Lee Montgomery: Passionate drivers make NASCAR special
Braun Racing's Brian Vickers (left) spins out after getting hit from behind by Michael Waltrip Racing's Scott Speed during the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. // Jeff Velte, NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
What do we make of the dust-up between Brian Vickers and Scott Speed during and after the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway?
We love it. Well, I love it. The folks at Red Bull Racing may not be too thrilled, but oh, well.
Vickers and Speed, you know, are teammates at Red Bull – at least in the Sprint Cup Series. In Nationwide, Vickers drives for Braun Racing and Speed for Michael Waltrip Racing.
But from the looks of things, it wouldn’t have mattered if they had been brothers.
Speed got in the back of Vickers in the closing laps at NHMS, costing Vickers many positions as he slid up and spanked the wall. Vickers retaliated, sort of, by hitting the back of Speed’s Red Bull-sponsored car.
Now, I’m not a big fan of any driver hitting a car on or near pit road after a race, but I appreciate Vickers’ passion. And Speed’s too, for that matter.
And let’s not overlook that passion. Fans always bemoan drivers as corporate puppets, saying they don’t show enough emotion, that they don’t say or do anything their sponsors and NASCAR commands.
I’ve always thought that was ridiculous. Drivers do and say pretty much whatever they want, within reason. Put yourself in their shoes and see if you don’t act a little different.
Still, we’ve seen lots of emotion this year, and fans don’t like it. Kyle Busch tries to be a rock star – and fans hate it. That’s fine, but he was just showing some emotion, folks.
And for all of Busch’s sulking after he loses, I can appreciate why. He’s passionate. He hates to lose.
Isn’t that what Tony Stewart fans said of their driver back when Stewart was often nothing more than a whining bully? Yet, when Busch does the same, he gets blasted by fans.
And now teammates get into it. In a Nationwide race. And they weren’t even racing for the lead.
Folks, let us never forget that drivers are full of emotion, full of passion. Sometimes they don’t handle it well, and sometimes they do.
But if you think they are soulless robots, think again.
