11/17/24
May 07, 2006
Junior is back.: In what was really a wierd race with lots of one car wrecks, some teams got back on track and Junior is back.
posted by buffalo will never win to auto racing at 05:31 PM - 21 comments
This conversation is making scads of sense to me. Scads. I thought the rookie who finished second deciding to not risk pissing off his fan base by passing Dale Jr. (despite the fact that he had the inside line, and every right to make that pass) was a little curious.
posted by chicobangs at 08:29 PM on May 07, 2006
hey CHICOBANGS: saying that denny hamlin didn't pass junior because he would anger junior and his fans is ridiculous...junior had driven the higher line all night, that is where he was fast. on the inside a car tends to get bogged down and doesn't get a good run down the straightaway, and junior used that to his advantage, he had been doing it all night...so next time before saying stupid stuff like that, consider that maybe junior did have a better car...after all he did pull away from him didn't he? he did have a 2 second lead before a series of cautions didn't he? honestly
posted by ckast8 at 08:34 PM on May 07, 2006
ckast8, this "stupidity" is straight from the horse's mouth (see the eighth question down): "I definitely didn’t want to risk cutting a tire or messing him up. Last thing I want to do is wreck Dale Jr... I have a decent fan base now. I don’t want to kill it."
posted by chicobangs at 09:10 PM on May 07, 2006
Really now chico, I get your point. But in order for Denny to make that pass he would have had to "mess him up" meaning very possably wrecking Jr. Not a good idea for a rookie/teammate. Congrats to the junior E, lets hope there are not many more this season.
posted by Folkways at 09:33 PM on May 07, 2006
It came a week too late
posted by houston2006 at 09:48 PM on May 07, 2006
children....opposing views are a strength of a free society. let's PLEASE allow them.
posted by tommybiden at 10:21 PM on May 07, 2006
opposing views are a strength of a free society. let's PLEASE allow them. Debating if X is a sport or not isn't adding anything to the thread. Debating if X is a sport is nothing but noise (you're not 'opposing' anything) and will be deleted.
posted by justgary at 11:00 PM on May 07, 2006
Chicobangs: I gave up on NASCAR this year after several years, finally realising what a joke it is. That comment pretty much confirms I made the right call. "I have a decent fanbase. I don't want to kill it." Good god, with that sort of attitude you have no right to be racing. If you live in fear of upsetting your fans, you are completely compromised and should just quit.
posted by Drood at 11:45 PM on May 07, 2006
i agree sometimes i think NASCAR is a joke but im just addicted this year.
posted by buffalo will never win at 01:23 AM on May 08, 2006
Congrats to Junior. Hopefully this is a sign of better things to come for him. Last year took a lot out of him and me (at least my wallet).
posted by wingnut4life at 05:17 AM on May 08, 2006
Chico, maybe you should try wrestling!? GO JUNIOR!
posted by volfire at 07:38 AM on May 08, 2006
Wait. How did I become the poster child for hating NASCAR? (I'm not the type to wander into threads I don't care about just to shit on them; that's kind of rude.) Dale Jr. was full value for the win. I was happy to see it. And it wasn't my opinion that Hamlin pulled back when he thought he might have had a chance to pass into first; that was an actual quote. I just found it kind of curious.
posted by chicobangs at 08:18 AM on May 08, 2006
well its good for nascar that jr wins..plus i remember jr predicting he'd get 6 wins this year..so 1 down 5 to go..git er dun,jr!
posted by ktown at 08:19 AM on May 08, 2006
Come on just because Hamlin didn't want to wreck Junior doesn't mean he was letting him win because of his popularity. He jsut had a car that was not faster than Jr. Maybe about the same. By trying to pass he might have gotten by him. Most likely wrecking him by bump drafting. It didn't have anything to do with who was in front of him. It was just a driver being courteous and not knocking an equal car out of the way ala the Busch brothers.
posted by scottypup at 10:44 AM on May 08, 2006
It didn't have anything to do with who was in front of him. That's not what Hamlin himself is saying. His quote is pretty clear: he erred on the side of caution because it was Junior. What is weird is that he claims he did it to "save his fan base". Why not invoke regular team orders?
posted by qbert72 at 11:08 AM on May 08, 2006
I think more than the fact that it was Junior it was not certain other drivers. Most of the drivers will show courtesy to those who show it back. Junior wouldn't knock him out of the way so he returned the favor.
posted by scottypup at 12:26 PM on May 08, 2006
IT'S GOOD FOR NASCAR if JR WINS??? I thought it was good for NASCAR if the driver with the best car and the will to win was the one who actually won. If it had been Dale Sr in 2nd place he would have drop kicked Jr's ass out of his way. You may recall, Sr was not the most popular kid in class during his time in NASCAR. It was not until after his death that he became such an icon. IT GOOD FOR NASCAR TAHT JR WINS??? well lets just give him the NEXTEL CUP now and not take any chances.
posted by CB900 at 01:25 PM on May 08, 2006
Yea Sr. would have knocked Jr. out of the way. I saw him do it one time. But Jr. isn't really that kind of driver. There once instance in the race where he bumped into someone accidentally. He was immediately on the radio wanting his crew to apologize and tell them it was his fault and he just screwed up. LOL Sr. would have bumped 'em again for good measure and dared 'em to say anything.
posted by scottypup at 01:59 PM on May 08, 2006
Also, I don't know what Hamlin's talking about. "Fan base?" Hell, he doesn't even have his own crock pot.
posted by chicobangs at 06:41 PM on May 08, 2006
I really think Hamlin's little quote about not wanting to wreck his fan base was his attempt to make a joke. You know, say something funny that's not meant to be taken seriously? And why am I not suprised the first person to get their panties in a bundle about someone not kissing Junior's butt was someone with the number "8" in their handle? (who the hell is Travis Kvapil? Does his family own Rival, and that's why he's on a crock pot?)
posted by Lissa at 04:07 AM on May 12, 2006
It was Harvicks race to lose , and lose it he did. Jr.'s team made all the right calls and took advantage of someone elses misfurtion. He was there all night and ran a great smart race