Today was a great day for RGM, and Robby.  He proved he still has the talent and car control to compete for wins at road courses. 

 

That being said, today left a very sour taste in my mouth for what has become Nascar racing on road courses.  I will be the first to admit I originally started as an open wheel fan, but have been watching Nascar since the early 1990's and even worked in the garage for a period of time.  I have participated in a few non-sanctioned track days and time attack events, but that is the extent of my racing background.  To me though, the way that the majority of drivers raced today was pathetic.  Moving people out of the way, dive-bombing corners and taking people out, purposely turning a driver, etc.  Like I said, I have been watching Nascar for almost two decades now and that was the most ridiculous event I have seen.  The Nationwide race the day before was a good warm up though to the stupidity, as much of the same occured...

 

I remember when Carl Edwards hooked Brad Keselowski into the fence at Atlanta I was irate Nascar didn’t come down harder on Carl.  Now I understand why Carl did what he did.  Brad not only acted like a moronic pinball today, but pulled the same crap while up front at Road America.

 

Jeff Gordon should be ashamed of how he drove.  He is a 4 time champion and has won many races, but you would be hard pressed to tell that today.  This is the same whiney runt that complained when Robby moved him up the track at New Hampshire in 2001 for his first win.  Pick any of the bump and runs Jeff did today, they all outrank Robby's move on the chicken-sh*t scale.

 

I could go on and on, but I will only bring up one last incident.  Mattias Ekstrom ran an excellent race, and got taken out.  The broadcasters tried to talk around it by claiming the Nascar regulars do not respect new guys, but after today can it be said they respect anyone?  Mattias was running under what I would call proper road course etiquette, and got taken out.  Watch Indy car races, FIA events, touring car races, etc.  The Nascar race today resembled a video game more than a road course event.

 

That’s my view on it.  I am sure some of you loved the beating and banging, but all I saw was poor driving and cheap moves.  Just think back to 2001, when people made a big deal about Harvick riding Robby's ass trying to get his lap back.  Jim Smith pled with Childress to get Harvick to back down, the announcers played it up; it was a big deal.  Today, any given minute on the track was filled with actions that far outweighed that sequence of events.

 

Maybe its the fact these drivers no longer fear injury, maybe Nascar is coaching them to bump more, maybe the poorly designed COT prevents passing so much drivers need to move each other out of the way.  Whatever the reason, it was sad to watch.  I fear Robby will more than likely get caught up in a wreck at the Glen if this continues, its almost turning into a restrictor-plate-like crap shoot to finish well.  Just ask Dale Junior, even he will laugh about his decent finish today and how it wasn’t really earned.

 

What are everyone else's opinions?  Just curious, and I had to vent...

 

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though on Speedway right now Truex doesn't seem so ready to let it go....lol
and considering he had a top 5 car..so lets say he finishes 5th at 155 pts, but he only got 42 pts for 42nd (he led a lap for +5), thats 113 pt difference...

He is sitting 160 out of the Chase....instead of about 50.

Jeff basically ruined his Chase chances...perhaps Truex should wait until the next NH and ruin Jeff's Title chances...
Give truex another day to stew on it...lol...I've seen this a thousand times before. Driver talks a big game, but doesnt do a damn thing.

Maybe Jeff can try reverse psychology and says he plans to wreck Truex again,before Truex has a chance to get to him.
These cars are not built for Road courses. Dive bomb is the only way to over take. The car is too heavy to take different lines to the esses, power pretty much the same to drag race our of a corner, only way it break late into a corner which usually leads to someone getting turned aroud. Anyway, who cares if the racing sucks, as long as Robby is on the podium. Time to use the winnings to build a monster dakar mobile. Also, Ekstrom must be thinking, these yanks are crazy.....
Maybe Truex can pay PJ to dump Jeffie!!!
I agree 100% I thought Brad on both days was a pathectic fool.....I also thing J Gordon drove like a fool....I think it was wise for JJ and Marcus as well as RG to stay away from those fools..but the final laps Marcus was ..doin some moving and pushin..
but the real question is, do you pity the fool ?
Seemed like there was plenty of pushing and shoving throughout the field. From the TV coverage, you couldn't see most of it except when cars went flying by. Did you see the 37 and 38 - they looked like they had been in a demolition derby (though Conway's car looked pristine the few times I saw it on TV). Lots more drivers were shoving people out of the way than just Jeff and a handful of others that were duking it out near the front. It was BK who moved Mattias who was racing a very respectful race. I think driving the COT on a road course must be like driving a tank and if you are not out front in clean air then pushing and shoving is the only way to move forward. I didn't have a problem with the aggressive driving given the equipment they have to race in. It has just become an expensive game of bumper cars and I don't like it was much as I like road races in other series.
One thing that I saw was the 29 car was faster than Robby but not fast enough to risk his point lead and Robby pulled his "I owe you one card" and stuck it on the dash. I think they are even now.

With Gene on board is this the way the races are going to be from now on?

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