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Found this interesting. Bold type is my addition. Gives a glimpse maybe into what the drivers think of the fans and their demands for green/white/checkerd finishes, among other things.
Veteran drivers decry volatile state of NASCAR
Derick Moss
Gazette Sports Reporter
LONG POND, Pa. — Stock car racing, from its roots, has been the epitome of hard-charging, ultra-competitive automobile racing.
Rusty Wallace is as hard a charger as they come. But he’s quite sure that the “Chase for the Nextel Cup” is causing a rash of road rage, particularly for those drivers on the fringe of making the final 10-race playoff.
Today’s Pennsylvania 500 is the 20th race of the season. That means there are seven more races to go before the final 10 that constitute a virtual playoff for the series championship.
What the new format has created is a scenario where the top five drivers in points are looking to play it safe, stay in the race and avoid crashes like the plague. Winning may be secondary to just staying on the track at the finish. Drivers in the bottom half of the top 10 or within striking distance of the playoffs are becoming more aggressive, willing to win at all costs and are driving that way. Those out of contention? They may be looking ti help a teammate who is.
Earlier this week, Wallace lit into the sport’s governing body, blasting the new points system as “stupid” and the new green-white-checkered finish as a “recipe for disaster.”
The fans were flamed last Sunday when he, Kasey Kahne and Dale Jarrett - who are all on the outside looking in on the playoff — wrecked in New Hampshire. The 30th-place finish left Wallace 310 points out of 10th place, the cutoff for the championship playoff.
Wallace, a former series champion, says recent rules changes combined with manic racing make this the most volatile season in NASCAR history.
“I’ve been around this sport a long time and I can tell you it’s the most aggressive atmosphere that I’ve ever seen out there,” he said. “It’s an explosive situation and it will only get worse before it gets any better.”
Wallace says the new points system has made the racing too frenetic, and that drivers are putting track position ahead of sportsmanship, safety and clean racing.
“With the new points deal, you’ve got nine or 10 guys doing everything they can to get back into the top 10 in points, and you have four or five guys doing all they can to stay up there in the top 10,” he said. “There’s so much pressure on these guys and these teams that there’s a lot of stupid stuff going on. When you consider that NASCAR has added this new green-white-checkered rule, it’s definitely a recipe for disaster, if you ask me.”
Veteran Terry Labonte, fresh off the 800th start of his career last week, had a few choice words on the green-white-checkered rule, as well.
“All that does is give the guy that’s running second the opportunity to wreck the guy leading,” he said. “Nothing good is going to come out of it. Nobody wants to see these races end under caution, but you don’t need to add laps to the race.
“True race fans don’t like it. The people who come to watch the wrecks love it.”
Veterans like Wallace and Labonte aren’t shy when it comes to criticizing NASCAR. But even some of the younger drivers see the writing on the wall.
Kahne, who’s 14th in the standings and 162 points out of the top 10, was the person Wallace pointed to in the crash last weekend. He, too, acknowledged that the pressure over the next few weeks is especially intense.
“As we come down to the final 10 (races), every lap of every race counts. We’re starting to fee a lot of pressure,” Kahne said. “I hope other drivers don’t get overly aggressive as we get close to the cutoff for the championship. Guys have been driving pretty hard all year, but if people start taking out other cars in purpose so they - or a teammate - can move up in the points, that will be a bad thing.
“Everybody wants to compete for the title in those last 10 races, but everyone’s still got to play fair.”
That’s easier said than done, given the competitive nature of racers.
Kurt Busch, currently sixth in points, is just 50 ahead of 10th-place Ryan Newman and 150 ahead of 11th-place Jeremy Mayfield. He conceded that the pressure this season is mounting as the season runs its course.
“I think I’ve seen two different types of racing. Early on in the season, guys would have a bad day. We got dumped in Talladega and it was like no big deal it was kind of ho-hum,” he said. “But right now we’re in sixth and we don’t have that much of a cushion. So if we were to have a bad day right now, it wouldn’t feel the same.”
.Looking ahead, Wallace believes the next stretch of races before the final 10 could become virtual demolition derbies.
“I think we’re going to see some of the most weird, ridiculous and controversial situations ever in the next seven races,” he said. “I’m against the green-white-checkered finishes I’ve told NASCAR officials that and I don’t mind being vocal about it.”
Some would dismiss Wallace’s comments as sour grapes —- drivers currently in the top 10 haven’t complained about the new playoff too much. But if the next seven races are full of crashes, controversial finishes or worse, Wallace will be a prophet.
Veteran drivers decry volatile state of NASCAR
Derick Moss
Gazette Sports Reporter
LONG POND, Pa. — Stock car racing, from its roots, has been the epitome of hard-charging, ultra-competitive automobile racing.
Rusty Wallace is as hard a charger as they come. But he’s quite sure that the “Chase for the Nextel Cup” is causing a rash of road rage, particularly for those drivers on the fringe of making the final 10-race playoff.
Today’s Pennsylvania 500 is the 20th race of the season. That means there are seven more races to go before the final 10 that constitute a virtual playoff for the series championship.
What the new format has created is a scenario where the top five drivers in points are looking to play it safe, stay in the race and avoid crashes like the plague. Winning may be secondary to just staying on the track at the finish. Drivers in the bottom half of the top 10 or within striking distance of the playoffs are becoming more aggressive, willing to win at all costs and are driving that way. Those out of contention? They may be looking ti help a teammate who is.
Earlier this week, Wallace lit into the sport’s governing body, blasting the new points system as “stupid” and the new green-white-checkered finish as a “recipe for disaster.”
The fans were flamed last Sunday when he, Kasey Kahne and Dale Jarrett - who are all on the outside looking in on the playoff — wrecked in New Hampshire. The 30th-place finish left Wallace 310 points out of 10th place, the cutoff for the championship playoff.
Wallace, a former series champion, says recent rules changes combined with manic racing make this the most volatile season in NASCAR history.
“I’ve been around this sport a long time and I can tell you it’s the most aggressive atmosphere that I’ve ever seen out there,” he said. “It’s an explosive situation and it will only get worse before it gets any better.”
Wallace says the new points system has made the racing too frenetic, and that drivers are putting track position ahead of sportsmanship, safety and clean racing.
“With the new points deal, you’ve got nine or 10 guys doing everything they can to get back into the top 10 in points, and you have four or five guys doing all they can to stay up there in the top 10,” he said. “There’s so much pressure on these guys and these teams that there’s a lot of stupid stuff going on. When you consider that NASCAR has added this new green-white-checkered rule, it’s definitely a recipe for disaster, if you ask me.”
Veteran Terry Labonte, fresh off the 800th start of his career last week, had a few choice words on the green-white-checkered rule, as well.
“All that does is give the guy that’s running second the opportunity to wreck the guy leading,” he said. “Nothing good is going to come out of it. Nobody wants to see these races end under caution, but you don’t need to add laps to the race.
“True race fans don’t like it. The people who come to watch the wrecks love it.”
Veterans like Wallace and Labonte aren’t shy when it comes to criticizing NASCAR. But even some of the younger drivers see the writing on the wall.
Kahne, who’s 14th in the standings and 162 points out of the top 10, was the person Wallace pointed to in the crash last weekend. He, too, acknowledged that the pressure over the next few weeks is especially intense.
“As we come down to the final 10 (races), every lap of every race counts. We’re starting to fee a lot of pressure,” Kahne said. “I hope other drivers don’t get overly aggressive as we get close to the cutoff for the championship. Guys have been driving pretty hard all year, but if people start taking out other cars in purpose so they - or a teammate - can move up in the points, that will be a bad thing.
“Everybody wants to compete for the title in those last 10 races, but everyone’s still got to play fair.”
That’s easier said than done, given the competitive nature of racers.
Kurt Busch, currently sixth in points, is just 50 ahead of 10th-place Ryan Newman and 150 ahead of 11th-place Jeremy Mayfield. He conceded that the pressure this season is mounting as the season runs its course.
“I think I’ve seen two different types of racing. Early on in the season, guys would have a bad day. We got dumped in Talladega and it was like no big deal it was kind of ho-hum,” he said. “But right now we’re in sixth and we don’t have that much of a cushion. So if we were to have a bad day right now, it wouldn’t feel the same.”
.Looking ahead, Wallace believes the next stretch of races before the final 10 could become virtual demolition derbies.
“I think we’re going to see some of the most weird, ridiculous and controversial situations ever in the next seven races,” he said. “I’m against the green-white-checkered finishes I’ve told NASCAR officials that and I don’t mind being vocal about it.”
Some would dismiss Wallace’s comments as sour grapes —- drivers currently in the top 10 haven’t complained about the new playoff too much. But if the next seven races are full of crashes, controversial finishes or worse, Wallace will be a prophet.
:lol:
