Hmiel fined and docked points

J

JarrettFan

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NASCAR on Wednesday fined Shane Hmiel, driver of the No. 32 Chevrolet in the Busch Series, $10,000 for what the sanctioning body termed "an inappropriate gesture" at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Furthermore, Hmiel has been docked 25 driver points and will be on probation until Aug. 31. He'll not have to watch what he says so much as how he signals his innermost feelings


I found this tucked away on 'That Racin' website. I thought NASCAR was just going to sweep this under the rug since most of the media wasn't making a big deal of it. Guess not!

Lee
 
I think he was fined because it was so blatant -- most hand gestures are out the window at speed and most can't be clearly seen.

I guess NASCAR wanted to make it clear about fudging the rules --- i.e. those fines for unapproved lugnuts.

I think this micro-managing may come back to bite NASCAR in the butt.
 
This was a well deserved slap, IMO. I saw it and wanted to slap him silly. Reign it in kid, and show dang respect or you wil never earn it from fellow drivers.
 
It was rediculous. Before long, drivers will refuse to have an in-car camera.

I guess its ok to make a verbal threat to kill another driver, al la Kurtsie, but don't give them the finger.
 
from a different standpoint, it is completely okay to approach a driving who is fastened into his car with no place to go and yell at him, but not okay to flip someone the bird, so it isn't really the anger that is the issue, its the method of displaying the anger. Hey, in my opinion, if Shane Hmiel is immature for flipping the bird, then Dale Jarrett is immature for walking over and getting in his face. I don't really care about bird flipping or cussing, if someone pisses you off, you cuss him, if someone pisses you off, flip him the bird, but do so when you've both had a chance to cool off. DJ, in my opinion just needed to cool his jets, I don't think Shane would have given him the bird if he hadn't come and gotten in his face like pissed off little kid. This is all pretty stupid anyway.
 
There is no FCC rule against what Dale Jarrett did.

There is a FCC rule against what Shane Hmiel did.

NASCAR will continue to fine and penalize profanity that hits TV or radio.
 
Hell has froze over...I agree with esorlxaw. I have been thinking about the same thing....why hasn't anything been said about Jarrett walking out on the track and approaching a driver who is still strapped in? I'm sure the NASCAR official probably asked him not to walk out there....
 
What did you think he was going to do? Its as if you guys felt that he was going to go over and pummel Shame. What is the difference if all his intention was to ask where he did he think he was going if they were three wide ahead of Jarrett. A Nextel Cup Veteran and a former Champion should have the right to go up to a driver that punted him and ask what the hell he was thinking. Who ever said that Shame was immature for flipping off DJ????? I really do not care if Shame flips whoever he feels like flipping off. The fact remains Shame waited till DJ turned around to flip him off. Takes a big man to do that. Shame should take a page out of Bobby Juniors book the next time (which there will be) he takes out another driver.
 
Once again, the point isn't that DJ asked him what the hell he was thinking, the point is that Dale approached the car immediately after the wreck to confront Shane, was Dale going to pummel Shane, probably not, but I'm sure there would have been plenty of time for them both to calm the hell down before they talked about it. I will stand by my point that Shane would not have flipped him off, nor made his comment about Dale after the race had Dale approached him in an appropriate manner and not threatened to take him out at a later time. I honestly think Shane did the smart thing by waiting for Dale to turn away. Look at it this way, the race was red flagged, had he flipped Dale off to his face, then he was a sitting duck, a driver, strapped in his car with all of his restraints on is a pretty easy target for a guy outside of the car, there is no route of escape.
Besides, I don't really think Dale wanted to know what Shane's problem was, I think he just wanted to scream at him, Dale didn't exactly look like he was listening, by the way, so I don't think he really could have explained anything. He wasn't given the change to be apologetic like Hamilton Jr. was, he was confronted immediately by an angry driver with a bone to pick. he could have gotten out of his car, but he kept a cool head. I would have given him the finger too.
 
Perhaps we need of a list of who can be punted, put in the wall, flipped off and basically told to FO cross referenced with drivers considered to be veterans, semi-veterans, racing on name only, racing with a name but can actually drive, most popular with southern fans, most popular with northern fans, prettiest colored car, which team owner is most hated....whatever.

A veteran driver like Jarret should show more restraint and lead by example.
 
Patrick9999 said:
Perhaps we need of a list of who can be punted, put in the wall, flipped off and basically told to FO cross referenced with drivers considered to be veterans, semi-veterans, racing on name only, racing with a name but can actually drive, most popular with southern fans, most popular with northern fans, prettiest colored car, which team owner is most hated....whatever.
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For sure. :) Also who has a sponsor with an official NASCAR product status.

I wouldn't want a camera in my car. No privacy. What if you scratched yourself? What would NASCAR's fine be for that? And would the size of the fine depend on the size..................never mind. :p
 
Good link about this whole issue.

Hey I agree that the whole fine and point deduction fiasco has gotten out of hand. I along with many of you dig a fued between drivers as long as nobody gets hurt. Nascar opened this all up with having to equally punish drivers for actions that do not seem quite equal.
 
N2racin88 said:
Good link about this whole issue.

Hey I agree that the whole fine and point deduction fiasco has gotten out of hand. I along with many of you dig a fued between drivers as long as nobody gets hurt. Nascar opened this all up with having to equally punish drivers for actions that do not seem quite equal.
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I couldn't agree more.
 
IMHO, I think that the fines were a direct result of not just the actions taken at that time during the race, but what the attitude of Shane's was after the race during an interview. If Shane hadn't been so immature at that interview and said that it could have been his fault or that it was just a racing deal, I do believe that NASCAR would have just told the boy to watch what he does, even in the car. I just believe that it was the whole picture that prompted NASCAR to take action.
 
immature like going over to driver immediately after the accident, so enraged that you would walk a quarter mile and scream in his face? That kind of immature? Or the immaturity that is a reaction to such?
 
esorlxaw said:
not threatened to take him out at a later time.
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Just an honest question, is there a recording of WHAT Dale Jarrett said to Shane Hmiel when he stormed over to his car? If not, how do you know that is what DJ said to Shane? :confused:
 
The teams get a copy of the in-car tape. It could have the conversation on it. So far, it has not been made public. And the only thing DJ will say, is that what was said was between him and Shane.

The only thing that bothered me in this whole mess, is the disrespectful words about DJ's career being about over. That was not needed.
 
I'm just going on the fact that Shane was responding to Dale's "getting him back". I'm sure they weren't exchanging brownie recipes or making golf plans.

I agree what Hmiel said was not in good taste, but it was merely in response to been chewed out by Dale instead of discussing it calmly. I'll say it again, had Dale gone back to the motorhome, cooled off and then talked about it with Shane either after the race, or later in the week, I'm sure there would be no disrespect, no cussing, birdflipping or threats. But, Dale made the decision to do the immature thing and when something like that happens, it just breeds more immaturity.
 
Flipoff.jpg
[/IMG]

Look at you own risk
 
Hunter said no action would be taken against Jarrett, despite the fact Jarrett walked to Hmiel's car even though a NASCAR official tried to dissuade him from doing so.

"Even though he was upset, Dale was conducting himself as a professional," Hunter said. "He wanted to have a few words with Shane, and as long as he was conducting himself as a professional we felt that was OK."

Hunter said that does not mean NASCAR would approve of all on-track confrontations.

"It depends on each circumstance," he said. "If a guy is going nuts and not being a professional, then I think we would have had a different reaction to it. I am not going to say it's OK in every instance. In this particular instance, it was clear to us that even though he was upset, Jarrett was conducting himself as a professional.
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From USA Today:


Q: Why did NASCAR dock points from driver Shane Hmiel for an obscene gesture in Monday's Busch Series race but not punish Dale Jarrett for walking over to Hmiel's car in the first place?

A: Fair or not, NASCAR officials often take a driver's reputation into consideration when determining a penalty. And while Jarrett is respected as a clean, cerebral racer, Hmiel is only one year removed from a suspension for violating NASCAR's drug policy.

NASCAR vice president Jim Hunter called Hmiel's gesture toward Jarrett, which was shown on television, plus his postrace interview, in which he seemed to imply that Jarrett, 48, wouldn't be in the sport much longer, "very unprofessional."

Meanwhile, Hunter said Jarrett "was in full control of his emotions" when he walked over to Hmiel's car to discuss the crash that put Jarrett out of the race.

Hmiel was suspended in September 2003 and reinstated in February 2004, and Hunter says officials have randomly tested him "14 or 15 times" since then; they've even collected hair samples. The NASCAR drug policy allows officials to test a driver if there is a "reasonable suspicion" he is using drugs. Once he has been suspended, he can be tested at random.
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i agree with esorlxaw, i dont care for either driver too much but id have to say that dale didnt have to go up to shanes car. if i was shane i would have done something, and it pry would have been showin the bird.
 
Behind his back. Oooooooo tough guy! You could never say what you would have done becuase you are just about any of us will never be put into that situation. Take any sport, basketball, baseball, hockey, football. and jawing will always go on between players. Oh I know, they must all be immature. :rolleyes:
 
N2racin88 said:
Behind his back. Oooooooo tough guy! You could never say what you would have done becuase you are just about any of us will never be put into that situation. Take any sport, basketball, baseball, hockey, football. and jawing will always go on between players. Oh I know, they must all be immature. :rolleyes:
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Could you imagine if no one got up set in a football game!!!! :eek:
 
I know. They should all wait until after the game and talk to each other civilized. :growl:
 
majestyx said:
WHAT Dale Jarrett said to Shane Hmiel when he stormed over to his car? :confused:
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Hmmm, I gotta say that what I saw was no storming towards Hmiel's car. In fact, Dale walked calmly to the car.

axl, you have a point there, but I don't think that what Dale did was immature. On the contrary, it was more like what a father would do to his son when he did something terribly wrong.

Now we the public don't know what Dale said or what Shane said during their tet-de-tete, but one thing is for sure, Shane showed the public that he is still a child in a grownup game. He really reminded me of a 10 year old in that interview.
 
well if you treat someone like a child, then I guess they should act like one.
 
buckaroo said:
Hmmm, I gotta say that what I saw was no storming towards Hmiel's car. In fact, Dale walked calmly to the car.
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I didn't see the race. I was just going by what had been said earlier. Sorry. ;)
 
Maybe he was calmly collecting his thoughts. I know a good walk cools me down 99% of the time :)
 
DJ wouldn't have had to confront Hmiel if Hmiel hadn't taken him out in a bonehead move.

It was said that Shane bumped the previous three cars out of the way in order to pass them. What kinda racing is that? It was only a matter of time before he took somebody out.

Hmiel is acting like K Busch did a couple years back with Jimmy Spencer. Kurt grew up. Shane is showing no signs so far and he has a spoted past working against. DJ might still have more time left in NASCAR than Hmiel. Wouldn't that be funny?
 
It was said that Shane bumped the previous three cars out of the way in order to pass them. What kinda racing is that? It was only a matter of time before he took somebody out.
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Sounds like an Intimidator wannabee...
Shane was not punished for his driving. Sauter and Truex Jr. were. So one could surmise that NASCAR saw nothing wrong with his driving acumen.
It was the flip off. And, no driver, I don't care who they are or the rep they have has any business going up to a car after a wreck to speak their piece. It never leads to good. Besides, sometimes they are wrong in what happened. NASCAR should have prevented DJ from making the trip. Physically if they had to. They are there to keep order and enforce the rules not to decide who can do what and who can't.
 
yeah, what happened to going straight to the infield care center?
 
buckaroo said:
Hmmm, I gotta say that what I saw was no storming towards Hmiel's car. In fact, Dale walked calmly to the car.

axl, you have a point there, but I don't think that what Dale did was immature. On the contrary, it was more like what a father would do to his son when he did something terribly wrong.

Now we the public don't know what Dale said or what Shane said during their tet-de-tete, but one thing is for sure, Shane showed the public that he is still a child in a grownup game. He really reminded me of a 10 year old in that interview.
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That's what I saw too Buckster.
Should be an interesting race sunday.
 
"I'm not worried about it, I'm really not," Rusty Wallace said. "The finger was one thing, but the whole incident leading up to it and what went on throughout the day is what got Mike Helton just really tired of it, you know.

"All the crashing and all the past history and all the wrecking just finally got people upset. I though Hmiel roughed up Jarrett, personally. It was really disrespectful, I think. And I think if he hadn't have done all that stuff he might have gotten away with the finger."
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ok N2racin88, say you are for some reason straped into a chair as tight as possible so you cant move, then someone bigger then you comes up and yells in your face. would you get mad and flip him off while he was yelling and still in your face just waiting for a good reason to punch you, or would you wait and do it after he left
 
And post the rest of that article.....especially Jeff Burton's comments about what he thinks of the situation...
 
emon66 said:
ok N2racin88, say you are for some reason straped into a chair as tight as possible so you cant move, then someone bigger then you comes up and yells in your face. would you get mad and flip him off while he was yelling and still in your face just waiting for a good reason to punch you, or would you wait and do it after he left
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my point exactly man, exactly.
 
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