Furniture Row Racing's Regan Smith can't shake Talladega finish from memory
By SceneDaily Staff
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Former Dale Earnhardt Inc. driver Regan Smith (01) moves below the yellow line during last fall's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Jeff Robinson
NASCAR Scene
Regan Smith remains haunted by memories of his last lap at Talladega Superspeedway last fall, when he surged past Tony Stewart and crossed the finish line first, only to see NASCAR strip him of his apparent maiden Sprint Cup victory for passing below the yellow line.
As Smith, who was driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the time, prepares to return to the track this weekend in Furniture Row Racing’s entry, he admits that he still thinks about that race.
"It's hard not to think about that last lap," said Smith, who finished 18th in that race because of the penalty for driving out of bounds. "I was being blocked, and it was either passing Stewart or crashing the field. I felt I made the proper move and won the race."
This weekend, he returns to the track for the first time since that incident. He joined Furniture Row Racing this season and is running a limited schedule.
Smith, 25, has made all four races he has attempted with the team and has a top finish of 19th this season. As a part-time effort, his team is outside the top 35 in owner points, so he must qualify for the race. In his third season of Cup competition, Smith has 45 starts and the distinction of having completed every race he has started.
Smith, the 2008 Cup Raybestos Rookie of the Year, says that his team is gaining ground this season and that he is looking forward to returning to Talladega for this weekend's Aaron's 499.
"Talladega brings out all of the emotions," Smith said. "I've always liked racing there - it's 500 miles of excitement and mind games - an incredible rush."
Smith is optimistic he can be in the mix this weekend.
"Furniture Row has a history of operating a strong superspeedway program," he said. "The team sat on the pole at last year's Talladega race. We also had a solid performance in this year's Daytona 500 [where Smith finished 21st]. So, right now I am feeling upbeat about this weekend. But first things first - we're still a go-or-go-home team and need to qualify."
For this weekend's race, Furniture Row is donating space on the car to National Day of Prayer, an annual observance established by Congress and held on the first Thursday in May.
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20 responses to "Furniture Row Racing's Regan Smith can't shake Talladega finish from memory". Post a Comment.
Dale said:
Apr 23, 2009 at 4:04 PMEnough from the crybaby already. You cheated, you lost. Get over it.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportsteve songer said:
Apr 23, 2009 at 4:47 PMWell, after that first astute observation filled with arrogance and a distinct lack of rational thought, why even try to add to it...LOL
Report as Abuse"I was being blocked, and it was either passing Stewart or crashing the field."
Ultimately accurate statement by Smith; good summation. I'm a Burton fan, I got no favoritism on this either way, but logically and without prejudice...Stewart was gonna get passed by somebody with a run on him, Smith got his nose beside Stewart and then TS pulled a 'chicken' move and forced him to either go below the line or cause a wreck. That's it, period. I guess NONCAR would like to see more crashes on RP tracks, because that is quite literally what they asked for with their ruling. Driver safety is paramount according to Helton, France, et. al @ NONCAR, we've heard it again & again, yet rulings like this one at Talladega wholeheartedly conflict with that philosophy. Stewart can always consider himself the 'paper champion' of that race, but Smith actually was the victor. Maybe next time Tony tries to push somebody into his yellow security blanket, we'll just get that wreck NONCAR evidently wanted to see last fall.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportchris renz said:
Apr 23, 2009 at 4:50 PMwhatever, if it was burton you'd be singing a different song. "hey, Jeff did what he had to do given the current rules, so you gotta live with it."
Report as Abuseeveryone is playing the same game, some are better at it than others especially when a win is on the line. you make your move and deal with the consequences. for Smith that move was to go below the yellow line and his consequences were to lose the race.
smith is apparently not the only one who needs to get over it.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportsteve songer said:
Apr 23, 2009 at 5:06 PMNegative on that first comment Mr. Renz, because, unlike other fans and their drivers, we know what CLASS is and how to use intellectually honest thought processes and logic. I would bet anything I own that JB, Martin, Kenseth and a few others would not risk causing a pileup like that to win a race, evidently Stewart has no problem stooping to that level.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportALLEN said:
Apr 23, 2009 at 5:08 PMYou go below the yellow line and advance your position you are penalized. Why is it so hard to understand that rule ? Stewart won and deserved the victory. No paper champion like some have suggested.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportsteve songer said:
Apr 23, 2009 at 5:12 PMNot hard to understand that rule at all Allen, but conversely, why is it so hard for the pro-Stewart folks to realize that he ran him below the line to avoid a pass, for which there is also a rule against???
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» Confirm Abuse ReportSally Jones said:
Apr 23, 2009 at 6:09 PMAs the first recipient of this penalty, I'm pretty sure Tony knows about te rule, even if many others don't.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportDawn Dunn said:
Apr 23, 2009 at 6:49 PMI like Smoke and Regan both very much, but that was one race where I was out of my seat and screaming for Regan to win.......Yet AGAIN, he finished the race and took the car home in one piece, unlike so many other drivers out there. So in my mind, I agree with Steve, Regan was the victor.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportsteve songer said:
Apr 23, 2009 at 7:13 PMThank you Dawn...two voices of reason and sanity have now spoken. :-)
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» Confirm Abuse ReportDale said:
Apr 23, 2009 at 8:00 PMHey Steve, it is clear you can't count either. I see 4 comments dealing with the FACTS of the situation. Guess you are one of those crybabies that can't handle the rules.
Report as AbuseAs has been clearly stated time and time again, the whole yellow line RULE was gone over in the Drivers meeting before the race. Hmm.. maybe Regan was in the crybaby meeting instead of the Drivers meeting. That might explain why he violated the clearly stated rule.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportTimothy Schultze said:
Apr 23, 2009 at 8:06 PMI would also agree with your post Steve. While not really a Regan smith fan i to did set up in my seat and go with the under dog. While some of these post are probably with disdain for DEI as that's who Regan drove for i firmly believe that given the right equipment Regan has the right stuff to WIN races.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportsteve songer said:
Apr 23, 2009 at 9:37 PMNo sir Dale, not crying at all, but if that's the way your twisted perception of things makes you hear it, then you just keep on thinking that and be happy living in your little dream world where you can ignore the rule about forcing someone below the line to avoid a pass, which by the way was also in place last fall. Stewart did it, NONCAR blew the call, and that's it. What's the next chapter of your fairy tale Mother Goose, er, um....Dale???
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» Confirm Abuse ReportKeith Johnson said:
Apr 23, 2009 at 10:02 PMI am a Tony fan but he was wrong as Regan was. First off, the yellow line deal is stupid like most things Na$car does. If it would have been a top driver in Na$car that went below the yellow line there would have been no penalty.
Report as AbuseRegan got the you know what!
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» Confirm Abuse Reportsteve songer said:
Apr 23, 2009 at 10:07 PMThank you Keith, and I agree, penalty for one infraction (Smith's) and NONE for the other (Stewart) is baloney. BOTH or neither would have been the two correct calls NONCAR could have made, which means either Truex or Smith would have been the winner, but not Stewart.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportdenise macdonald said:
Apr 23, 2009 at 11:24 PMStewart won the race because he knew the rules and Smith didn't even listen to the drivers meeting. Smarten up Smith.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportsteve songer said:
Apr 24, 2009 at 7:58 AMOnce again for like the fifth time on this series of comments, Denise is yet another person completely ignores the fact that a rule was ALSO in place that prohibited blocking a driver below the line to avoid a pass, which Stewart clearly did. Denial runs amok!!!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportKyle Newton said:
Apr 24, 2009 at 9:02 AMSteve Im not sure where you stand on this, you are the one who has made the most comments on this. I think if it would have been Dale Jr. who did that he probably would have been given the victory. On your #14 comment you are wrong. Truex was crashed out before the race was over. Paul Menard was right behind Regan Smith and Tony Stewart. I think that Regan should have been credited the win, what NASCAR did to smith is like taking someones well earned Paycheck and spent it on some thing stupid like cigarrettes or something, i agree with you on that. i did not get to see the end of the race, but i watched it on NASCAR.com. Good comment.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportsteve songer said:
Apr 24, 2009 at 9:22 AMThanks for the correction Kyle; I was picturing the wrong DEI car in my head behind Smith. Apologies to all for my flub.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportKyle Newton said:
Apr 24, 2009 at 11:02 AMDont worry about it. I like interacting with everybody on Scenedaily.com, not very many people react to my comments. KahneFan was the first to comment one of mine. I didnt mean anything by it when I said you were wrong I have kind of a thing about correcting people on NASCAR related stuff. I wish I could have actually seen that race live. This 18 year old is a die hard NASCAR fan since fall of 2006. I love watching NASCAR it's awesome. Tony left the #20 car in good hands. I wish i could meet Logano and Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch, and Kasey's 3 team mates. Who do you want to meet Steve?
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» Confirm Abuse Reportsteve songer said:
Apr 24, 2009 at 11:22 AMProbably my boy Jeff Burton, met Ward a few times, but not JB.
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