DW on the "bump and run"

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The quotes below were taken from Darrell Waltrip's Sept. 8 appearance on SPEED Channel's Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain. Waltrip discussed the recent post-race temper tantrums and the effect they are having on the sport, as well as the difference between "rubbin's racin" and a cheap shot.

DW: "I love rubbin' - rubbin's racin. You drive down under me in third turn coming to get the checkers and we come out of turn four side by side like Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch did and we're racin' for the line, that's a beautiful thing. You run down in the corner behind me and give me a cheap shot and send me up the hill and you go on to win the race, I'm gonna be after you."

DW: "I think it's out of control - I think it's out of hand. I think what happens is we become desensitized to it. I think the fans do - the competitors certainly don't - but we see it week in and week out and we start to expect it. I expected (Johnny) Sauter to bump (Matt) Kenseth out of the way. That's what I expected and that's what the whole joint was waiting for ... I think what NASCAR has to do is to say 'Look, if you wreck a guy or you bump a guy out of the way, you go to the rear of the field. And if it's on the last lap and you wreck the guy, you finish one spot behind wherever he does. They've got to take action and quit penalizing the victim and start looking at the guy that created the havoc in the first place. And I don't care who it is - if you go down into the corner and you root a guy out of the way to win the race, that's not racing. Racing is an art."

DW: "The (bump and run) should not be allowed and you've got to stop it because if you don't it becomes part of every weekend. Every weekend we're going to have fighting in the pits. It starts at the top. NASCAR has to come up with a deal where a driver will not do that. What's probation? I was on probation for 30 years. And these cats make three, four, five million dollars a year, what's $35,000 to them? The most logical thing to do is that if you bump a guy and he spins and hits the fence, you finish behind him. You've got to have some penalty that will get these guys' attention - young and old."

DW: "My excuse book was pretty thick. I could think of a lot of reasons why I did what I had to do or why I didn't win a race - my mirror fell off, my foot was burnin'. There are always excuses for why you do what you do. The bottom is that if you are guilty week in and week out or guilty occasionally, you've got to pay the price. You just can't let it keep going like it is or it will ruin racing ... Discipline is part of it, and you know me, I'm an emotional guy. I love racing. I'm passionate. I care. But I also don't want to see our sport mistreated. Our sport is being damaged by what is taking place
 
Our sport is being damaged by what is taking place

Uhhhhh DW? If your sport is being damaged by it as you say, I'm afraid it happened years and years ago and was instigated by drivers such as yourself and any number of other (ahem) living and non-living legends.

The 800 Pound Gorilla has thrived on bumpers, fenders, and fights for nigh on to 60 years now. The pendilum swings from side to side, and what goes around comes around.

On-Track prior to the checkers is On-Track prior to the checkers. If NASCAR decides to police pit road and the garage area AFTER the checkers I'm all for it. But leave the racing and the racers alone to settle up among themselves as they always have out there on the track.

Installing a rough driving penalty at the Cup level would do more harm than good in my opinion. Big Bill could have given lessons to Vince McMahon. Race Control already has a huge a hand in who wins and who loses. Any rough driving rule would not and could not be evenly applied, but it sure could ruin any driver Race Control deemed not worthy.

Let em race.
 
Originally posted by 71Fan@Sep 10 2003, 06:32 AM


On-Track prior to the checkers is On-Track prior to the checkers. If NASCAR decides to police pit road and the garage area AFTER the checkers I'm all for it. But leave the racing and the racers alone to settle up among themselves as they always have out there on the track.

Let em race.
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My thoughts, too, 71fan.
 
Geez,

For as far back as I can remember, and at any of the tracks we ever ran, if you spin someone out, push them out of the way to gain position, or intentionaly bang on their back bumper too hard and too often, you're going to get blackflagged and either sent to the back of the field, held in the pits for a couple of laps, or if you continue to use those dirty tactics, you'd be politely invited to take your toys and go home.
Do not win the race, do not collect any monies or points, and do not come back until you learn how to drive a race car without being a hazard to everyone else on the track including yourself and possibly the fans in the stands.
If you cause a caution, you restart at the end of the field. Not the longest line, the end of the field.

Good, hard side by side racing is one thing, but the bump and run is not good hard side by side racing. It is now, and always has been, dirty driving. When I was involved, most short tracks here in the Northeast would not tolerate that type of action.

At one time, NASCAR did use the blackflag, even in the Winston Cup series, things got so out of hand that they instituted a "penalty box" for just that type of action; but the fans loved (and still do) the dirtiest driver who ever graced a race track(he, Geoff Bodine and Darrell are three names that come to mind as fairly frequent visitors to the box) and what at one time was not accepted has become the standard; a driver isn't considered to be any good unless he uses that type of tactic to win.

It was and still is dirty driving; the fans love it, and it will continue until someone is killed by it. Then those same fans who think it's so great will be all over NASCAR for allowing the drivers to employ that type of thing for so long without taking any action.

Oh well, the circus is in my neck of the woods this weekend and I think I'll just hang around the house; the kids have the BGNN car back together and down at the track this morning. Let them have all the fun this weekend.
Hope they have better luck this time than they had in July.
 
Originally posted by 71Fan@Sep 10 2003, 06:32 AM
Our sport is being damaged by what is taking place

Uhhhhh DW? If your sport is being damaged by it as you say, I'm afraid it happened years and years ago and was instigated by drivers such as yourself and any number of other (ahem) living and non-living legends.

The 800 Pound Gorilla has thrived on bumpers, fenders, and fights for nigh on to 60 years now. The pendilum swings from side to side, and what goes around comes around.

On-Track prior to the checkers is On-Track prior to the checkers. If NASCAR decides to police pit road and the garage area AFTER the checkers I'm all for it. But leave the racing and the racers alone to settle up among themselves as they always have out there on the track.

Installing a rough driving penalty at the Cup level would do more harm than good in my opinion. Big Bill could have given lessons to Vince McMahon. Race Control already has a huge a hand in who wins and who loses. Any rough driving rule would not and could not be evenly applied, but it sure could ruin any driver Race Control deemed not worthy.

Let em race.
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You got that right 71
 
The big problem come in the interpretation. What is rubbing and what is rough driving.?

Is "blocking" a legit move? What do ya do if you're faster and the guy ahead has ya blocked time after time? Just follow until he makes a mistake or maybe ya get just a little edge? What happens if ya get that little edge and get the nose alongside and he then pinches ya til you have no room left?

There is rough driving which is not necessary. And those who engage in it are deserving of a visit to the penalty box. (It still exists but sees virtually no use of late). And yes, many of the top drivers of the past have done their time in it. A typical visit by the way is around 5 laps.

Fans of drivers would likely never feel that feel that their deserved time in the box. Non fans of certain of drivers will likely feel that driver gets away with never or rarely doing time. That is just the way it will be.

The drivers themselves will not take it much better.

If a driver employs the bump and run, the brush, the rattle, or any of those before he gives the other guy a legit amount of time to make way, it is rough driving. On the other hand if the faster car has been blocked, pinched, squeezed, or cut-off longer than was necessary to determine who was faster, move him.

Tough calls..............but this is a tough game and NASCAR has chosen to play. They gotta make the calls and live with 'em.
 
DW of all people to talk about damaging the sport.

He did more than his fair share of knock some one out

Then the last few years he rode around collecting a pay check when he was scared to push the petal!

If the car was perfect he would drive it but a little off & his balls were in his throat! & he chocked
 
DW & Harvick...two peas from the same pod. It's ok if I do it to you, but you better not do it to me or I'm going after you.
 
Speaking of death at the track....

Local Las Vegas Late Model driver Rick Attisani has come out of the coma he was in. No other news at the moment.
............................

When all the Bobby Hamilton gets is a 10 G fine for walling Gaughan AFTER the checkers, do ya really think NASCAR would use the in race penalty box?
 
Good, hard side by side racing is one thing, but the bump and run is not good hard side by side racing.
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I couldn't agree more. I hate to see the bump and run, thats not racing, to me its cheeting.
 
So would it be safe to assume that what yer saying is that two of the most popular champions ever are/were cheaters?

Oh shucks, make it three. Wouldn't want to leave out the Boogity Man who has been known to drop down to the CTS and go nuts bumping slower trucks out of the way.
 
Boobie Hamilton, should be sent to the house that was totaly uncalled for, and his interview after....

what an arrogant SOB.
just 1 more reason i can't stand him
 
Originally posted by 71Fan@Sep 11 2003, 11:40 AM
So would it be safe to assume that what yer saying is that two of the most popular champions ever are/were cheaters?

Oh shucks, make it three. Wouldn't want to leave out the Boogity Man who has been known to drop down to the CTS and go nuts bumping slower trucks out of the way.
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Yep, that's what I'm saying. Did it happen all of the time, no. When it did happen, they were'nt racing, they were wrecking someone and going on about ther business. Remember when Earnhart ran over Terry Labonte at Bristol? Remember victory lane with all of the boo's and that uneasy smile that Dale put on, he knew what he did was wrong. He knew that that wasn't a racing win, he knew he cheated.

You can take a POS car and a POS driver and win every race with the bump and run. Is than they way you like to see a race won, every week? I perfer good hard racing, and if you can't pass em then second is all you got.
 
Vern, so in other words what you are saying is that "BLOCKING" is okay. My example is this - Jeff Gordon bumped Rusty Wallace out of the way for the win at Bristol. Rusty was "blocking" and had a slower car than Jeff did. Jeff nudged him in the bumper and drove by him. Now, Rusty will NEVER admit that he was "blocking" nor that his car was slower, but I have heard quite a few drivers in defense of Jeff Gordon for his bump and run. And, one of those was Rusty's own brother.
 
Originally posted by majestyx@Sep 11 2003, 03:11 PM
Vern, so in other words what you are saying is that "BLOCKING" is okay. My example is this - Jeff Gordon bumped Rusty Wallace out of the way for the win at Bristol. Rusty was "blocking" and had a slower car than Jeff did. Jeff nudged him in the bumper and drove by him. Now, Rusty will NEVER admit that he was "blocking" nor that his car was slower, but I have heard quite a few drivers in defense of Jeff Gordon for his bump and run. And, one of those was Rusty's own brother.
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I never said or implied anything about blocking. Sence you bring it up, holding one's line is not blocking. Going from one side of the track to another is.

In your example, Gordo could'nt pass Rusty, so he hit him. It's as simple as that. It seems like the answer today if you can't make the pass, hit em. Not good racing to me.
 
I think alot of the "bump and run" comes from NASCAR making every car the same. The drivers don't have an edge with say power, arow, exc. We see the drivers that understand the cars envelops up front, but when two drivers can make the car do the same thing, one will "block" and one will bump
 
Originally posted by HardScrabble@Sep 10 2003, 03:52 PM
The big problem come in the interpretation. What is rubbing and what is rough driving.?

Is "blocking" a legit move? What do ya do if you're faster and the guy ahead has ya blocked time after time? Just follow until he makes a mistake or maybe ya get just a little edge? What happens if ya get that little edge and get the nose alongside and he then pinches ya til you have no room left?

There is rough driving which is not necessary. And those who engage in it are deserving of a visit to the penalty box. (It still exists but sees virtually no use of late). And yes, many of the top drivers of the past have done their time in it. A typical visit by the way is around 5 laps.

Fans of drivers would likely never feel that feel that their deserved time in the box. Non fans of certain of drivers will likely feel that driver gets away with never or rarely doing time. That is just the way it will be.

The drivers themselves will not take it much better.

If a driver employs the bump and run, the brush, the rattle, or any of those before he gives the other guy a legit amount of time to make way, it is rough driving. On the other hand if the faster car has been blocked, pinched, squeezed, or cut-off longer than was necessary to determine who was faster, move him.

Tough calls..............but this is a tough game and NASCAR has chosen to play. They gotta make the calls and live with 'em.
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As NASCAR makes the calls and must live with them, so must the fans.

There are many incidents to call up from memory to emphasize the point, but some of the older drivers, and the name Curtis Turner comes to mind immediately, would not hesitate to knock someone out of the way even if they had the slower car, in order to take the win as that was the only thing that mattered.

Today, the equality of the cars, the pressure placed on teams to produce a win by the sponsors and team owners, leave little on the table when it becomes crunch time, the last five laps of playing follow the leader with a slower car in the lead.

What is right and what is wrong has newbie and older (decrepit comes to mind thanks to Kurt Busch) fans in a tizzy.

Dale Jarrett refused to beat and bang another car out of the way at Martinsville a few years ago and was declared a "gentleman".

Junior refused to knock someone out of the way to take a win at the Winston two years ago when the opportunity presented itself, and a large number of fans said he wasn't a racer and called him a wimp while others said, "he wasn't like his old man".

Jeff Gordon bumped Rusty, got the win, and to some was an s.o.b. while Rusty said he would have done the same thing and figures he owes Jeff one. Rightly so.
The answer of what and when a bump and run is okay ??? In most cases it depends on whether your favorite driver is the bumper or the bump-ee, or as someone else stated, opinions may vary. Vern Denarest makes valid points and so do some others who look at the situation in an unbiased manner.

NASCAR is overlooking these calls as the non-decisions stir up controversey, thus the recent absence of the penalty box, which in turn sells tickets and additional interest expanding the market. As one poster mentioned a while ago, sorta like the WWF. But more civilized. Or is it ??? Ah !!! Ya gotta love America and capitialism. :cheers:
 
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