to the ground. If you stick the nose of the current up under the back end of another car, it'll lift the tires off the ground. We've heard wheel-spin many times when tires are lifted off the ground. The bump and run has been a little bit more prevalent over the last few years because of the design of the current car.
I'm looking for all I can, folks, to like this Car of Tomorrow, and one thing I do like is that blunt nose on the front and the big bumper on the back. When you bump somebody, that's really all you've done. You've bumped them. You're not lifting them up, getting them up the racetrack or spinning them out. From a competition standpoint, this Car of Tomorrow has some elements that will change the way these guys race. It's changing everything about the race, and now it's going to actually change the way they race. It's OK to put bump into a guy to say, "Hey, I'm back here. I'm faster than you are. Let me through." But I don't think you're going to see Cars of Tomorrow lifting up a guy and shoving him out of the way to make a pass.
Bump-and-run fan polls disturbing to me
Darrell Waltrip / AllWaltrip.com
I was scanning my computer to get headlines, see everybody's opinion about the weekend and find out if anything significant was happening. Certainly, the old computer comes in handy for that.
But I was shocked by polls on FOXSports.com and NASCAR.com, asking fans if they thought Jeff Gordon should have knocked Jimmie Johnson out of the way to win at Martinsville. What was disturbing to me was a majority of people — almost 70 percent — said that Jeff should have knocked him out of the way. I was shocked. I am race fan. I love going to the track, watching races and driving cars because I love the competition. As a fan, the last two weeks have been two of the best races I think I've ever witnessed.
Let me tell you why. I am not a fan of the bump and run. I'm not a fan of taking advantage of the leader and knocking somebody out of the way to make a pass. That's not racing. Bump-and-running is wrecking, and that's not what racing is meant to be. Drivers are meant to challenge each other. It's a mental game; it's not a physical game. If you're going to get physical with your race car, you need to find another profession. You need to be a boxer or a football player.
The art of the game is setting up people and working on the pass, just like Gordon did. It was a perfect example of one driver trying to distract another. Gordon went in a little high a few times to diamond the corner and get a nose under him. He went in low. He took a look down the straightaway, and every time he did, Jimmie gave him enough of the inside of the track to get in there. Jeff played the game right. He respected his competitor and drove the way you would want a champion to drive.
We've kind of accepted the bump and run because it happens so much, but it's not the right way to race. Jeff Burton's Bristol race against Kyle Busch at showed how a true professional and real race car driver handles himself. You long to be in a situation where it's you against the other guy. It's your brain against his brain, and you try to outsmart and distract him. When he's looking back at you in his mirror, you make a move on him.
It's OK to put the bumper to him. It's OK to tell him, "Hey, I'm back here." Get him distracted and maybe a little bumfuggled, but I'm not a fan of knocking a guy out of the way to win the race. I think that's wrong. I've always thought it was wrong, and I don't think it shows very much respect for your competitors or for the sport. Martinsville was the picture-perfect finish of two drivers challenging each other. I don't care whether they're teammates or not, it wouldn't have been right for either driver to bump and dump the other.
My brother tells me all the time I'm old school, and I guess I probably am. But I love a good chess match. It's like playing poker. There aren't a lot of drivers that can sit on that hot stove like Johnson did and sweat ice water, but that's what he was doing. I respect and admire his ability to sit there with Gordon hounding him and not make a mistake. I have an equal amount of respect for Gordon for not literally taking out his teammate or anybody else.
Don't get me wrong; I've seen it done. I saw Jeff do it to Matt Kenseth last year at Chicagoland, which brings me to another point.
I don't believe this Car of Tomorrow is going to be a car like the current car, which has a droopy, sloopy nose that's low to the ground. If you stick the nose of the current up under the back end of another car, it'll lift the tires off the ground. We've heard wheel-spin many times when tires are lifted off the ground. The bump and run has been a little bit more prevalent over the last few years because of the design of the current car.
I'm looking for all I can, folks, to like this Car of Tomorrow, and one thing I do like is that blunt nose on the front and the big bumper on the back. When you bump somebody, that's really all you've done. You've bumped them. You're not lifting them up, getting them up the racetrack or spinning them out. From a competition standpoint, this Car of Tomorrow has some elements that will change the way these guys race. It's changing everything about the race, and now it's going to actually change the way they race. It's OK to put bump into a guy to say, "Hey, I'm back here. I'm faster than you are. Let me through." But I don't think you're going to see Cars of Tomorrow lifting up a guy and shoving him out of the way to make a pass.
This also from DW I agree with him on this 100%. 
