What's aggressive driving?

[buckaroo]

Seems that ever since Dale Earnhardt died, more and more people have been complaining about overly aggressive driving. But before he died, it seemed that only those who didn't care for the old man would chime in and say that he was overly aggressive, but most other drivers were given a pass...and those DE fans always defended his actions. But these days, it doesn't matter who it is, if a driver, with his aggressive driving style, spins another, he really gets the press and fans are on him. I know there are those of us who've been around the racing circuit for a while that will recognize racing at it's best and understand that this is the sort of thing that happens even to the best of drivers. But we seem to be fewer and fewer as the "let's set these guys out a week, let them think about it, and say...maybe I over reacted" bunch of fans become more and more prevalent. So for my knowledge, what's considered aggressive driving these days? Who is the most aggressive driver in the sport today and can a driver be too aggressive? I believe that aggressive is the name of the game here if one is going to win. However, that isn't to say that being aggressive is wreckless. That is a no-no and it's something that the drivers all recognize. While Tony Stewart might well seem to be a bit overboard at Daytona and got plenty of press from everyone, other than a couple of the drivers, what he did was more or less something that they all do from time to time. But if he did indeed go over the line, he would have heard from most, if not all the drivers as has many drivers in the past, most notibly Ernie Irvan.

Okay, so the question here is...do you think that aggressive driving, even overly aggressive driving is wreckless?

 

[BobbyFord]

Simply? No.

 

[kat2220]

Depends on who has the microphone shoved in their face.

 

[Patrick9999]

Stewart at Daytona wasn't "overly aggressive" driving, it was a total disregard for 42 others and the actions of an egomaniac. Busch was impatient and had a faster car.

Personally, I don't see any similarity between the two incidents.

 

[Professur]

Earnhardt was agressive ... but more safely so. When he'd draw an O on your door, or give you a love tap from behind, it was usually square on. Today, it tends to be more clipping corners or tapping the rear in a turn.

 

[Betsy]

I think if "blocking" is allowed agressive driving should be allowed to the car being blocked.. How many times have I seen a slower car win a race because of blocking the faster car behind..
Betsy

 

[bumpzter]

Earnhardt was agressive ... but more safely so. When he'd draw an O on your door, or give you a love tap from behind, it was usually square on. Today, it tends to be more clipping corners or tapping the rear in a turn.

We must have watched different races.

 

[de7xwcc]

aggressive and stupid are 2 totally dif. things, i love aggerssive driving the stuff that TS did a daytona was stupid, the stuff the 48 did most of last year was stupid. the stuff Biffle does is aggressive for the most part IMHO

 

[majestyx]

aggressive and stupid are 2 totally dif. things, i love aggerssive driving the stuff that TS did a daytona was stupid, the stuff the 48 did most of last year was stupid. the stuff Biffle does is aggressive for the most part IMHO

 

[Whizzer]

Earnhardt was agressive ... but more safely so. When he'd draw an O on your door, or give you a love tap from behind, it was usually square on. Today, it tends to be more clipping corners or tapping the rear in a turn.

Maybe in your small world Earnhardt was "safely" aggressive. Not sure what that means or even how to begin to interpret that comment. Earnhardt knocked others out of his way for no reason. Ask Harry Gant.
What Tony Stewart did at Daytona was not aggressive driving but an angry response and "don't fork with me" shove, warranted or unwarranted. It was poor sportmanship and totally out of character for a driver of his ability.

Jimmy Johnson is a comparable to Ernie Irvan possibly more than anyone else. Ernie and Jimmy were both impatient and caused wrecks on superspeedways. Ernie Irvan, like Jimmy Johnson, needed thier peers to send a solid message BUT once they got things squared away (let's hope Johnson has things squared away) Irvan became one helluva chauffer on superspeedways and every other kind of track. Ernie was on the way to becoming "the man" until fate stepped in. I think the Kyle Petty crash took a lot of the "aggressive" from Ernie.
But what is "aggressive" driving. Mostly impatience. Not anger or inexperience "rookie" type mistakes for lack of not knowing better but impatience. meaning they know better but are so impatient they follow through anyway. No dog hangs his head lower than the one who did the bonehead move or permitted the tagline of "Aggressive driving" to be applied. Of course, if it is successful and no one crashes, it is brilliant driving. Jeff Gordon's pass on the apron at Daytona was aggressive driving.

 

[kat2220]

Miriam Webster defines aggressive as follows.....


Main Entry: ag·gres·sive
Pronunciation: &-'gre-siv
Function: adjective
1 a : tending toward or exhibiting aggression <aggressive behavior> b : marked by combative readiness <an aggressive fighter>
2 a : marked by obtrusive energy b : marked by driving forceful energy or initiative :

I honestly think that there isn't a driver out there that has NOT displayed aggression in some form, no matter who, what, when, where or why.

These are HUMAN BEINGS for goodness sake! Have YOU never shown aggression in your entire life?

Maybe they are just passionate about what they do, sometime over-react, and have a WIN attitude!

 

[buckaroo]

Whiz, love your response. One thing we all forget about from time to time is that these guys have emotions and some are able to control it better than others. If we take out emotions, we may as well forget about racing, but it's the emotions that can sure put a crimp on the sport. Patience is something that some people have to learn while for some others, it comes naturally. Then there is instinct, something like what Earnhardt always felt he had at the plate tracks where he said that he could see the draft. He might have been right and it appears that his son might also have that gift. I think that a champion driver will have many traits, but instinct is probably something that aside from being lucky is always necessary.